The Odyssey Laestrygonians Quotes

But I alone anchored my black ship outside,
well clear of the harbor’s jaws
I tied her fast to a cliffside with a cable.
I scaled its rock face to a lookout on its crest
but glimpsed no trace of the work of man or beast from there;
all I spied was a plume of smoke, drifting off the land.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 104-109. Odysseus finds himself near the land of the giant Laestrygonians. We are told how he carefully anchors his ship well away from the "harbor’s jaws" – a metaphor.

They entered the sumptuous palace, found his wife inside –
a woman huge as a mountain crag who filled them all with horror.
Straightaway she summoned royal Antiphates from assembly,
her husband, who prepared my crew a barbarous welcome.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 123-126. When Odysseus’ crew members enter the palace of the Laestrygonian king, they are in for a shock. The king’s wife is described in a simile as being as big as a mountain crag. When the king arrives the men are met with a brutal welcome.

Snatching one of my men, he tore him up for dinner –
the other two sprang free and reached the ships.
But the king let loose a howling through the town
that brought tremendous Laestrygonians swarming up
from every side – hundreds, not like men, like Giants!
Down from the cliffs they flung great rocks a man could hardly hoist
and a ghastly shattering din rose up from all the ships –
men in their death-cries, hulls smashed to splinters –
They speared the crews like fish
and whisked them home to make their grisly meal.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 126-136. Here Odysseus and his comrades encounter the legendary clan of giant cannibals known as the Laestrygonians. The Achaeans may be mighty warriors who gained glory in the Trojan War, but they are no match for this powerful enemy. The Laestrygonian king snatches one of the men and tears him up for dinner. The rest of the Laestrygonians spear the crewmen on the boats and take them home to make a meal of them. A simile compares the giants to fishermen catching fish.
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