Epeisodion 2
Odysseus
That done, I will embark thee and those thou lovest with old Silenus in the deep hold of my black ship, my ship with double banks of oars, and carry you away from this land.
Chorus
Well, can I too lay hold of the blinding brand, as though the god’s libation had been poured? for I would fain have a share in this offering of blood.
Odysseus
Indeed thou must, for the brand is large, and thou must help hold it.
Chorus
How lightly would I lift the load of e’en a hundred wains, if that will help us to grub out
the eye of the doomed Cyclops, like a wasp’s nest.
475
Odysseus
Hush! for now thou knowest my plot in fall, and when I bid you, obey the author of it; for I am not the man to desert my friends inside the cave and save myself alone.
And yet I might escape; I am clear of the cavern’s depths already; but no! to desert the friends with whom I journeyed hither and only save myself is not a righteous course. [Re-enters the cave.
480
