Tempestuous winds drove me hither against my will.SilenusGod wot! thou art in the same plight as I am.OdysseusWhy, wert thou too drifted hither against thy will?SilenusI was, as I pursued the pirates who carried Bromius off.OdysseusWhat land is this and who are its inhabitants?SilenusThis is mount Aetna, the highest point in Sicily.OdysseusBut where are the city-walls and ramparts?SilenusThere are none; the headlands, sir, are void of men.OdysseusWho then possess the land? the race of wild creatures?SilenusThe Cyclopes, who have caves, not roofed houses.OdysseusObedient unto whom? or is the power in the people’s hands?SilenusThey are rovers; no man obeys another in anything.OdysseusDo they sow Demeter’s grain, or on what do they live?SilenusOn milk and cheese and flesh of sheep.OdysseusHave they the drink of Bromius, the juice of the vine?SilenusNo indeed! and thus it is a joyless land they dwell in.OdysseusAre they hospitable and reverent towards strangers?SilenusStrangers, they say, supply the daintiest meat.OdysseusWhat, do they delight in killing men and eating them?SilenusNo one has ever arrived here without being butchered.