The Land Of The Cyclops In Homer's Odyssey

The Land Of The Cyclops

In The Odyssey by Homer, edited by Fitzgerald, Odysseus and his shipmates are trying to make it back to their homeland, Ithaca. In Book 9, ‘’The Land of The Cyclops’’ edited by Fitzgerald, he comes forth to a giant cyclops, Polyphemus. This event alters Odysseus’s journey back home and causes many catastrophes upon him and his crew. Next, in the ‘’The Blinding of Polyphemus” by Robert Dickerson, Odysseus’s moments on the Cyclops Island are outlined. The poem highlights how Polyphemus lost his eye due to Odysseus and his men trying to escape out of his cave before he ate them. A visual ‘’The Cyclops Polyphemus blinded by Odysseus and his men’’ displays an image of how Polyphemus getting blinded went down. A good way

to picture the event that happened during their moments in the cave. In fact, the poem and the image ties into ‘’The Land Of The Cyclops’’ because Polyphemus was the one who wished bad upon Odysseus journey back to his homeland setting a suspenseful, thrilling tone as Odysseus overcomes the obstacles Polyphemus places upon him.
In ‘’The Land Of The Cyclops” by Homer Ed Fitzgerald, Odysseus lands on Cyclops island with his shipmates.The Island is full of one-eyed giant who live along mountain caves who are cannibals and eat Odysseus men.

Odysseus comes up with a plan to try and escape the Island and this sets a suspenseful, gory tone. “ He dismembered them and made his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion-everything innards, flesh, and marrow bones.” (Fitzgerald 287-289) Polyphemus is brutally eating Odysseus men without a care right in front of them and this begins to anger Odysseus and take action quickly before him and the rest of his crew are gone. He comes up with a plan to escape by offering Polyphemus some wine. “Cyclops,try some wine. Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men.”(Fitzgerald 348-349). This was the best opportunity for Odysseus. Once Polyphemus had fallen asleep from the wine it led him take his final chance to get him and his men out of that

cave.
In “The Blinding Of Polyphemus” by Robert Dickerson, it dilates the actions of Odysseus and his crew taking out Polyphemus’s eye. The tone is very putrid and disturbing because the event that takes place is dramatic. After Polyphemus had passed out they took action on to him and they ”..ran with gathering steam against the heavy lidded orb, burying the firepoint like a fork into a melon into the sink-hole of light, on which therefore darkness closed forever.” (Dickerson 16-19). Odysseus stabs Polyphemus into his eye with a sharp object which causes him to become blind. Polyphemus is angered by this and tries to catch Odysseus and his men but can’t seem to get them because they hid under his sheep and escap the cave.”Then with a ruse the every child knows each a clutch of rams’ wooley belly escaped to the ship and sailed over the horizon.” (Dickerson 22-24). They manage to escape and sail out when Polyphemus opened the cave and felt each ram as they left out , although Odysseus and his men were under the ram's belly and snuck their way to their ship with Polyphemus cattle. On their way out Odysseus tells Polyphemus his real name and this leads to Polyphemus wishing horrible things onto Odysseus and his journey back to Ithaca.
In the Illustration “ The Cyclops Polyphemus Blinded by Odysseus and his men” by Unknown Artist.

It shows Odysseus and his crew holding a giant pitchfork near the giant’s eye getting ready to stab Polyphemus the cave is dark and creepy with only a fire pit providing light setting a gloomy tone. “the one sole eye of Polyphemus shone/wicked ,hippic/ and dilated with the drink it had absorbed-/hooded,half, in drowsy-drunken slumber.”(Dickerson 5-8). Polyphemus is laying down sleeping from the wine Odysseus had given him, as they stand above him preparing to drive the giant object into Polyphemus eye. The sheep are also shown in the image, “The Cyclops’ rams were handsome,fat, with heavy/fleeces, a dark violet.”(Fitzgerald 434-435). They were used for them all to escape the cave without Polyphemus knowing that it was them. The men eventually break free and make their way back to shore. In conclusion the men make it free and the tone is now set at like a

relief.
Overall these stories all tie into one, due to all the events being about Polyphemus and his eye being taken out by the men which is why the tone is gory and gloomy because these events take place in a dark cave on an Island surrounded by giant Cyclops.