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"Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know
it, and one day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my
guests though I live so far away from all of you. I am Ulysses
son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of
subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca,
where there is a high mountain called Neritum, covered with
forests; and not far from it there is a group of islands very
near to one another--Dulichium, Same, and the wooded island of
Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the
sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it
towards dawn. {75} It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave
men, and my eyes know none that they better love to look upon.
The goddess Calypso kept me with her in her cave, and wanted me
to marry her, as did also the cunning Aeaean goddess Circe; but
they could neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing
dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and
however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it
be far from father or mother, he does not care about it. Now,
however, I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which
by Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy.
"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus,
which is the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put
the people to the sword. We took their wives and also much
booty, which we divided equitably amongst us, so that none might
have reason to complain. I then said that we had better make off
at once, but my men very foolishly would not obey me, so they
staid there drinking much wine and killing great numbers of
sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons cried out
for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were more in
number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of
war, for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as
the occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as
thick as leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was
against us, so that we were hard pressed. They set the battle in
array near the ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze-shod
spears at one another. {76} So long as the day waxed and it was
still morning, we held our own against them, though they were
more in number than we; but as the sun went down, towards the
time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the better of us,
and we lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so we got
away with those that were left.
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