Polyphemus
The Cyclops of The Odyssey
The solitary, one-eyed shepherd who traps Odysseus and his crew in a cave, only to be blinded and outwitted by the name “Noman.”
Quick answer
Polyphemus is the Cyclops encountered by Odysseus in Book IX of The Odyssey. He traps the travellers, eats six of them, and is blinded with a heated stake before the survivors escape beneath his sheep.
Quick facts
| Tradition | Ancient Greek epic poetry |
|---|---|
| Book | Homer, The Odyssey, Book IX |
| Source realm | The land of the Cyclopes |
| Creature type | Cyclops and giant shepherd |
| Parent | Poseidon [1] |
| Defining feature | A single eye in the middle of his forehead |
| Opponent | Odysseus, who first gives his name as “Noman” |
| Outcome | Blinded; he calls on Poseidon to prevent Odysseus’s homecoming |
What the source book says
Odysseus enters a cave stocked with sheep, goats, cheeses, and milk. Its owner, Polyphemus, returns and seals the doorway with a stone the visitors cannot move. Rejecting the customs of hospitality, the Cyclops seizes and eats two men that night and four more over the following day.[1]
Odysseus gives Polyphemus strong wine and says his name is “Noman.” Once the Cyclops sleeps, the survivors heat an olive-wood stake and drive it into his only eye. His neighbours hear him cry that “Noman” is hurting him and leave. At dawn, the men escape by clinging beneath the Cyclops’s rams. From his ship, Odysseus reveals his true name, allowing Polyphemus to ask Poseidon to punish him.[1]
Description and abilities
Butler’s translation describes Polyphemus as a huge, powerful monster with one eye in the middle of his forehead. He is also a working shepherd: he milks his animals, separates the young, makes cheese, gathers firewood, and controls the cave with an immense door-stone. His strength remains dangerous after he is blinded, when he tears rocks from the hillside and throws them toward Odysseus’s ship.[1]
- Has one central eye and enormous physical strength
- Lives apart from the other Cyclopes in a cave
- Keeps sheep and goats and makes cheese
- Moves a stone the trapped crew cannot shift
- Can call on his father Poseidon for vengeance
Source realm: the Cyclops’s cave
The cave is both a farmstead and a trap. Its livestock and food first make it look hospitable, but the great stone at its entrance gives Polyphemus complete control over entry and escape. Odysseus’s plan succeeds by turning the flock—the ordinary centre of the Cyclops’s life—into a hiding place.
Major themes
Hospitality reversed
Odysseus asks for the protection owed to strangers, but Polyphemus dismisses the gods’ customs and treats his visitors as food.
Intelligence against strength
The crew cannot win a direct contest or simply kill their captor, because only Polyphemus can move the door-stone. The false name, wine, stake, and sheep form one connected escape plan.
The cost of revealing a name
“Noman” saves Odysseus inside the cave. His later decision to announce his real identity gives Polyphemus the knowledge needed to direct his prayer to Poseidon.
Book and reference
- 1The Odyssey
Homer; rendered into English prose by Samuel Butler. Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900. See Book IX.
Project Gutenberg edition ↗