Polyphemus Research Paper

Polyphemus is startled to see Odysseus and his men. Polyphemus snatches two men and makes his meal. Odysseus wants to take his sword to Polyphemus but knows if he kills him now he won’t be able to escape because of the giant boulder. The next day while Polyphemus is pasturing his sheep, Odysseus finds and hardens a wooden staff. When Polyphemus returns, Odysseus offered Polyphemus some wine. “‘Here, Cyclops, drink some wine after of human flesh, and see what sort of liquor our ship held. I brought it as an offering thinking that you might pity me and send me home. But you are mad past bearing. Reckless! How should a stranger come to you again from any people, when you have done this wicked deed?’ So I spoke; he took the cup and drank it off, and mighty pleased he was with the taste of the sweet liquor, and thus he asked me for it yet again:

Today we landed on a cyclops’ island. The cyclops was Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus. We had escaped his wraith using an ingenious plan devised by Odysseus. However, even after we had escaped, Odysseus decided to taunt the cyclops, frustrating all of the crew. What an idiot Odysseus was, soon after he taunted the cyclops, Polyphemus personally asked Poseidon himself to kill all of Odysseus’ crewmen, including me! Our captain’s foolishness has angered a god, one of the most powerful gods, and we are sailing on his waters! I wish that our captain would give up his pride and leave peacefully. It is just so frustrating to know that I will suffer for his actions. Even though his actions were foolish, I have talked it over with my friends, they all agree

Odysseus’s escape from the Cyclops is one of great intelligence. A Cyclops is a giant one eyed monster. Homer said, “The booming voice and the very sight of the monster filled us with panic” (IX, 256). From the first moment Odysseus and his men set eyes on the Cyclops they know they are in trouble and will not be able to get out easily. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, eats two of Odysseus’ men from the start. As soon as this happens, Odysseus

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and

When the Cyclops returns, he kills some of the men. Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name is Nobody and plans his escape from the barricaded cave with his crew. They trick the Cyclops into drinking lots of wine, he falls asleep, and the crew stabs Polyphemus in the eye. As they escape onto the ship and begin to sail away, Odysseus yells to Polyphemus: “Cyclops, if any mortal human being asks about the injury that blinded you, tell them Odysseus destroyed your eye, a sacker of cities, Laertes’ son, a man from Ithaca.”(9.662) The Cyclops in response prays to his father, “Poseidon, Enfolder of the Earth, dark-haired god, if I truly am your son and if you claim to be my father, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, a man from Ithaca, Laertes’ son, never gets back home.”(9.696) Odysseus tells Polyphemus his true name just to get credit for overpowering the Cyclops. In result, Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon and this makes his father avenge his son and make Odysseus’ trip home as difficult and as painful as he can. After visiting Aeolus in Aeolia, Odysseus returns to the ship with a bag of winds and refuses to tell his crew what is

The wanderings of Odysseus that were told to King Alkinoos in books IX to XII in the epic poem The Odyssey, help reveal that Odysseus is clever, easily tempted and not trustworthy. Odysseus and all of his men were trapped in the cave of Polyphemus and there was no way out. So, Odysseus came up with the clever plan of drugging the Cyclops with the gift of wine, which caused him to pass out, but before the giant Cyclops passed out, he asked for Odysseus’ name. Being the clever man he is, Odysseus told him that his “name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohdy” (9.397-398) .Odysseus then took action and got help from his men to sharpen and smooth a wooden stake. Then Odysseus “hewed again to make a stake with a pointed end”

Odysseus decides to yell back his actual name, making sure his victim knows who has outsmarted him, “If ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye; Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!,” (The Cyclops.502-505). The detriment of his life is now allowing Polyphemus to ask his father to punish Odysseus for what he has done, and if his pride did not get to the best of him and had he been satisfied with just knowing that he outwitted his opponent, he would have been able to sail home without trouble, but he had to taunt Polyphemus. After Odysseus and his men go to the Cyclop’s cave and find that the creature is not there, Odysseus’ men want to take some food and leave. However, Odysseus does not want to take his men’s

Odysseus and his men were expecting to be treated with hospitality but the Cyclops showed just the opposite as he “dismembered them and made them his meal” (281). So instead he is cruel to them when he violently rips the apart and eats them. Even though Odysseus’s men are now dead, Odysseus still shows kindness to the Cyclops by asking if he wanted to “try some wine” (343). But, Odysseus quickly turns his back on the Cyclops as he takes a spear and “(rams) it deep in his crater eye” (377). So, Odysseus deceives the Cyclops by being kind then later being

On Odysseus's mission, he comes across the Cyclops's cave. Without being acquainted with the proprietor, Odysseus and his men eat the cheese in the abode. Once the cretin comes home to find his home pillaged, Polyphemus eats one of the men. Odysseus failed to present himself hospitality to the giant; therefore he deserved to be punished by losing one of his men. Polyphemus also botched the concept of xenia by refusing to listen to Odysseus’ plea, yet drinking the wine: Odysseus’ gift. The Cyclops also denied his guests approval to leave the home. In rebuttal for the Cyclops's action, Odysseus and his men carve a sharp wooden spear to stick in the Cyclops eye and blind while Polyphemus fell in a deep sleep. Afterwards, the crew escape the cave by blending in with the herd of sheep. A key reason Odysseus’ journey home takes ten long years is because he angers the god Poseidon by blinding his son, the Cyclops. In itself, the act may be justified, but because it is done in the Cyclops’ home. Odysseus is breaking the xenia laws; he is being the ultimate bad

The monsters names are The Minotaur and the Polyphemus. The Minotaur is a Greek Monsters that lives in a maze called the Labyrinth. He is part man, part bull and the King of the Athenaeus had gave it sacrifices of 7 boys and 7 girls. He got defeated by Theseus the king's son he defeated him by using a wool of string which was given to him by the king's daughter. He made it through the maze and back out without getting eaten. The Cyclops name is Polyphemus he lives on an island where he lives in a cave and were he tends his sheep. But one day after walking his sheep he found “The Odysseus” and his men in his cave eating his food. He locked them in and ate them they escaped Polyphemus by stabbing his eye and Odysseus men escaped by hiding under

Polyphemus believes himself and his fellow cyclops to be stronger than the Gods. When he states that “We Cyclopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus or all the gods in bliss; we have more force by far” (Homer 45). It is in this opposing action that Odysseus is stupefied. Odysseus just threatened the beast with the wrath of Zeus and instead of fear, Polyphemus is resentful towards the Gods and shows no fear. The surprise is only amplified by the realization that killing Polyphemus would only entrap Odysseus and his men. Polyphemus had sealed the doorway with a slab of stone that would take many men and horses to move. Odysseus realized the societal contrast between the Greeks, who kept the upmost respect for the Gods, and the will of the Gods, and the Cyclopes’ society that lack any acknowledgment of the Gods. The lawlessness of the Cyclopes’ home is unwieldy compared to the strict rule laid out for the citizens of Greece to follow. Opposed to the confines of Greece, the Cyclops Polyphemus is a lawless shepherd that does as he pleases without fear of reprehension from the Gods or his lack of official government. The anarchism of the society is what allows the Cyclops the freedom to eat

            Odysseus is no god.  He is man, and with that comes the mistakes and errors in all of us.  In many situations Odysseus' mortal side is seen.  An example of the power of Odysseus coinciding with his human flaws is his battle with Polyphemous the Cyclops (son of Poseidon).  After escaping the lure of the lotus-eaters and their island, Odysseus and his men find themselves on another island, rich with food and shelter.  After feasting, the men grab a large container of potent wine and go off exploring the new island.  Later in their search they stumble across a large cave filled with food.  Curious where the owner's whereabouts are the men encourage Odysseus to steal the food.  Odysseus (showing his hospitable and genuine character) decides to instead wait for the

Physarum Polycephelum, literally, “many headed slime” is most often found as a single celled, multinucleate myxomycete (Gott, nd). In other words, it's a slime mold made up of many interwoven strands that work together as one body (Speer, Waggoner, 1997). It thrives in a damp, cool, shaded habitat, like mossy logs or tree bark in a forest (Gott, nd) and grows at about 1 cm per hour (Ball, 2008). Scientists typically create this environment by using damp paper and dark spaces. It’s typically yellow, and is a heterotroph, which means it cannot synthesize its own food. It survives on a diet of fungal spores and bacteria. To eat its food it covers it and secretes enzymes (Gott, nd). Physarum Polycephelum grows by creating a network of tubes that

When Odysseus arrives at the island of the Cyclops, his first mistake occurs when he decides that he and men should stay in the cave and meet Polyphemus, even when his men advised him to take the goods and leave (IX.215-217). At this instance, Odysseus’s decision is influenced by his ego. He sees all the goods in the cave and the reason he stays is because he hopes that the Cyclops would give him a gift of hospitality. This is interesting because Odysseus does not know whether the Cyclops is civilized or a brute; however, Odysseus goes forward with his plan because he believes the Cyclops will listen to him since the gods are on his side. In this instance, Odysseus is calling himself powerful because he has the support of the gods especially Zeus, when he threatens the Cyclops that “Zeus avenges strangers and suppliants” (IX. 262). If his ego was not already high, Odysseus boosts it even more when he believes that he has outsmarted the Cyclops by not falling into the trap of telling the location of his ships (IX.273-277). At this point, Odysseus

While mortals do not unjustly complain about their fates, they fail to acknowledge that they are also responsible for their ill fate, as mortals themselves, possess a sizable degree of control. There is little doubt that Odysseus and his crew are unlucky, but had it not been for their brash decisions they would have reached Ithaca much sooner. After Odysseus cunningly escapes the Cyclops, Polyphemos, his pride gets the best of him, as taunts the Polyphemos proclaiming, “if any man on the face of the earth should ask you/ who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus/ raider of cities, he gouged out your eye” (9.559-561). Odysseus’ arrogance furthers his misfortune, since Polyphemos is Poseidon’s son. Polyphemos proceeds to ask his father to never allow Odysseus to return and if Odysseus returns home that it be well over due and without his crew;