The Cave of the Nymphs

At the head of the harbor is a slender-leaved olive

and nearby it a lovely and murky cave

sacred to the nymphs called Naiads.

Within are kraters and amphoras

of stone, where bees lay up stores of honey.

Inside, too, are massive stone looms and there the nymphs

weave sea-purple cloth, a wonder to see.

The water flows unceasingly. The cave has two gates,

the one, from the north, a path for men to descend,

while the other, toward the south, is divine. Men do not

enter by this one, but it is rather a path for immortals.

Odyssey. 13, 102-112 (trans. Lamberton, Homer the Theologian, 119-120)