Wednesday, September 3, 2014

In "The Odyssey," where do Odysseus and his men obtain the potent wine?

Odysseus obtained the potent wine used to intoxicate the Cyclops from Maron:

. . . But I took a skin of wine along,

the ruddy, irresistible wine that Maron gave me once

. . .

He drew it off in generous wine-jars, twelve in all,

All unmixed –- and such a bouquet, a drink fit for the gods!

[Book IX, ll. 218-28; Fagles translation]

Maron was a priest of Apollo at Ismarus. Odysseus had ransacked the city of Ismarus after sailing from Troy. (See Book IX, ll. 44 ff.) He had spared the lives of Maron and his family, so Maron gave Odysseus gifts, including the wine.

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