'come here, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my hospitality,
and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey-
for Neptune and I are father and son.
He, if he so will, shall heal me,
which no one else neither god nor man can do.'

Then I said, 'I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright
and sending you down to the house of Hades,
as I am that it will take more
than Neptune to cure that eye of yours.'

On this he lifted up his hands
to the firmament of heaven and prayed, saying, 'Hear me,
great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true-begotten son,
grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive;
or if he must get back to his friends at last,
let him do so late and in sore plight after losing all his men

Thus did he pray,
and Neptune heard his prayer.
Then he picked up a rock much larger than the first,
swung it aloft and hurled it with prodigious force.
It fell just short of the ship,
but was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder.
The sea quaked as the rock fell into it,
and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards
on our way towards the shore of the island.
When at last we got to the island
where we had left the rest of our ships,
we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our return.
We ran our vessel upon the sands
and got out of her on to the sea shore;
we also landed the Cyclops' sheep,
and divided them equitably amongst us
so that none might have reason to complain.
As for the ram, my companions agreed
that I should have it as an extra share;
so I sacrificed it on the sea shore,
and burned its thigh bones to Jove, who is the lord of all.
But he heeded not my sacrifice,
and only thought how he might destroy my ships and my comrades.
"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun
we feasted our fill on meat and drink,
but when the sun went down and it came on dark,
we camped upon the beach.
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared,
I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers.
Then they took their places
and smote the grey sea with their oars;
so we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts,
but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades.



Works Cited

Church, Alfred J. "The Wanderings of Ulysses: An Adventure with the Cyclops." The Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team, 25 Jan. 2005. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.

Guerrero, Gilmartin. "Instructional Minutes." : The Odyssey by Homer. Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas, 2 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.

Cline, Austin. "Method of Sacrifice in Ancient Greece: Images of Ancient Greek Religion & Mythology." About. About.com, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.

Marliocampus. "Athena’s Trick and Its Aftermath – Book XXII Iliad « Ancient Epic." Northfield Mount Herman. NMHSchool.org, 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Odyssey.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 2 Sept. 2014. 23 Sept. 2014.

Butler, Samuel. "The Odyssey: Book 9." The Internet Classics Archive | The Odyssey by Homer. MIT.edu, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
Gill, N.S. "Summary of Odyssey Book IX." About Education. About.com, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.