the men one by one. Odysseus devises a plan, blinds the monster, and escapes with his men.
After 10 years of fighting against Troy, Odysseus one of the victorious Greek leaders and known for his
cleverness, sailed for home with his men and ships. After many adventures they came to an Island.
Unbeknownst to them, the Island was inhabited by the Cylops people, a race of giants with only one
eyeing the middle of their forehead. The Cyclops were lawless without culture and ate humans when
available.
On finding a large cave, Odysseus and his men entered the cave, where they helped themselves to the
food and drink they found there, and fell asleep. After a time, a Cyclops, whose name was Polyphemus,
returned to the cave. Leading his flock of giant sheep into the cave, he rolled a huge stone against
the mouth of the cave to close the entrance. On finding Odysseus and his men in the cave, Cyclops
became enraged, grabbed two of the men, smashed their heads against a rock, ate them, and fell
asleep. Odysseus dared do nothing to the Cyclops, since only the Cyclops was
strong enough time move the stone away from the mouth of the cave.
The next morning, Cyclops grabbed two more men, smashed their heads against the rocks, and ate
them for breakfast. He then rolled away the stone, led out his herd of sheep, and rolled the stone
back to close
the cave. Odysseus devised a plan. He and his men took a large timber, carved the end
to a sharp point, and hid it.
When the Cyclops returned in the evening, he again led his sheep in, rolled the stone to close the
mouth of the cave, proceeded to bash in the heads of two more men and eat them. This time Odysseus
spoke up, and offered the Cyclops some strong wine he had brought with him. Polyphemus, who
had never drank wine before, drank half his fill and became very drunk. Thanking Odysseus, Polyphemus
asked him his name. Odysseus told him his name was "NOBODY" The Cyclops then fell fast asleep in a drunken sleep.
Odysseus and his men then took the timber and heated the sharpened end in the fire until it glowed red.
Then, with all their strength, they pushed the red-hot point into the eye of Polyphemus. The Cyclops
howled and woke up flailing, but he was now blind. The other Cyclops which lived on the island came
running, but when they asked Polyphemus who had done this to him, he replied "Nobody" and the other
Cyclops all returned home laughing.
Early the next morning, Odysseus tied each of his men to the belly of the giant sheep.
When Polyphemus awoke and led the sheep out of the cave, he felt the back of each sheep to make sure
no one had harmed than. Feeling nothing, Polyphemus allowed each sheep to pass out of the cave,
carrying with one of Odysseus crew tied the to its body. Odysseus himself grabbed onto a fleece of
the last sheep's belly, and escaped through the mouth of the cave.
Odysseus and his men ran back to their ship and hurriedly pushed out to sea. As they sailed away from
the harbour, Odysseus called out to Polyphemus, laughing at him and telling him that it was not "Nobody",
but he, Odysseus, who had blinded him and fooled him.
This story reminded me of a childhood song we used to sing....NOBODY LOVES ME
I'm nobody's child, I'm no body's child
Just like a flower I'm growing wild
No Mommy's kisses and no daddy's smile
Nobody wants me, I'm nobody's child
This song lyrics are about an orphan whom no one wants to adopt because he is BLIND
The Blind Begger by Jules Lepage
Full lyrics on this link;
https://youtu.be/8j-Dd0WDB94
