Week 3 Story: The Cyclops

(Image Information: Wikicyclops; Web Source: Wikimedia).

The ship was blown off course in the nighttime and crashed. They were now beached at the land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus told his crew, “It’s too dark out here. We must sleep here on the beach tonight, and we can restore the ship in the morning.” His men lay down and went to sleep. In the morning the men fixed the ship, by the time they were finished it was around lunch time. They were all very hungry, so they decided it would be a good idea to go hunting.

They hunted and hunted, and when they were done they feasted. The crew feasted on ten goats for lunch and fifteen for dinner. As they were sitting there eating dinner Odysseus tells his men that he would like to look around the island more. He says to them, “I am curious about the inhabitants of this land, so tomorrow let us go explore this place.”

At sun rise Odysseus and his group of men left to explore. They sail to the other side of the island where Odysseus and a few men deboard the ship; the rest of the men stay to guard it.

It was a cold day and growing colder. The group on land was starting to complain when Odysseus spotted an intriguing cave. He suggests they look inside before returning to the ship.

The men walk into the cave, and the first thing they notice is a massive fire pit. The men run and sit down by the fire pit to light it. As the sun begins to set, a Cyclops enters the cave and sees that someone lit the fire. He shouts, “Who did this? What strangers are in my home?” He moves the large boulder in front of the exit to keep the strangers from escaping. Odysseus and his men are scared when they see the Cyclops walking toward them. Odysseus stands up and introduces, “I am Odysseus, and this is my crew.” The Cyclops responds, “I’m Polyphemus.” Then the giant grabs two men and puts them in his mouth. He swallows them whole, and then says, “Humans are the perfect snack for us Cyclopes! I’ll see you all in the morning for breakfast.” Odysseus and his men stand completely still with fear as they watch Polyphemus walk to his bed and fall asleep.

One crewmember frantically asks, “What do we do?” Odysseus responds in a whisper, “We will not let him keep us trapped here. I have an idea. You all stay here and get ready to run toward the exit.” When he says this, it confuses the men. They would still follow their captain’s instructions, even though his instructions did not make sense since the exit was blocked by the giant boulder.

They watch Odysseus, with his sword in hand, walk towards the sleeping Cyclops and stab him in the eye. Odysseus dashes away, and the Cyclops screams in pain. The Cyclops cries out to his neighbors for help because he is in too much pain to even move, and Odysseus and his men bolt to the door where they see the boulder being pushed out of the way. They dodge the Cyclopes’ giant legs and feet as they run out the exit. The men didn’t look back until they made it to the ship, and as they sailed off they still could hear Polyphemus crying in agony.

Author's note:

This story is based on a part of Homer's Odyssey. Some of the story is similar to the original story, but I changed a few parts of the story to make it my own. The most noticeable changes that I made are the dialogue in the Cyclops's cave and the ending of the story. I hope you like it!

Bibliography: Homer's Odyssey, translated into English by Tony Kline, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-odyssey.html