On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey (Ancient Greek: Περὶ τοῦ ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ τῶν νυμφῶν ἄντρου, Latin: De Antro Nympharum) is a treatise by the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry.
The passage follows here in original Greek and in Robert D. Lamberton's English translation:[1] αὐτὰρ ἐπὶ κρατὸς λιμένος τανύφυλλος ἐλαίη, ἀγχόθι δ ̓ αὐτῆς ἄντρον ἐπήρατον ἠεροειδές, ἱρὸν νυμφάων αἱ νηϊάδες καλέονται.
Porphyry agrees with Numenius of Apamea that the Odyssey is a symbolic description of man's successive passing through genesis (Greek: γένεσις, 'origin').
The most recent English versions are one produced in 1969 by a postgraduate seminar class led by Leendert Gerrit Westerink [nl] and Lamberton's translation from 1983.
[3] The Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey is frequently discussed by scholars interested in ancient allegorical interpretation and the readings of Homer by the Neoplatonists.