Student Question
Who is the Cyclops in The Odyssey?
Quick answer:
The Cyclops in The Odyssey is Polyphemus, a giant with a single eye and son of Poseidon. Living alone on an island, he is a shepherd and a cannibal. Odysseus encounters Polyphemus when seeking hospitality, a Greek custom, but instead, Polyphemus eats several of Odysseus' men. Odysseus blinds him with a spike, escaping by hiding under sheep. This act leads Polyphemus to curse Odysseus, prolonging his journey home.
The Cyclopes (singular: Cyclops) are found both in Homer's Odyssey and Hesiod's Theogony. In both accounts, they are a race of giants, with a single eye in the middle of their foreheads. In Theogony, the Cyclopes are children of Uranus and siblings of the Titans, the generation of gods who were overthrown by the Olympians. Polyphemus, the Cyclops we encounter in Homer's Odyssey, is the son of the sea god Poseidon (brother to Zeus) and the nymph Thoosa.
Odysseus lands on an island inhabited by the Cyclopes. While all the other Cyclopes live together in a community, Polyphemus lives alone in a cave. He is a shepherd who tends a flock of sheep and apparently cares for them well. As well as being a giant and possessing great physical strength, he is also a cannibal who eats some of Odysseus' sailors.
What should I know about the Cyclops in The Odyssey?
Polyphemus is the name of the cyclops Odysseus...
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and twelve of his men meet when they go into his cave to explore. His men advise Odysseus to steal livestock and cheese and then leave, but Odysseus refuses because he thinks Polyphemus will show them hospitality and give them a gift. (It was the custom, remember, to welcome strangers and give them gifts.)They get locked in the cave of the cyclops when he rolls a big boulder across the opening of the cave. Odysseus asks for his gift, but instead, Polyphemus grabs two of Odysseus' men and eats them. The next morning, the cyclops eats two more of his men for breakfast. He then left, rolling the huge boulder across the opening. Odysseus comes up with a plan to whittle a huge spike so he can blind the cyclops in his one eye. When Polyphemus returned, he ate two more of Odysseus' men. Odysseus gets Polyphemus drunk with wine, and when Polyphemus asks Odysseus his name, he says "Nobody". They they stick the spike in the cyclops' eye, blinding him. Polyphemus cries out for help from his fellow cyclops, but when they ask him who was harming him, all Polyphemus could says was "Nobody". Odysseus and his men tied themselves to the bellies of the sheep and were able to get past the blinded Polyphemus the next morning. When Odysseus and his men get away from the island of the cyclops, Odysseus teases Polyphemus by telling him his real name. Polyphemus calls upon his father, Poseidon, god of the sea, to punish Odysseus, and this is why he doesn't get home for ten years.
What do we learn about Cyclopes in The Odyssey?
In Homer's Odyssey we learn a few important details about the Cyclopes.
First, we learn that they are not very civilized. For example, they do not have laws or councils. For the Greeks this was odd, as they had city-states (poleis) and the rule of law was central to their life. So, we can say that the Cyclopes were very unGreek in this sense. They were veritable barbarians.
Second, we learn that the Cyclopes had no idea of hospitality. Odysseus tarried on the island of the Cyclopes thinking that he would receive some sort of hospitality. Hospitality was important and understood to be given in the Greek world. In fact, Zeus was a god of hospitality. Odysseus would find out that the Cyclopes were so barbaric that they wanted to eat his men. They succeeded to a certain extent and Odysseus was lucky to escape.
Finally, The Cyclopes lived in a very fertile land. This was fortunate for them, because they had no civilization. Hence, they did not cultivate their land.