Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 52

 Polyphemus the Cyclops

Homer's epic work The Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus and his crew trying to return home after the Trojan War.  In one episode, they landed on an island and found a cave full of food, and they helped themselves to it.  However, the cave belonged to the giant Polyphemus, a Cyclops.  Polyphemus was the son of the god Poseidon and a sea nymph, and he had only one eye.

(Above: Polyphemus by Guido Reni, 1639-1640)

Finding Odysseus and his men in his cave, Polyphemus blocked the cave entrance with a giant stone.  Then he ate two of the men.

(Above: Polyphemus eating Odysseus' men, c. 1918.)

After Polyphemus ate more men the next day, Odysseus came up with a plan.  Odysseus gave the giant some strong wine to drink.  The giant got drunk and asked Odysseus his name.  "Outis" said Odysseus, which means "nobody."

(Odysseus gives wine to Polyphemus, a floor mosaic in the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, c. 300 AD.  By the way, several artists represented him with an eye in the middle of his forehead plus two other eyes, for a total of three, which clearly contradicts Homer's story.  Oh, well.)

When the drunken Polyphemus fell asleep, Odysseus hardened a wooden stake in the fire and drove it into Polyphemus' single eye, blinding him.  Polyphemus called out to his fellow Cyclopes for help, but when they asked who had hurt him, he answered "Nobody," so they went away.

(The blinding of Polyphemus, a sculpture group from the villa of Tiberius at Sperlonga, Italy, 1st century AD.  Unlike many sculptures of that era, this one is well-hung.  Click on it for a larger image.)

Another representation of the blinding of Polyphemus.  This one is by Pellegrini Tebaldi in the 1500s.)

However, although Polyphemus was blind, he still had Odysseus and his men trapped in the cave.  In the morning, Polyphemus let his sheep out of the cave to graze, and Odysseus and his men snuck out of the cave by tying themselves to the undersides of the sheep.  Polyphemus felt the backs of the sheep as they went past, not the undersides, so the men got away.

(Ulysses Fleeing the Cave of Polyphemus by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 1812.  Ulysses is the Roman version of the Greek name Odysseus.)

As they sailed away, Odysseus boastfully called out to taunt the blind giant, who threw huge rocks at the ship, but the men got away.

(Polyphemus Throws a Rock at Odysseus' Ship by Theodore van Thulden, 1633.)

But that's not the only myth about Polyphemus.  Another one is the story of Acis and Galatea.  Galatea was a beautiful sea nymph.  Polyphemus fell in love with her.

(Polyphemus and Galatea by Annibale Carracci, 1595-1605.)

Galatea rejected Polyphemus and said he was ugly.  She loved Acis, the son of a forest god and a river nymph.  Polyphemus discovered the lovers and became enraged.

(Polyphemus Discovers Acis and Galatea by Nicholas Poussin, 1622-23.  In this drawing, they appear to be not only kissing, but fucking.)

Polyphemus hurled a boulder at Acis, crushing him to death.

(Polyphemus attacking Acis and Galatea by Annibale Carracci, 1595-1605.)

Galatea escaped.

(Galatea escaping Polyphemus by Marco Dente, 1515-27.)

Polyphemus appears in one other story, the satyr play Cyclops by Euripides from the 5th century BC.  In it, Polyphemus is a man-eating giant, like Homer's Odyssey.  But Polyphemus also drags the elderly satyr Silenus into his cave to have sex with him, calling him his Ganymede.  (Ganymede was the handsome youth whom the god Zeus kept as his boy toy).

The satyr play was a genre featuring a lot of sexual innuendo, with a chorus of satyrs in costumes with phalluses and erections.  And you thought "adult" theater was a modern thing!

(Satyr masturbating, c. 560-550 BC.)

We end with this little statue of Polyphemus reclining and holding a drinking bowl, from the late Classical period (400-300 BC).  At least this artist knew that Polyphemus had only one eye.