The Odyssey-Book Nine

Book Nine

Odysseus is now telling his tale of trials that he encounters on his journey home post Troy. Odysseus and his crew of men go to Ismarus and steal the cities goods, but linger too long there, and the people of Ismarus attack them, killing six of Odysseus’ men per ship. Zeus, now not in favor of Odysseus, sends a storm that brings them to the land of the lotus-eaters. Odysseus’ men go out to check it out, and the men that reside on the island are friendly and offer Odysseus’ men fruit. The fruit is addictive, and the crew men don’t want to go back to the ship but instead stay and consume more fruit. Odysseus has to drag them back to the ship and lock them up to keep them there. Odysseus and his crew then sail to the island of the Cyclops. Odysseus decides he wants to test the hospitality of the Cyclops Polyphemus. He and some of his crew men go to the Cyclops’ cave. The Cyclops has a lot of milk and chese and raises goats to extract it from. When the Cyclops returns back to the cave to find Odysseus and his men there, he seems friendly, but almost immediately after this impression, he snatches up two of Odysseus’ men and eats them. Then he keeps Odysseus and the remaining men prisoners for his future meals. The next night, the Cyclops eats two more men. Odysseus decides that something must be done about this. He devises a plan in which he gets the Cyclops drunk then blinds its one eye, while it sleeps, with a large, wooden pole. The Cyclops shouts out in pain, but claims to not be hurt and that “nobody’s killing him” when the other Cyclopes come to see what his shouting was for. Now blinded, the Cyclops cannot see Odysseus and his remaining men hide themselves underneath some of the Cyclops’ goats. When the goats leave the cave, the men escape, hidden underneath them all the while. The Cyclops is suspicious of one slower-moving goat that Odysseus happens to be hidden under, but he lets that suspicion go. Then Odysseus and his men escape, with the goats as well, back to their ship and to the safer lands that are distanced from the Cyclops’ cave. However, Odysseus gets cocky and when within shouting distance of the Cyclops, he calls out his real name. (Previously, he had told the Cyclops his name was “no one.”) He now reveals his real name is Odysseus. This greatly angers Polyphemus, not only to learn of Odysseus’ real name, but also that he and his men had escaped his cave. The Cyclops then begins hurling large stones at Odysseus’ ships and swearing that he is going to tell his father, Poseidon about Odysseus’ wrongdoings. He claims that his father, Poseidon, will finish off Odysseus and his crew men.