Monster · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
Polyphemus
One-eyed giant of the cave
Brutal, lawless, slow; his one clever act is a curse.
The Cyclops who rolls a stone across his cave mouth and eats Odysseus' men two at a time, until a sharpened olive stake and the name 'Noman' get the survivors out under his sheep. His prayer to his father Poseidon is the curse the rest of the voyage runs on.
Bonds
- Poseidon father of Polyphemus — hears the Cyclops' curse
- Polyphemus captor of Odysseus — traps the party in his cave
- Odysseus blinds Polyphemus — bores out his single eye
- Odysseus deceives Polyphemus — gives his name as 'Noman'
- Polyphemus dwells in Cyclops-land — his cave above the goat-slopes
Appears in
- Book IX The Ciconians, Lotus-Eaters, and Cyclops
Scenes
- Athena pleads for Odysseus — Book I. Athena begs Zeus, plans to send Hermes
- Council Convenes — Book II. Telemachus calls Ithaca’s first council
- Athena’s Dream Visit — Book VI. Athena urges Nausicaä to wash robes
- Alcinoüs’ Promise — Book VII. Alcinoüs vows council, wonders if a god
- The Cyclops’ shores — Book IX. Crew hunts wild goats by day
- Scouting Polyphemus’s cave — Book IX. Odysseus scouts Polyphemus’s cave with wine
- Trapped in the cave — Book IX. Polyphemus traps crew behind boulder
- Polyphemus interrogates — Book IX. Polyphemus demands origin, scorns Zeus
- Devoured — Book IX. Odysseus lies about ship, four devoured
- The stake is prepared — Book IX. Odysseus hides stake, draws lots
- Wine loosens the giant — Book IX. Polyphemus drinks wine, grows drunk
- Noman blinds the Cyclops — Book IX. Men bore stake into Polyphemus’s eye
- Noman fools the neighbors — Book IX. Noman trick sends neighbors away
- Escape beneath the rams — Book IX. Crew slips past Polyphemus under rams
- Odysseus reveals his name — Book IX. Odysseus boasts, Polyphemus recalls prophecy
- The fleet regained — Book IX. Polyphemus’s curse, ship dodges boulder
- Smoke in the Woods — Book X. Odysseus spots smoke, men weep
- Eurylochus Balks Again — Book X. Eurylochus balks, Odysseus nearly kills him
- Nearing the Strait — Book XII. Odysseus defies Circè, arms himself
- Odysseus’ restless night — Book XX. Odysseus seethes at laughter, checks rage
- Night of Shared Tales — Book XXIII. Penelope, Odysseus share their tales