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The Role Of Polyphemus In The Odyssey

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The Odyssey is unique in that unlike most other narratives, which present only one possibility for a sequence of events, it provides alternative endings for a sequence of events, or another way to interpret a scene or major plot point. Such capaciousness in the narrative allows Homer to expand upon the basic themes presented in the book and provide a multidimensional point of view that does not merely consider events from the perspective of the protagonist. For example, throughout the book, the death of Agamemnon at the hands of his unfaithful wife, Clytemnestra, and Aegisthus, Clytemnestra’s lover, is constantly juxtaposed with Odysseus’s ongoing pursuit of nostos, serving as a shadow of the current story. However, one other notable example …show more content…

As Odysseus tells his story, Polyphemus is described as a grim loner, dead set in his own lawless ways./ Here was a piece of work, by god, a monster/ built like no mortal who ever supped on bread” (IX: 217). Polyphemus is depicted as a monster who has a “rumbling voice and monstrous hulk” (IX: 219), and later on, a “ruthless brute” (IX: 220). Immediately, the reader is confronted with an image of a giant, hulking monster devoid of any sense of culture. In addition, through the reference of humans eating bread, Odysseus appeals to the motif that has been established throughout the book, in which civilized men are expected to consume bread. Odysseus appeals to yet another motif when he attempts to negotiate with the Cyclops and avoid the deaths of his men by invoking the idea of xenia, saying, “we’re at your knees in hopes of a warm welcome, even a guest-gift, the sort that hosts give strangers. That’s the custom” (IX: 220). By focusing on the lack of the hospitality, a custom dear to most of the civilized characters within the poem, the barbarian nature of Polyphemus is further emphasized. Finally, Odysseus emphasized that Polyphemus says that “Cyclops never blink at Zeus and Zeus’ shield of storm and thunder, or any blessed god” (IX: …show more content…

As he planned the death of the suitors with Telemachus, the cowherd, and the swineherd, he orders his cowherd to “shoot the bolt of the courtyard’s outer gate, / lock it, lash it fast” (XXVI: 432). This is remarkably similar to when the Cyclops leaves his cave during the day, “lifting the huge doorslab up and away. . . slipped it back in place/ as a hunter flips the lid of his quiver shut” (IX: 221), trapping Odysseus and his men inside. Ironically, while Odysseus may have derided Polyphemus earlier on in the poem, He eventually commits the same act himself. Another interesting aspect of the narrative is that as he kills the suitors, all of the events are narrated in vivid detail, just like how Antinous’ “life-blood came spurting from his nostrils – thick red jets. . . the bread and meats soaked in a swirl of bloody filth” (XXII: 440). The vivid imagery strongly reminiscent of when Polyphemus killed two of Odysseus’ men, “knocked them dead like pups –/ their brains gushed all over, soaked the floor” (IX: 220). The use of vivid imagery in depicting the scene in Odysseus’ hall further underscores the savagery that and atrocity that Odysseus has committed. At the end of the scene, Odysseus is described as being “splattered with bloody filth like a lion. . . covered in blood/ chest streaked, both jaws glistening, dripping red” (XXII:

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