The One-Eyed, Giant Cyclops In Homer's Odyssey

Since the cyclops’ vision is impaired, Odysseus “tied them silently together, twining/cords of willow from the ogre’s bed/then slung a man under each middle one/to ride there safely, shielded left and right/So three sheep could convey each man” (Homer 500). Odysseus possess the trait of cleverness which is demonstrated through his quick thinking and by only using using the resources available to free his men from Polyphemus’ grasp. He is a man to be revered because he uses his cunning skills to help others reach safety. Odysseus is also the last man to exit the cave because he puts their lives before his. He is also willing to take the responsibility and consequences of their actions. For example, if the cyclops were to notice him he would force his men escape and leave him behind to be devoured. Odysseus is a hero, for his willingness to put his companions’ lives before his own and use of his wits to save those around him.

First, when making decisions, one must always acknowledge his opponents. One should especially consider the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, after contemplating the skills of the Cyclops in the cave, Odysseus “drew on all [his] wits, and ran through tactics... until a trick came and it pleased [him] well"(Fitzgerald 381). Odysseus realizes that the Cyclops would defeat him in any physical confrontation due to his well-developed brute strength; as a result, he plans to trick him because he knows that he is intellectually superior to the Cyclops. Through his review of the Cyclops’s

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 is described as a god-like man. He is cunning, sly, suave, strong, confident and self-possessed. He accomplishes many great events like that of defeating the Trojans, slaying the suitors and travelling to and back from Hades. When on the beach in Phaeacia he confidently “stalked as a mountain lion exultant in his power strides through wind and rain and his eyes blaze and he charges sheep or oxen or chases wild deer” , and when he sees Nausicaa “He launched in at once, endearing, sly and suave” . Athena found him to be “so winning, so worldly wise, so self possessed!” . Neither does he lack in ingenuity, King Nestor said that “No one...could hope to rival Odysseus, not for sheer cunning–at every twist of strategy he excelled us all” . Odysseus has a large and gallant reputation to fulfil, but when he first makes an appearance in the book he is crying on Calypso’s island. Crying is often seen as a weakness in a man, but this makes Odysseus more endearing as it reveals the labour of his love.

The eight Greek evil thoughts is a moral code, which the ancient Greeks were to abide by, the evil thoughts were never to be explored in someone’s mind. The evil thoughts are a symbol of the ancient Greek culture and how things were done in that era. “The Cyclops” is an episode in the epic The Odyssey written by Homer, in which Odysseus and his men camp out in the cave of Polyphemus, a cyclops waiting for him to confront them. When he does, Odysseus tricks him into making himself vulnerable and Odysseus and his men attack him and puncture his eye, then use his sheep to make their way out of the cave. In the episode of “The Cyclops” Odysseus falls prey to several of the eight Greek evil thoughts, the main ones being kenodoxia (boasting), orge

Showing sympathy and compassion to others is one of the major lessons that the parents teach their children about at a very young age. When I was only four years old, my mother told me about the importance of being sympathetic because if you give someone a second chance, later on down the road they might give you one too. Being sympathetic not only benefits the person you are being sympathetic towards, but you might eventually get something out of it as well. Despite his frightening appearance, the cyclops Polyphemus from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey is quite the sympathetic character. The reader sees sympathy in Polyphemus in the way the cyclops treats Odysseus and his men.

In Book 9, Odysseus does battle with a popular Greek Mythology creature the Cyclopes. Here Odysseus shows us how cunning he can be. While trapped Odysseus really fears that he will never see that homeland of Ithaca ever again. He is very mournful and we see just how much he misses home. He finally realizes how to escape from the Cyclops. He stabs the Cyclops in his only eye blinding him. He then tells the monster

When leaving the beast’s lair, he escapes to his ship, and he yells to the giant shouting “I say, cyclops! If ever anyone asks you who put out your eye, tell him your blinder was Odysseus, the conqueror of Troy, son of Laertes, whose address is in Ithaca”(111). Even in victory, Odysseus puts him and his crew in danger when he takes credit for his brilliance, regardless of the consequences he may face. This nearly fatal mistake teaches him a lesson, to remain humble until the time is right. Odysseus later applies this knowledge when he returns home, disguised as a humble peasant, waiting patiently for an opportunity. One of the more arrogant suiters that took over his home in his absence, Antinoos, takes offence at once of Odysseus minor insults and throws a chair at him, “But Odysseus stood firm as a rack: the blow did not move him, he only threw back his head silently, and brooded over his vengeance” (200). Due to the repercussions he faced from lashing out at the cyclops, Odysseus gained the patience to endure severe aggravation. This completes the return to the ordinary world stage of his journey, applying his newfound knowledge to his situation to improve

This leader shows loyalty to his men. When his crew eats the lotus flowers causing them to lose the desire to return home, he does not leave his men behind. Odysseus forces his men to get on the ship and refuses to leave without them. Also when Circe turns his men into swine, he persuades her to change them back to their normal form. Odysseus is also very wise, in the Trojan War it was his idea to use the Trojan horse. He knew not to tell his men about Scylla and Charybdis, for they would be extremely fearful and not want to pursue the mission. Odysseus is also very crafty and strategic. In the spur of the moment he came up with plan to get out of the Cyclops’s cave. Odysseus tricked the Cyclops into thinking his name was “Nobody,” and then figured out a way to escape. Another occurrence was when his ship wrecked, he crafted a raft out of the broken pieces of his ship and

As he finally outsmarts the cyclops, Polyphemus, he taunts him, letting his pride and anger take over instead of his mind. The narrator recounts, “I called back with another burst of anger, ‘Cyclops — 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, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!’” (9. 558-562). Odysseus has the chance to arrive home safely, but instead his emotion leads him to lash out. This results in Poseidon's fury, which is easily avoided. This prolongs his journey by multiple years, which draws out his journey to go back to his family. Once Odysseus finally arrives home, Athena disguises him as a beggar. Not being able to control his anger, when another tramp insults him, they start fighting which he could have abstained from doing. The epic states, “Tongue-lashing each other, tempers flaring” (18. 39). Odysseus could have easily stayed quiet and accepted his inhumane treatment, and yet his emotions take control and he starts a fight. Odysseus reveals himself as a greater threat than he wants them to know, and this causes the suitors to have mass amounts of anger and hatred towards the beggar. With the suitors multiplying fury, Odysseus is withheld of precious time he needed to fulfill his roles as a king again. An exceptionally vast consequence for Odysseus foolhardy actions

Physically, he gouges out the Cyclops' eye. "So we seized our stake with its fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant's eye till blood came boiling up around that smoking shaft and the hot blast singed his brow and eyelids round the core and the broiling eyeball burst" (Homer 223). Mentally, he makes a plan to get the cyclops drunk and wait for him to pass out before stabbing his eye out. "Here, Cyclops, try this wine-to top off the banquet of human flesh you've bolted down" (Homer 222). In this trial Odysseus shows quick thinking action, and power to get what needs to be done, done. The Cyclops trial truly showed Odysseus'

“The Intelligence, but Foolish Overconfidence, of Odysseus” Odysseus, the heroic protagonist in Homer’s epic The Odyssey, struggles for 10 years to get back to his homeland of Ithaca and to his faithful wife, Penelope. While Odysseus passes through foreign lands, he earns the respect of some gods and the wrath of others, loses crew members and friends, faces many difficult decisions and literally journeys to hell and back. However, the particular challenge that Odysseus faces with a Cyclops, Polyphemus, illustrates one of his best qualities and quickly contrasts it with one of his worst qualities; his superior intelligence with his overconfidence and demanding need for glory. Odysseus comes into contact with Polyphemus after his crew unknowingly

Odysseus might’ve been a very strong mortal, but throughout the story he learns that cunning overpowers physical strength. In some parts of the story Odysseus knew that with his strength, he wouldn’t be able to defeat the obstacles by with his physical strength so he used his cunning powers and outsmarted his opponent. Just like in the passage The Cyclops, Odysseus states, “Cyclops, try some wine, there is some liquor to wash down your scraps of men,” (Line 296-297.) That explains that Odysseus knew that he couldn't out strengthen the cyclops with his physical strength, so what he did was that he gave the cyclops some wine to get Polyphemus drunk and stabbed his eye so then Polyphemus wouldn’t be able to see and they could escape with the sheep with no problem. Also in the story, The Challenge, the narrator says, “Penelope says she will marry the man who can string Odysseus’ bow… the suitors try and fail.

The Odyssey is a great example of heroes and the traits they possess. One such hero in the book is named Odysseus. A man who has been away from his home in Ithaca for 20 years. Throughout his adventures, he has been through many dangerous obstacles in the way of him and his crew, which have even taken the lives of many of his men as well. The traits that make Odysseus a hero are courage, intelligence, and confidence.

In the Odyssey, Homer used the olive branch to symbolize an escape from the Cyclops, and a way back home to Ithaca. When Odysseus and his men are trapped in the cave with the cyclops, they find an olive tree about the size of a ships mast. They first intoxicate the cyclops with the wine that they brought. Then they sharpen and harden the tip of the olive tree into a point and then “Ram [the olive branch] deep in his crater eye” (905) blinding the Cyclops and allowing them to escape. Odysseus calls upon his wits and wisdom to help regain control of the situation that he brought upon himself and his men. If Odysseus and his men were not to escape from the cyclops, what would become of them? By intoxicating the cyclops and blinding the cyclops,