… infant-like, they upon the cattle of Helios
Did feed, for which their homecoming was lost. – The Odyssey
Considering we still had some dry biscuit,
There was no need to go ashore to feast
On Helios’s lumbering herd of beasts –
What dunderheads we were to risk it.
For, each and every beast a mighty alcazar
On which you’d have to go to war
For forty years at least before
You’d be a hero and a star.
We were famished when that island we espied.
We climbed onto its back and we ate well.
But then to Hade’s depths we fell
Empty-headed, our stomachs satisfied.
By Giorgos Seferis (Greek. 1900 -1971. Nobel Laureate 1963).
Translation by Chris Short Jan 2020
Refer to: Jan 2020 – Other voices