Odyssey 9.473 · Book 9, lines 473–474
Within earshot
Read the full text in our reader
ἀλλʼ ὅτε τόσσον ἀπῆν, ὅσσον τε γέγωνε βοήσας, καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼ Κύκλωπα προσηύδων κερτομίοισι·
But when I was away only so far, as far as a man's shout carries, then at that moment I addressed the Cyclops with taunting words:
Word by word
The setting
The ship pulls away until it is just within shouting distance of the shore. Then Odysseus, unable to leave in silence, calls back to the blinded giant with mocking words.
A note on this passage
A measured distance — as far as a shout will carry, and no farther — and then the taunt. Homer marks the range precisely before he lets his hero open his mouth.
That exact measure is a warning built into the verse. The ship is safe only up to the reach of a voice; and a voice is now about to reach back the other way. The line that sets the distance is the same line that puts Odysseus within range of everything his own words are about to call down on him.
Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.
Open Odyssey 9.473 in the full reader
Always open passages in the reader
From the Great Library
You are reading a page of the Odyssey — the whole book is free in our interlinear reader.
The Great Library Project presses the classics in their original languages, glossed word by word — free to read, always. Browse the whole library.
Also on our shelves:
Odyssey 9.473 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/9.473/