ODYSSEUS spoke to Lord Alcinous who listened intently to his words 1 "I'm sure you would like to hear of my sorrows and misfortune or maybe of the times the gods put me through torture. Well where do I start? And when shall I stop? I will first start by explaining who I am: 5 I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, from an island called Ithica to which my heart is true, for when Calypso and Circe tried to win my love, I refused to follow through. I was carried by the wind from Troy to Ismarus where my men and I reached a zenith of destruction. We destroyed the Cicones land and dashed away with speed, 10 then the mighty
ZUES decided, "A great punishment is just what they need!" The Cicones, full of agony, gathered strong brave men to banish us from their land. That day I lost six men on each ship, the rest of us, however, escaped fate and disaster. We sailed away under my command, 15 but then the north wind raged against our ships until we reached land. Nine days we sailed in these conditions, On the tenth we landed among the lotus-eaters who eat their flowering fruit I sent some men find if these strangers were jovial or deadly, during a meeting between the strangers, my men were offered some of their hypnotizing fruit which was anything but acrid and urged them to stay. 20 I had to force them to board my ship, but I convinced them to continue our trip. After more sailing we reached the land of the Cyclopes, very strange creatures who live with very strange features. They do not farm, for the gods do most of the work, 25 the man of a family governs his own household which they think is quite a perk. Near the Cyclopes country, there is a beautiful island, covered in trees and soft meadows On the island, there is a countless number of goats, too many to spare but no hunter ever dares to go there. The land has never been harmed by human beings 30 for there are no humans foreseeing. We sailed into this dark, foggy place blindly, we then fell asleep until Dawn showed herself kindly. In the morning we hunted for goats to eat, all twelve of my ships got nine goats each. 35 The next day to go meet the Cyclopes some men and I sailed away I told the rest of my comrades to stay. My group and I sailed toward their land with speed We landed on the coast, right beside the sea. On the shore there was a large cave overhung with laurel, 40 inside lives a monster with questionable morals. A wretched nuisance who governs himself and hides away from men, who hunts for himself and hoards as many sheep as he can. I wanted to explore this mutant so I divided up my team, some would stay and watch the ship and some would come with me. 45
ODYSSEUS: My ship had arrived at the Island of the Cyclops, Shortly after my 9 days of being on the sea I picked 12 of my most trustworthy men to guard my ship As we started to venture out on the island we reached a cave Every corner was full of crates of food and pens full of livestock. 50 I gathered up a meal for each man ‘cause they were all so brave. Polyphemus meets Odysseus, He becomes furious The effect of that was the seizing of two men, and the rest in pens. I thought of a plan 55 And my scheming began. As I carried, chopped, and burned some wood I knew that Polyphemus wouldn't be feeling good.
POLYPHEMUS: Something was suspicious and I didn't know why Somehow my power would have to imply. 60 I would show this man who's really boss
ODYSSEUS: Polyphemus loved his wine, so I knew exactly what I should do. Drunken on wine he became awfully gullible, yet he was still very unfavorable. When I told him how awful terrible and mean he'd been, 65 He sat unfazed with no care in the world.
POLYPHEMUS: He shouted out, “hey man, be kind and give me some of that again!”
ODYSSEUS: He gulped down every last bit of wine And once the wine had all been consumed 70 He laid back, confused and drunk “Cyclops!” I spoke, “you asked for my name. If I tell you, you must offer me a gift. As for my name, I am Nobody. All family, friends, and mothers and fathers, 75 They all call me, Nobody.”
POLYPHEMUS: Your gift is to live longer than any of your men You will be my last meal from this trip of yours.
ODYSSEUS: Polyphemus because I'll from all the wine and toppled over like a big fat swine. 80 Grabbing my stake I embedded it into the fiery ashes And got ready to make his whole life go crashing.
ODYSSEUS: We drew from the fire, the olive branch 85 Jostled from the briar that day Sharpened and pointed Full of new choices Burning, like the sun at noonday. 90 Brute force took it's course And with little remorse, the branch made it's way Into the eye of the cyclops with gusto. But why? Into the eye of the cyclops. Twisting and turning the branch had its path. 95 Deep into the socket, knocking men out of the way The red-hot poker made him look like a smoker As blood streamed into the cave That ought to teach him how to behave They sang, 100 Teach him how to behave As his eye began to sizzle, blood continued to drizzle Pouring onto the ground He grasped the stick strongly Felt that he had been done wrongly 105 And yanked it out of his eye His yells echoed the cave As he hurled the stick past his cell The blood sank down to hell’s great depths Burdened with it he was no more 110 Calling out to his haughty friends For their help in making amends He cried his pleas to the sky
POLYPHEMUS: ‘‘Nobody is killing me, my friends, 115 by treachery, not using any force.”
ODYSSEUS: But of course, they said,
FRIENDS: “Without any force, no killing is taking place If it is nobody, it must not be very beastly, no injury to your name Brought by Zeus it must be, sickness with no excuse 120 Pray to Poseidon, your trust he will widen Bringing healing and safety again”
ODYSSEUS: They went away laughing, And so was I, my cunning lie did the trick. Only I, Odysseus could be so slick. 125 The cyclops cried, no longer one eyed And waved his hands blindly about, for dismal was he. He pushed away the stone blocking the cave, Forgetting he wasn't alone. Sat in front of the entrance did he, postponing our clever escape. 130 My men feared we would never leave, but I had hope you see. Using this great brain of mine I thought of an outline for escape. As he continued to weep, we saw something wandering… A plethora of sheep. A plan hatched in my head 135 Instead of the dreadful idea we first had We would make it out safely, I knew for sure My men, I was not so quick to assure. To tie three sheep together And put a man under the middle one 140 Then ride out hidden into the morning sun Dawn broke, and we put our plan into action Me under the finest ram, and my crew under lambs Mine was the last out of the cave, and Polyphemus called to the ram,
POLYPHEMUS: “Why are you the last of the flock? 145 Are overtook with shock after my loss? That Nobody and his evil crew… If only my father knew. He would put an end to them. I would kill him if I could see him now. Out with you now. Enjoy your peace of mind. 150 While I am sitting here blind.”
ODYSSEUS: Out to the pastures we ran, my ram and I. Meeting my men, where I unbound myself and them. Rushed to the ship did we, and prepared for the long trip. Hauling the sheep onboard after us, 155 We did it without much fuss, you see, the cyclops would soon appear. My men started rowing, quickly seagoing, Without really knowing what was to come our way. Feeling braver than ever before, I called out to the cyclops. Said I, “ Cyclops, if any mortal human being 160 asks about the injury that blinded you, tell them Odysseus destroyed your eye, not Nobody as you thought. You reckless brute, feasting on guests in your home? Not even ‘the shaker of the Earth’, your father Poseidon can fix your plight now.” He ripped a piece of the mountain off, and threw it at us in the ocean, 165 Splashing like a giant fountain as it missed our ship. His booming voice echoed over the sea as he said,
POLYPHEMUS: “ A prophecy has come to pass, Alas it was said these things would befall me. All in all, my sight would be taken by a man named Odysseus.” 170
ODYSSEUS After this was said, he offered a prayer up to his father Poseidon. Hoping his chances at killing me would widen. He prayed for my suffering, my misery. He prayed for my loneliness, my devastation, my death. The gods heard him, I know they did. 175 God forbid it come true. The rocks he threw pushed us further out to shore Which was nice, because rowing is such a chore… We camped at an island, although it was quite cramped. We divided up the sheep and sweet wine for dinner, 180 And everyone hoped that their lamb wasn't thinner. We sacrificed the lamb to Zeus, over a fire we made of spruce. We pushed off of the shore the next morning, happy to be on our way, Ultimately glad we weren't a hungry Cyclopes prey.