Odyssey 9.316 · Book 9, lines 316–318
Left alone, plotting
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Κύκλωψ· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ λιπόμην κακὰ βυσσοδομεύων, εἴ πως τισαίμην, δοίη δέ μοι εὖχος Ἀθήνη. ἥδε δέ μοι κατὰ θυμὸν ἀρίστη φαίνετο βουλή.
the Cyclops. But I was left behind, brooding deep on evil, to see if somehow I might take vengeance, and Athena would grant me the triumph. And this seemed to me in my heart the best plan:
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The setting
The Cyclops and his flocks are gone up the mountain; Odysseus is shut inside with his surviving men, and his mind goes to work.
A note on this passage
Shut in the sealed cave, Odysseus stays behind “brooding deep on evil” — laying plans — hoping for a way to pay the giant back, and for Athena to grant him the triumph. One scheme rises above the rest.
βυσσοδομεύων, “building in the deep,” is the word for a mind laying foundations no one can see; εὖχος, the “triumph” he prays for, is the fighter's word for the glory won by a kill. Even trapped and outmatched he still thinks like a warrior — yet he reaches not for a spear but for Athena, goddess of craft. The vengeance will be engineered, not fought.
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