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Euripides · c. 480-406 BC

Cyclops

Κύκλωψ
Ancient Sources / Euripides / Cyclops

Read our guide to Cyclops

Cyclops is the only complete surviving satyr play, the comic afterpiece that followed a tragic trilogy in the Athenian festival. It retells the encounter of Odysseus and the Cyclops in Book 9 of the Odyssey, with a chorus of satyrs serving as the Cyclops' reluctant herdsmen, led by the old Silenus. The play mixes the Homeric story of the wine, the false name 'Noman' and the blinding with satyric greed, cowardice and bawdy humour. The sections follow the play's own units (prologue, parodos, episodes, choral songs and exodos) and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 13 passages, about 6600 words in English.
Translator
Edward P. Coleridge (1891)
Edition
Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing)
Cite as
Euripides, Cyclops 1 (by line number)

Contents · 13 passages

  1. 1–40Prologue: Silenus laments his servitude to the Cyclops385 words
  2. 41–95Parodos: the satyrs herd the flocks and long for Dionysus350 words
  3. 96–162First episode: Odysseus meets Silenus and learns of the Cyclopes716 words
  4. 163–202First episode: Odysseus' wine buys food; the Cyclops returns376 words
  5. 203–252Second episode: the Cyclops returns and hears Silenus' lies488 words
  6. 253–312Second episode: Odysseus and Silenus quarrel before the Cyclops574 words
  7. 313–374hSecond episode: the Cyclops rejects hospitality; first choral song512 words
  8. 375–436Third episode: Odysseus reports the Cyclops' feast586 words
  9. 437–502Third episode: Odysseus plans to blind the Cyclops576 words
  10. 503–575Fourth episode: Odysseus gets the Cyclops drunk and tells him he is Noman763 words
  11. 576–623Fourth episode: the Cyclops carries off Silenus370 words
  12. 624–662Fifth episode: the satyrs shrink back from the brand344 words
  13. 663–709Exodos: the Cyclops is blinded and Odysseus names himself518 words

More by Euripides

English translation by Edward P. Coleridge (1891). Original text: Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.