Greetings, lesser creature, and behold. I am the great Cyclops, Polyphemus, son of the grand Poseidon and the beautiful nymph, Thoosa. I am part of the second generation of Cyclopes, descendants from then lord of the seas. I have been unfairly judged and impugned for being a semi-human monster of astounding proportions, and for only having one eye instead of two. I lived in peace, amongst my other brothers, in the island of Sicily, where I inhabited a cave. There, I was a calm shepherd, who only ate a couple of sheep per day and was nourished from raw flesh. I was known for my strength, but also for my quietness. The only reason for which I was disliked was my habit of eating humans. The story that made me famous in history is related to the Hero Odysseus. He, in company of twelve of his men, entered my cave in Sicily and ate all my food supply. I intended to leave them inside my cave, and punish them for their disrespect. I killed and ate two of Odysseus men and easily went to sleep. They decided not to kill me, for they needed my strength to move the boulder I had placed on the entrance of my cave. The next morning, I had to kill two more men in order to have breakfast. I removed the boulder from the entrance in order to let my sheep and goats out of the cave. By night, when I was back with my sheep, Odysseus offered me wine, and told me his name was “Outis” (Greek name for “Nobody”). Of course, I accepted the wine, and fell drunk to the floor of my cave. By then, Odysseus and the remaining men used a pointy pole, and stuck it in the middle of my eye and made me blind. The pain woke me up, and I called and screamed for the neighboring Cyclopes to come. When they came and asked who had done such a thing, I said that “Outis” (nobody) had hurt me. My fellow Cyclopes, convinced that I was crazy, left me alone with my blindness. The next day, when I let my sheep out of the cave, due to my blindness, I didn’t notice, that it was actually Odysseus and his men who were leaving the cave disguised as sheep. Since that day, I prayed to my father for vengeance. Obliging, Poseidon became Odysseus’ enemy from that day on.
References:
Leadbetter, R. (1997). Polyphemus. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/polyphemus.html
