The Cyclops

Robin, Brian, and Kristin

Having left the land of the Lotus-eaters, after an undetermined time Odysseus and his crew find themselves sailing blindly through a dense fog. Because of the dark and the low visibility their ship is run aground onto the shore of an unknown desert island. After spending the night on the beach, they wake in the morning to tour the island where they discover wild goats which they kill and eat for their breakfast. They spend the rest of the first day feasting on goat meat and wine, gazing toward the mainland where they could see the smoke from the as yet unknown Cyclops' fires, and hear the bleating of their sheep.

After sleeping on the beach again that night, Odysseus decides that he and his ship will sail the short distance to the mainland and try to discover who the inhabitants may be. As they near the mainland they chance to see an enormous man lying asleep in the mouth of a cave. Beaching the ship, Odysseus instructs the crew to stay with the ship and takes 12 men, some provisions, and a skin of wine. But after climbing to the cave they find the giant gone, so they take time to explore his home. While his men wanted to take all the availabe food and run, Odysseus wishes to meet the giant.

To make a long story short, when the Cyclops returns he rolls a huge stone over the entrance of the cave, trapping the men inside. He then proceeds, after some conversation with Odysseus, to brutally kill and devour whole two of the men. After falling asleep, Odysseus thinks to kill him, but hesitates when he realizes that if he does he and his men will be trapped - unable to move the massive stone that blocks the door. That next morning, the Cyclops eats two more men for his breakfast and leaves, shutting them inside once again.

Alone, Odysseus devises a plan for their escape and reveals it to his men. Taking a large pole, they shape it into a long stake. After whittling it into a sharp point, they thrust the end into the fire, hardening the wood. When the Cyclops returns, Odysseus introduces himself as Nohbdy ("nobody"). Before the night is over the Cyclops falls asleep - drunk on the wine that Odysseus has brought from the ship, and the men carry out their plan.

The stake is driven firmly home into the Cyclops one eye, blinding him. When he rolls back the stone from the door, Odysseus and his men escape undetected - strapped under the bellies of the sheep. When the other Cyclops, alerted to the cries, ask who has harmed him, the injured Cyclops tells them "Nohbdy".

Odysseus and his remaining crew reach their ship safely and cast off, only to be almost swept ashore again by a huge tidal wave: Odysseus, in his pride, taunts the giant revealing that Odysseus was the name of the one who had injured him so. The Cyclops hurls a huge stone at the departing vessel, almost washing them back to the beach. With the curse of the Cyclops in their ears, they escape.

The movie, in contrast, portrays things a little differently. There is one scout who discovers the cave filled with food and brings back a large cheese to show Odysseus. On the way to the cave they come upon a huge footprint. Also, their entrapment in the cave is only a one night ordeal as opposed to the two nights in the book. The Cyclops is shown only eating two men, though it may have been implied that he ate more. What's more, the men do not escape strapped under the bellies of the sheep (one tries to escape with a sheepskin tied to his back). Instead, the musician holds the giants attention with his pipe-playing until all the others have escaped (it is assumed that he did not). Last, the stones that Polyphemos throws do not cause a tidal wave.

We're not really sure if temptation or danger is the greatest threat in this incident. Maybe danger? If Odysseus hadn't have been so curious, he never would've gotten himself or his men into such a scrape. And he was always getting into them! This isn't the only incident in which he seemed to have more curiosity than sense! A little fear would've done him and his men a whole lot of good.