A new green coast that rises out of the dark after the lotus shore. Deep harbors, gentle valleys, woodsmoke beyond the trees. The kind of land that looks like a gift after weeks at sea. Odysseus brings only his own ship and crew ashore. They explore the hills near the coast. They find a cave that turns out to be a home. They make the worst decision of the voyage. The island itself has no name in the retelling. What it has is shepherds the size of houses, each with one great eye, who keep flocks and racks of cheeses the size of millstones, and who do not know or care about the gods of guest-friendship. The fertility of the land is what tricks the men into thinking it is safe. It is not. It is just rich. There is a difference.
The Cyclops's Island
A green coast with deep harbors and gentle valleys. Above them, woodsmoke. And a cave nobody should have entered.