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Then Odysseus (Ulysses) and his companions reached the land of the Cyclops.
These were lawless brutes who trusted the Immortals so much that they neither ploughed nor sowed. The land was so fertile that it provided them with plenty of food. At home, there was no council that judged or deliberated. Without concern for each other, each dictated his own law to his children and wives. They had no ships or carpenters. But if they had had boats, what a beautiful city, what beautiful harvests and eternal vines they would have had.
Off the harbour, there was a small island covered with forests where wild goats multiplied endlessly without being disturbed by anyone. It was a god who led the twelve ships to the shore of this island where Odysseus (Ulysses) moored them, for the night was deep and foggy and one could see nothing.
The next day a goat hunt was so successful that each boat hoisted nine animals on board, ten for Odysseus (Ulysses)’. With the wine that the heroes had stolen from the Cicones, they feasted for a whole day.
Then Odysseus (Ulysses) left with his ship as a scout. He arrived at the shelter of a Cyclops, a gigantic man. A nearby cavern was used as a stable for his flocks of sheep and goats. Odysseus (Ulysses) had taken with him presents, including an excellent wine offered by a priest of Apollo whom he had spared during the raid among the Cicones.
The Cyclops Polyphemus being with his grazing flocks, Odysseus (Ulysses) and his companions entered the cavern filled with cheeses and jars of milk, lambs and young goats parked according to their age. While his men begged him to take control of these riches and to flee as quickly as possible, Odysseus (Ulysses) refused, wanting to know what gifts the Cyclops would offer him.
When the Cyclops arrived with his flock at the end of the day, he brought the females home to milk, leaving the males outside, and closed the entrance with a huge rock that only he could move. The milking and preparation of the cheeses completed, he saw the hero and his crew and asked them why they were there.
Odysseus (Ulysses), in the name of the gods and Zeus the Hospitable, proposed an exchange of presents. But the Cyclops did not care about the gods, proclaiming himself far superior to them. As he sought to know the location of the mooring of his hosts’ ship, Odysseus (Ulysses) lied to him, claiming that the ship was destroyed.
Polyphemus then seized two companions of Odysseus (Ulysses), smashed them on the ground, dismembered them and made his supper with them. Similarly, at dawn, he took two more for his lunch before going out with his beasts, placing the rock behind him.
As a plan of escape, Odysseus (Ulysses) had his men carve and polish a huge stake of olive tree, which he hardened with fire and hid under the manure. Then he told them of his plan.
When Polyphemus returned in the evening, he left no animal outside – which for Odysseus (Ulysses) was a sign of the gods – and again took two men for his supper. The hero offered his wine to the Cyclops, who asked for more until he drank three full skin bags.
As Polyphemus asked Odysseus (Ulysses) for his name, promising him a present of hospitality, he replied “Nobody” The Cyclops then told him that he would eat him last, as a gift, and then he fell asleep under the effect of drunkenness.
After reddening the tip of his spear in the fire, Odysseus (Ulysses) and his companions sunk it into the unique eye of the sleeping Cyclops and turned it. Screaming in pain, Polyphemus took it out and called the other Cyclops for help. Asked if he had been assaulted by cunning or force, he replied “by trickery” and when they inquired about the perpetrator, he shouted “Nobody”. The other Cyclops, thinking him to be struck by some illness, went away, recommending that he implores Poseidon for help. Odysseus (Ulysses) rejoiced because of his cunning, the name “Nobody” he had found and his perfect intelligence.
Polyphemus, blind, pushed the rock that closed the door and settled on the threshold, extending his hands to grab the prisoners who would try to get out with the beasts.
But Odysseus (Ulysses) found another trick. Having tied the rams three by three, he asked his men to cling to the belly of the middle ram, while he himself would come out the last, hidden under the fleece of the strongest ram.
So when rosy-fingered Dawn came, all were able to escape unharmed, although Polyphemus was astonished that the strongest of his rams came out last.
Having stocked up on sheep, the hero and his companions immediately embarked and began to row.
Barely off the shore, Odysseus (Ulysses) hailed Polyphemus and taunted him. In rage, the Cyclops tore off the top of a mountain and threw it into the sea, generating a wave that brought the hero’s boat back to shore. The men pulled forcefully on the oars to get away and, despite their entreaties, Odysseus (Ulysses) again hailed the Cyclops, revealing his true name and lineage.
Polyphemus then lamented: a prophet of the Cyclops, Telemos the Eurymides, had predicted that he would be blinded by a certain Odysseus (Ulysses), but he did not grow suspicious because he expected a man of greater stature. However he sought to win the hero’s friendship, asking him to come back, assuring that he would get his hospitality gifts and that his father Poseidon would help him on the return journey. The Cyclops also declared that only this god could, if he wanted to, heal his wound. Odysseus (Ulysses) replied that this would never be the case.
Then the Cyclops begged his father Poseidon to prevent Odysseus (Ulysses) from returning to his homes, or at least to allow only his return, without his companions, after terrible trials, on a foreign ship, and to find misfortune in his house. The god crowned with azure heard his prayer.
Then Polyphemus threw a huge rock, raising a wave that carried the boat to the island where Odysseu