The Greek Hero In Homer's The Odyssey

PRO-CYCLOPS

The Greek hero in Homer’s epic The Odyssey—Odysseus, the king of Ithaca—still hasn’t returned home in years after the end of the Trojan War. He realizes that he needs to get back to his wife, Penelope—who has a crowd of suitors flocking their palace—and his son, Telemachus, who takes on a journey to finally question the father he did not grow up with. During Odysseus’ trip to his homeland, he encounters the cannibalistic one-eyed giant and son of Poseidon, Polyphemus, on the island of the Cyclops. There, he and his men enter the Cyclops’ cave filled with provisions. Polyphemus returns with his flocks and blocks the entrance, not knowing about the intruders. Upon his return, Odysseus offered and intoxicated the giant with some of

the fine wine he had on hand. After telling the Cyclops that his name is “Nobody”, Odysseus and his men takes a wooden stake and blinds Polyphemus’ single eye. The next morning, the blind Cyclops releases his sheep out to graze. However, Odysseus had told his men to tie themselves under the cattle and soon escapes. As he and his men sail off, Odysseus boasts to Polyphemus by revealing his name. The Cyclops then asked his father to punish Odysseus, causing him to deviate from his planned route even further. Although some might argue that the Cyclops is portrayed as the villainous monster, ultimately it is Odysseus who is the hubris villain in Book 9 of Homer’s The Odyssey.

When Odysseus’ curiosity leads him to venture forth and explore the cave of Polyphemus, his men wanted to plunder the Cyclops’ possessions—the cattle and cheeses—and leave. However, Odysseus responds: “But I would not give way—and how much better it would have been—not till I saw him, saw what gifts he’d give.” Although Odysseus and his crew did not know that these possessions belonged to the Cyclops, they should know that the cheeses were handmade by whoever resided in the cave. His response to his crew implied that he could have stolen the cattle and cheeses, which the Cyclops himself labored for. For sure Odysseus does not want to steal in the beginning, but that doesn’t mean he is a good man at heart. Instead of thinking about morality, Odysseus was more into the thought of what he will get from the host by not committing theft. This is an act of motivation in order to receive what he thinks he deserves. It may not have been culturally acceptable for the Cyclops to defend his livelihood against new foreigners, but Odysseus would defend his with all of his life. However, Polyphemus is not a mortal human; he shouldn’t be placed under the same cultural customs of those who are. Fortunately for him, his homeland is lush—a fine work of the gods. The Cyclops does not feel the need to become a part of the usual customs of civilization since he has no laws, councils, or rules of hospitality. Odysseus insisted on staying to try the hospitality of the Cyclops as a way of seeing if he could manipulate the Cyclops into rewarding him. After testing out the giant’s receptions, Odysseus soon realizes that this decision ultimately resulted in the death of several of his allies.

While it may seem to be Polyphemus’ fault when he devoured several of Odysseus’ men after finding them before they could escape, Odysseus is responsible for the deaths of his allies.

While Odysseus was packing the fine wine that Maron gave him, he had a feeling that he would soon go against something brutal within the cave: “A sudden foreboding told my righting spirit I’d soon come up against some giant clad in power like armor-plate—a savage deaf to justice, blind to law.” In the beginning, Odysseus had ignored his comrades after they tried to convince him to take the Cyclops’ cheeses and goats. They had also suggested that they leave the cave soon after so that they would not have to face any more trouble. However, Odysseus had another plan. Instead, when Odysseus tried to use the rule of hospitality towards Polyphemus, the giant cared not for their custom, clearly spoken as he wiped out some of Odysseus’ allies. The Cyclops could have been offended, or he does not care and only desired to prove the men that he would rather not obey their asking. Consuming the men in Odysseus’ crew had proved that and clear, thanks to Odysseus’ hubristic

plans.

The schemes Odysseus planned during his stay at Polyphemus’ cave shows how he manages to trick the giant and escape.

Before getting the Cyclops drunk enough to pass out, he asks Odysseus for his name. However, Odysseus doesn’t give a truthful response: “Cyclops, you asked about my famous name. I’ll tell you. Then you can offer me a gift, as your guest. My name is Nobody.” Because Odysseus is infamous for being the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, we can assume that he was only protecting his title by not telling the Cyclops his actual name—for now. However, this could also mean that Odysseus lied to the Cyclops to trick him with malicious intent—an approach to get the Cyclops to reward him. Later, Odysseus and his men brutally gouge the drunk Cyclops’ eye with a wooden burning stake until he wakes in rage and moves the giant boulder blocking the entrance of to the cave. Concerned about the shouting coming from the hi cave, his fellow Cyclops asks Polyphemus who is bothering him. He responds by saying “Nobody” is bothering him. Odysseus had lured the gullible Cyclops into his trap using his uncanny ability to trick those that are higher than him, resulting in others getting hurt. Once Odysseus and his men were able to escape the cave of the Cyclops, Odysseus continues to taunt the giant even more, despite his men’s urging to the contrary: “...again I began to taunt the Cyclops—men around me trying to check me, calm me, left and right: ‘So headstrong—why? Why rile the beast

again?’” Despite these pleas from his men, Odysseus decides to make the foolish act of revealing his identity to the Cyclops when he was not supposed to: “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the each should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so—say Odysseus.” Hearing the true identity of the man who had invaded his home, Polyphemus no longer sees Odysseus as a reliable man after finding out that “Nobody” was not a nobody after all—he was the “loyal” king of Ithaca.

All in all, Polyphemus is not a villain and should be brought into a lighter viewpoint. Odysseus was the one who chose to break into the Cyclops’ cave and was immediately well aware of all the provisions laid out beyond him and dealt with this by expecting the Cyclops to know about the rule of hospitality. This had consequently lead to the cost of the lives of Odysseus’ allies, especially since he had a feeling that he and his men would go up against a giant in the cave they were about to walk into from the beginning. Because the giant did not know what to do after seeing Odysseus and his men in his cave, he ate some of Odysseus’ allies, which resulted in losing his eye. In addition to that, Odysseus lies to the Cyclops only to eventually reveal his identity to the giant, confirming a sense of unreliability for Odysseus. Although Odysseus was only doing what he had to do as an act of self-defense with an obligation to survive, the Cyclops should not be blamed for his own unawareness in contrast to Odysseus’ hubris perception.