Odyssey 9.419 · Book 9, lines 419–420
He thought me a fool
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οὕτω γάρ πού μʼ ἤλπετʼ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ νήπιον εἶναι. αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ βούλευον, ὅπως ὄχʼ ἄριστα γένοιτο,
for so he supposed me in his wits to be a fool. But I was planning how it might turn out far the best,
Word by word
The setting
The Cyclops blocks the exit, certain he has outmatched his prisoner. Odysseus begins to plan.
A note on this passage
Two lines that set the giant's confidence against the hero's mind. The Cyclops supposes, in his simple wits, that Odysseus is a fool who will walk straight into his hands. And Odysseus — the last word of the sentence is ‘I’ — begins to plan how it might all come out for the very best.
The contrast is the whole man. ‘He thought me νήπιος,’ a child, a fool: the exact opposite of πολύμητις. The giant measures cleverness by force, sees none, and so sees nothing. Meanwhile the planning has already begun — the same μῆτις that named him Nobody is turning to the ram beneath which he will ride out.
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Odyssey 9.419 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/9.419/