Hanc fabulam de Cyclope poeta noster ex Odysseae 9. mutuatus est ac felicissime dramatico habitu exornavit: quin et illustriores quoque locos quosdam reddidit mire vim illis tragicam admiscendo. Maro lib. 3.* nudam et brevem facti narrationem (ut Macrobii verbis utar) ponit: sed Homerus πάθη miscuit et dolore narrandi invidiam crudelitatis aequavit. Uterque autem fingit vastum corpore, crudelem, divorum contemptorem, inhospitalem, voluptuarium. Theocritus vero Eidyl. XI, et Ovid. lib. XIII. Transfor.† eum amatorem et ridiculum inducunt. Nostri autem Euripidis consilium fuit ut hac fabula vitae efferae ac barbarae, quae neque legibus neque disciplina civili constet neque religione deorum gubernetur, imaginem exprimeret ut huius foeditas et turpitudo ob oculos posita homines ad culturam et mansuetiorem vivendi rationem amplectendam excitaret. Nam non solum delectare et inani verborum [494] strepitu aures delenire, sed prodesse vult, et plurimum in genere διδακτικῷ versatur Tragoedia. Unde causas quoque tantae feritatis et immanitatis non dissimulat poeta, dum solum corporis voluptates eum consectari et ventri servire, quem et pro Deo habeat, fingit. Homines enim qui nihil curae aut operae aut** temporis animis excolendis impendunt, sed toti corporis voluptatibus dediti vitam agunt, ipsis interdum bestiis immaniores evadunt. Id quod facile intelliget qui principum istorum vitas legerit quas conscripserunt Suetonius, Herodianus, et alii. Unde fit, quo quisque corpori addictior ac mentis negligentior, hoc ferocior et invisior est. Rursus quo studiosior aliquis artium quibus humanitas excolitur hoc disciplinae, aequitatis, et legum reverentior est. Hinc vere Ovidius:††

Adde quod ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes
             Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros.

*[Vergil, Aeneid, Bk. 3.588-681; Macrobius, Saturnalia 5.13.17: narrationem facti nudam et brevem Maro posuit, contra Homerus πάθος miscuit et dolore narrandi invidiam crudelitatis aequavit]

†[number corrected from XIIII: Ovid, Metamorphoses, Bk. 13.750-897 (Galatea tells of Polyphemus' rivalry with her lover Acis)]

**[corrected from aur, already in Stephanus 1602]

††[Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto, II.9.45-46]

Our poet has borrowed this story about the Cyclops from Book 9 of the Odyssey and very successfully furnished it with a dramatic appearance: and in fact, he also rendered certain passages more brilliant by wonderfully adding tragic power to them. Vergil places in Book 3 a bare and short narration of the exploit (if I might employ the words of Macrobius): but Homer blended in strong sufferings and balanced the odium of cruelty with the sorrow of (Odysseus’) narrating. Both poets, however, represent him as huge in body, cruel, a despiser of the gods, inhospitable, and sensual. Theocritus, however, in poem 11 of the Idylls and Ovid in Book XIII of the Metamorphoses show him as a lover and a buffoon. The intention of our Euripides, however, was to express in this play an image of a savage and barbarous life, which neither is founded on laws or civic order nor is governed by the fearful respect for the gods, so that the foulness and ugliness of this character, placed before the eyes, might rouse men to embrace civilization and a gentler mode of living. For he wishes not only to please and entice the ears with the empty noise of words, but to be beneficial, and Tragedy is very much engaged in the didactic mode. Whence the poet does not conceal the very reasons for such savageness and barbarism, when he shows that the Cyclops pursues only the pleasures of the body and is a slave to his belly, which he treats as a God. For men who expend no care or effort or time on cultivating their minds but spend their life devoted entirely to pleasures of the body sometimes turn out more savage than the beasts themselves. This is a fact that anyone who reads the biographies of those notorious emperors that Suetonius, Herodianus, and others have written will easily understand. Whence it happens that the more devoted to the body and the less concerned with the mind a man is, the more savage and hostile he is. Conversely, the more eagerly someone studies the skills by which refinement is cultivated, the more respectful of learning, justice and laws he is. Hence Ovid says truly:

Add to this that to have successfully studied the liberal arts
             softens manners, nor does it permit men to be fierce.

Praeterea tyranni imaginem licet videre in Cyclope, cui quod libet licet et qui fas ac nefas iuxta aestimat cuique propria libido pro lege est, denique quem a sceleribus et saevitia neque divina vindicta nec ipsa turpitudo rerum deterret. Tales deplorati sunt, nec ullus Orpheus tam canorus nec quisquam Ulysses tam facundus est et disertus qui eos a feritate illa ad cultum aliquem traducere possit, ut quorum animos tam crassae obsederint tenebrae ut uno corporis cultu, id est cibo, potu, et Venere, universam felicitatem metiantur. Postremo idem Cyclops, cui ebrio oculus effoditur, deterret ab ebrietate, cuius nugas et ineptias et pericula in isto monstro nobis delineat poeta. Post crateras enim et ingentes amystidas ad ridiculas et illepidas cantilenas procedit: denique Silenum Ganymedem suaviatur ac insulsissime nugatur donec somno oppressus ac lumine orbatus Satyris et Ulyssi ovanti palam ludibrio fiat. Nullus enim umquam tam sapiens tamque prudens fuit quem ebrietas non oculo, id est mente et ratione, privarit. In Ulysse summa prudentia animaduertenda est, cui in extremis quoque periculis non deest consilium quo et se et suos conseruet. Est autem divinae cuiusdam dexteritatis dubiis rebus ex tempore consilium arripere nec statim concidere, sed quocumque modo vel praeter omnem spem saluti non solum suae, sed et aliorum consulere. Lege Ciceronem Offic.* lib. 1. de Fortitudine.

*[Cicero, De Officiis]

Moreover, it is possible to see the image of a tyrant in the Cyclops, for whom whatever pleases him is allowed and who considers virtue and sin the same and whose own pleasure replaces the law, and finally whom neither divine punishment nor the baseness of the acts themselves deters from evil deeds and ferocity. Such men are despaired of, nor is any Orpheus so harmonious or any Ulysses so eloquent and fluent who could bring them over from that savageness to some degree of refinement, because shadows so dense have blocked their minds that they measure every happiness by the cultivation of the body alone, that is, by food, drink, and sex. Finally, the same Cyclops, whose eye is gouged out while he is drunk, discourages us from drunkenness, whose trifles and absurdities and dangers the poet delineates for us in that monstrosity. For after the mixing bowls and huge emptyings of his cup, he proceeds to absurd and rude songs: finally he kisses Silenus as if a Ganymede, and jests most tastelessly until, overwhelmed with sleep and deprived of his eye, he is openly mocked by the Satyrs and triumphant Ulysses. For there was never anyone so wise or so sensible whom drunkenness did not deprive of his eye, that is, of his mind and his reason. In Ulysses we must notice his extreme prudence: even in extreme danger he has a plan by which to preserve both himself and his crew. It requires, however, a certain divine dexterity in doubtful situations to form a plan on the spur of the moment and not to be defeated immediately, but in some way or other, even perhaps beyond every hope, to look out for not only one’s own safety, but also that of others. Read Cicero, On Duty, Book 1 about courage.

Argumentum Actus primi.

Silenus prologum agens casum suum exponit admixta querela quomodo ad impios Cyclopes delatus sit idque propter Bacchum. Ac duram servitutem et suam et filiorum maeret, qua tolerandum sit tam immane et sanguinarium monstrum. 2. Chorus ex Satyris, filiis Sileni, pastoricio more pecudes appellat et cum his fabulatur. Deinde thiasorum Bacchicorum desiderii impatiens praesentis vitae vices dolet ipse secum. 3. Ulysses salutat Silenum et simul audit ex eo de Cyclopis immanitate et saevitia erga hospites. Deinde permutatione facta cum sene vina dat pro ovibus, caseis, et aliis id genus cibariis. Silenus mira aviditate bibens vinum ac post liberiorem potum iam hilarior disertiorque factus exprimit effecta vini et mores bene potorum. Interea advenit Cyclops. Ulysses autem quid agat anxius secum dubitat.

Argument of the First Act

Silenus, giving the prologue, explains his misfortune, adding a complaint about how he was carried away to the impious Cyclops, and this because of Bacchus. And he laments his own long servitude and that of his children, because of which they must endure so savage and bloodthirsty a monster. 2. The Chorus of Satyrs, the sons of Silenus, addresses the sheep in the pastoral manner and converses with them. Then unable to endure their longing for their lost Bacchic dances, they lament the changes of their present life to themselves. 3. Ulysses greets Silenus and at the same time hears from him about the cruelty of the Cyclops and his savage behavior towards strangers. Then having bartered with the old man, he gives him wine for sheep, cheese, and other foods of this type. Silenus, drinking the wine with extraordinary eagerness and now made more lively and talkative after unrestrained drinking, shows the effects of the wine and the typical behavior of drunkards. Meanwhile the Cyclops approaches. Ulysses, however, debates with himself, doubtful about what he should do.

Argumentum Actus secundi.

Cyclops a venatione reversus trepidantem Silenum cum Satyris increpat et num prandium sit paratum saevo, uti solebat, et vultu et animo quaerit. Conspicatus deinde hospites, quid isti velint rogat. Silenus, [495] conficto mendacio ut se metu liberaret, dicit eos oves abstulisse per vim, caseos devorasse, ipsi Cyclopi minatos esse, denique se male ab illis vapulasse. 2. Iubet expediri cultros Cyclops ad mactandum ipsos. Deprecatur crimen Ulysses. De composito illudunt Cyclopi Silenus et vaferrimi Satyri, dum iureiurando affirmant neutros fecisse illud: non aliter quam isti duo apud Aesopum* adolescentes qui carnem coquo abstulerant. 3. Ulysses genus et errores suos exponit, praeterea ut parcat miseris et tot malorum fluctibus iactatis supplex orat, variis argumentis illius animum ad misericordiam impellere tentans. Cyclops pro sua innata feritate repudians preces Ulyssis vitae suae professionem, quae in sola ventris saginatione et corporis voluptatibus ipsi consumatur, iactat eumque cum sociis intra antrum ad lanienam ire iubet. Ulysses, quod miseris in rebus facere solent homines, divorum auxilium implorat. 4. Chorus, indicato Cyclopi epulas instructas esse, ipse secum detestatur crudelitatem immanissimi domini.

*Aesop’s fable “The youths and the cook” (no. 67 in Hausrath-Hunger): while the cook is distracted, one youth steals some meat and hides it in the fold of the other’s garment; the first youth swears an oath that he doesn’t have the missing meat, the second swears that he did not take it.

Argument of the Second Act

The Cyclops, returned from the hunt, thunders at the trembling Silenus along with the Satyrs and asks whether lunch is ready with a savage countenance and spirit, as he was accustomed to. Then having caught sight of the strangers, he asks what they want. Silenus, [495] inventing a lie to free himself from fear, says that they carried away the sheep by force, devoured the cheeses, threatened the Cyclops himself, and finally that he [Silenus] was badly flogged by these strangers. 2. The Cyclops orders knives to be brought forth to slaughter them. Ulysses pleads against the accusation. By agreement, Silenus and the cunning Satyrs mock the Cyclops, as they affirm under oath that neither of them did it: not otherwise than those two young men in Aesop who stole the meat from the cook. 3. Ulysses explains his origin and his wanderings; moreover he begs as a suppliant that the Cyclops spare those who are wretched and have been tossed by the waves of so many evils, trying with various arguments to urge his mind toward mercy. The Cyclops on account of his own inborn savageness rejects the prayers of Ulysses and boastfully lays out a public declaration of his own lifestyle, which is wholly concerned with fattening his belly and the pleasures of his own body, and he orders Ulysses and his companions to go inside the cave to the butcher’s. Ulysses, as men are accustomed to do in miserable circumstances, invokes the help of the gods. 4. The Chorus, after telling the Cyclops his feast is prepared, when by itself denounces the cruelty of its very fierce master.

Argumentum Actus tertii.

Egressus Ulysses e spelunca cenam quam ex duobus suis sociis mactatis instruxerat intus Cyclops funestam exponit Choro, ac nuntii vicem agit, ea videlicet spectatoribus narrans quae intus patraverat Cyclops, deinde quomodo vino dato eum inebriarit. 2. Communicat Ulysses consilium cum Choro de perdendo Cyclope ac oculo ei eruendo. Id quod summa alacritate Satyri amplectuntur suamque operam ad hoc negotium strenuam pollicentur. Epitasis est illa prima miserrima laniatio duorum sociorum.

Argument of the Third Act

Ulysses, having come out of the cave, explains to the Chorus the fatal dinner which the Cyclops had prepared inside from two of his own slaughtered companions, and he acts in the place of a messenger, that is to say, narrating to the spectators what the Cyclops had performed inside the cave, then how he [Ulysses] made him drunk by giving him wine. 2. Ulysses shares his plan with the Chorus about destroying the Cyclops and gouging out his eye. This is something the Satyrs embrace with the greatest promptness and they promise their own vigorous service in this affair. The first heightening of tension (epitasis) is provided by the most pitiful mangling of the two companions.

Argumentum Actus quarti.

Cyclops ridiculus ac ebrius in spectaculum producitur: cuius mores, ineptias, nugas, vecordiam et reliqua vitia quae secum trahit foeda ebrietas mire exprimit poeta. 2. In somnum solvitur temulenta belva libidinaturque cum vetulo Sileno, ut intelligamus ebrietate incentiva libidinum in primis excitari. Ulysses Satyros cohortatus ad fortiter agendum abit ut torrem effodiendo Cyclopis oculo expediat.

Argument of the Fourth Act

The Cyclops, laughable and drunk, is led out to make a spectacle of: his manners, absurdities, trifles, silliness, and the other faults which unseemly drunkenness drags along with itself the poet portrays wonderfully. 2. The drunken beast relaxes into sleep and gratifies his lust with the old Silenus, that we might understand that strong stirrings of desires are especially aroused by drunkenness. Ulysses, having encouraged the Satyrs to act bravely, departs to procure a firebrand for digging out the eye of the Cyclops.

[496] Argumentum Actus quinti.

Satyri cum iam res praesens animos posceret tergiversantur, ac Ulyssis spem fallunt. Quare hic sociis propriis uti cogitur ad excaecandum Cyclopem. Orat tamen ut saltem voce et cohortatione, quantum possint, suos adiuvent. 2. Cyclops lumine orbatus plorat et auctores facti ad poenam quaerit. Chorus autem ludit ipsum ac irridet: idque fuco nominis quo se Ulysses Utim, id est neminem vocari dixerat. Clamat enim iste se ab Uti, id est nemine caecatum esse. Denique ipse Ulysses ultus probe foedum Cyclopem, frementem iam frustra ac multa minitantem, edito prius suo nomine vero, oram cum Satyris soluit.

[496] Argument of the Fifth Act

The Satyrs, once the present situation actually demands courage, hang back, and delude Ulysses’ hope . Therefore he is compelled to use his own companions to blind the Cyclops. Nevertheless he prays that at least with voice and encouragement, as much as they can, the Satyrs help his men. 2. The Cyclops, deprived of his eye, laments and seeks the perpetrators of the deed for punishment. The Chorus, however, mocks and laughs at him, and this with the trick of the name whereby Ulysses had said that he was called Utis, that is, no one. For the Cyclops shouts that he was blinded by Utis, that is, by no one. Finally Ulysses himself, having properly taken vengeance on the foul Cyclops, who is now raging in vain and threatening many things, after first giving forth his own true name, unties the mooring rope [of his ship and leaves] with the Satyrs.

Translation by Meghan Bowers