In this passage, Odysseus and his men have just escaped the land of the Lotus-eaters, where they given fruit causing the crew to forget about going home. After Odysseus had tied them up back on the ships, they sailed off into the night and stumbled upon the land of the Cyclops, where they meet the Cyclops named Polyphemus. Polyphemus was a giant one-eyed Cyclops. He was the son of Greek god Poseidon, god of the sea. This passage describes the first meeting of Odysseus and his men with the one-eyed giant Polyphemus. It depicts the first interaction and the first words spoken between Odysseus and the Cyclops. This passage is an important passage to look at during this scene in the Odyssey because it shows the cunning and clever side of Odysseus’ character. Odysseus has good instincts and knows not to tell the Cyclops where his ship is nesting so he tells a lie to the Cyclops. This scene is also important in noting the fact that the Cyclopes follow very different rules from that of the Achaeans, meaning they follow no rules at all. The Cyclopes do not follow the rules of the gods like normal humans do; instead they follow their own rules.


‘We are Achaeans
coming back from Troy and blown off course
by various winds across vast tracts of sea.
Attempting to get home, we had to take
a different route and chart another course,
a scheme, I think, which gave Zeus pleasure.
We boast that we are Agamemnon’s men,
son of Atreus, now the best-known man
beneath wide heaven—the city he wiped out
was such a great one, and he killed so many.
As for us, we’re visitors here and come
as suppliants to your knee, in hope that you
will make us welcome or provide some gift,
the proper thing one does for strangers.
So, good sir, respect the gods. We’re here
as suppliants to you, and Zeus protects
all suppliants and strangers—as god of guests,
he cares for all respected visitors.’

“I finished speaking. He answered me at once—
his heart was pitiless:

‘What fools you are,
you strangers, or else you come from far away—
telling me to fear the gods and shun their rage.
The Cyclopes care nothing about Zeus,
who bears the aegis, or the blessed gods.
We are much more powerful than them.
I wouldn’t spare you or your comrades
to escape the wrath of Zeus, not unless
my own heart prompted me to do it.
But now, tell me this—when you landed here,
where did you moor your ship, a spot close by
or further off? I’d like to know that.’
“He said this to throw me off, but his deceit
could never fool me. I was too clever.
And so I gave him a cunning answer:

‘Earthshaker Poseidon broke my ship apart—
driving it against the border of your island,
on the rocks there. He brought us close to land,
hard by the headland, then winds pushed us
inshore from the sea. But we escaped—
me and these men here. We weren’t destroyed.’