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The Legend of the CyclopsOdysseus and his men continued their travels. They soon came across an island. They beached on the island of the Cyclopes. Odysseus left some men on the ship and the rest of the crew went with him onto the island. They started to explored the island to see if they could find food and shelter. The first thing they saw was a big cave overlooking the beach. The cave was enormous and inside there were milking pens for goats and big cheeses aging on racks. The men were for making off with the cheeses and the gosts that they found in the cave, but Odysseus wanted to see what manner of being made this his lair. So Odysseus and his men waited and waited. Very soon giant footsteps could be heard in the distance. Odysseus ordered his men to hide behind some large rocks. Suddenly a giant Cyclops called Polyphemus came home to his cave that afternoon, he blotted out the light in the doorway. He was as tall and very rugged. He had one huge eye glaring out of the centre of his forehead. He didn't see Odysseus and his men at first and went about his business. The first thing he did was drag a huge boulder into the mouth of the cave. Twenty teams of horses couldn't have budged it. Then he milked his ewes, separating out the curds and setting the whey aside to drink with his dinner. It was when he stoked his fire for the meal that he saw one of the men. “Who are you?” boomed a voice like thunder. “We are Greeks, blown off course on our way home from Troy,” Odysseus explained. “We assume you'll extend hospitality to us or suffer the wrath of Zeus, protector of guests.” “Zeus? We Cyclopes are stronger than Zeus. I'll show you hospitality.” With that the Cyclops snatched up two of Odysseus’s men and bashed their brains out on the floor. Then he ate them raw, picking them apart and poking them in his mouth, bones and guts and all. Odysseus and his men cried aloud to Zeus to help them, for all the good it did our comrades. The Cyclops washed them down with great slurps of milk, smacked his lips in satisfaction and went to sleep. Odysseus had his hand on his sword, eager to stab the Cyclops in some vital spot. But he realized that the Cyclops was the only one who could remove the boulder from the mouth of the cave. Odysseus and his men passed a miserable night and then watched the Cyclops make breakfast of two more of the men. When he went out to pasture his flock, he pulled the boulder closed behind him. Odysseus decided it was up to him to make a plan. He found a tree trunk that the Cyclops intended for a walking stick. The men cut off a six-foot section, skinned it, put a sharp point on one end and hardened it in the fire. Then they hid it under a pile of manure. When the Cyclops came home and made his usual meal, Odysseus spoke to him. “Cyclops, you might as well take some of our liquor to savour with your barbarous feast.” Odysseus had brought along a skin of wine that he’d been given as a gift. It was so strong that they usually diluted it in water twenty to one. The Cyclops took the wine and tossed it back and then demanded more. “I like you, Greek,' he said. 'I'm going to do you a favour. What's your name?” “My name is Nobody,' Odysseus told him. It turned out that the favour he intended was to eat Odysseus last. But when the wine had knocked him out, Odysseus put his plan into effect. Heating the end of the pole until it was glowing red, Odysseus and his men ran it toward the Cyclops like a battering ram, aiming it for his one and only eye and driving it deep. The thing sizzled like hot metal dropped in water while they twisted it. Polyphemus came awake with a roar, tore the spike from his eye and began groping for the men in his blindness. His screams of frustration and rage were so loud that it brought the neighbouring Cyclopes to the mouth of the cave. “What is it, brother?” they called inside. “Is someone harming you?” ”It's Nobody!” bellowed Polyphemus. ”Then for the love of Poseidon pipe down in there!” With that they went away, and Polyphemus heaved the boulder aside and spent the night by the open door, hoping Odysseus and his men would be stupid enough to try to sneak past him. Getting past him was the problem alright, but by morning Odysseus had worked out a solution. Tying goats together with ropes of willow, Odysseus hid a man under each group of three. When it was time to let them out to pasture, the Cyclops ran his hands over their backs but did not notice the men underneath. Odysseus clutched to the underbelly of the biggest ram. ”Why aren't you leading the flock as usual?” asked Polyphemus, detaining this beast at the door and stroking its fleece. “I wish you could talk, so you could point out those Greeks.” He let the ram go, and Odysseus and his men beat it down to the ship as fast as our legs would carry them. When they were a good way out to sea, Odysseus could not resist a taunt. He called out, and Polyphemus came to the edge of the seaside cliff. In his fury he tore up a huge boulder and flung it at the ship. It landed in front of the bow, and the splash almost drove the ship back onto the beach. This time Odysseus waited until his panicked men had rowed a good bit further before he put his hands to his mouth to call out again. The men tried to hush him, but he was aquiver with triumph. ”If someone asks who did this, the name is Odysseus!” That brought another boulder hurtling their way, but this one landed astern and only hastened their departure. The Cyclops was left howling on the cliff, calling out to his father Poseidon for vengeance against Odysseus and his men.
What was the name of the creatures that Odysseus found on the island? What did Odysseus and his men find in the cave? What did the Cyclops rolled in front of the cave opening? What was the name of the Cyclops? What did Polyphemus do when he saw Odysseus and his men? What did Odysseus offer to give Polyphemus? What did Odysseus and his men push into the Cyclops' eye? What did Polyphemus shout to the other Cyclopes when they asked who is harming you? How did the men escape from the Cyclops? Polyphemus called out to Poseidon, the god of what?
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