The Cyclops

Ulysses, the hero, was about to sail home to Greece after the great city of Troy had fallen. He had wandered farthest and suffered most of all in the long Trojan war. He was nearly the last to leave, for he had stayed many days to pay honor to Agamemnon, lord of all the Greeks. He had twelve ships with him, the same twelve he had brought to Troy, and in each were about fifty men. But these were barely half of those who had sailed with him in the old days, so many valiant heroes now slept their final sleep on the plain and on the seashore, slain in battle or by the arrows of Apollo.

First, Ulysses sailed to the Thracian coast, where he and his men filled their ships with food, oxen, and jars of sweet wine. He had scarcely set out again when a fierce wind arose. Seeing a smooth sandy beach, they drove the ships ashore, dragged them out of reach of the waves, and waited there until the storm passed. On the third morning, the weather was fair, so they sailed again and journeyed on. On the tenth day, they came to the land where the lotus grows—a wonderful fruit that makes whoever eats it care nothing for country, home, or children.

The Lotus Eaters, as the people of that land were called, were a kindly folk. They gave the fruit to some of the sailors, meaning no harm, thinking it the best gift they could offer. Those men, after eating, said they would not sail any more over the sea. When wise Ulysses heard this, he ordered the other sailors to bind them and carry them, sadly complaining, back to the ships.

Then, as the wind had died down, they took to their oars and rowed for many days until they came to the land of the Cyclopes. About a mile from the shore was an island, very fair and fertile, but no one lived there or tilled the soil. In the island was a harbor where a ship could be safe from all winds, and at the head of the harbor was a stream falling from the rock, with whispering alders all around. Into this harbor the ships passed safely, and they were hauled upon the beach while the crews slept beside them, waiting for morning.

But in the morning, Ulysses, who always loved adventure and wanted to know what kind of men lived in every land he came to, took one of his twelve ships and ordered the sailors to row to the mainland. There was a great hill sloping to the shore, and here and there smoke rose from caves where the Cyclopes lived apart, holding no dealings with men. They were a rude and savage folk, each ruling his own household without regard for his neighbor.

Very close to the shore was one of these caves, huge and deep, with a hedge of laurel hiding the entrance and a wall of rough stone shaded by tall oaks and pines. Ulysses chose the twelve bravest men from his crew and ordered the rest to stay behind and guard the ship while he went to see what kind of dwelling it was and who lived there. He had his sword by his side and on his shoulder a large skin of sweet, strong wine, with which he might win over any fierce savage he might meet.

So they entered the cave and saw that it was the home of some rich and skillful shepherd. Inside were pens for young sheep and goats, divided according to age, and baskets full of cheeses, and full milk pails ranged along the wall. But the Cyclops himself was away in the pastures. Then Ulysses’ companions begged him to leave, but he would not, for he wanted to see what kind of host this strange shepherd might be. And truly, he learned to his cost!

It was evening when the Cyclops came home, a mighty giant twenty feet tall or more. He carried a huge bundle of pine logs on his back for his fire and threw them down outside the cave with a great crash. He drove the flocks inside and closed the entrance with a massive rock that twenty wagons or more could not have moved. Then he milked the ewes and goats. Half of the milk he curdled for cheese, and half he set aside to drink when he was hungry. Finally, he kindled a fire with the pine logs, and the flame lit up the whole cave, revealing Ulysses and his comrades.

"Who are you?" cried the Cyclops. "Are you traders or pirates?"

"We are no pirates, mighty sir," replied Ulysses. "We are Greeks sailing back from Troy. We beg hospitality from you in the name of Jupiter, who rewards or punishes a host according to whether he is hospitable or not."

"Then it is useless to talk to me of Jupiter and the gods," said the giant. "We Cyclopes pay no attention to gods, for we consider ourselves much better and stronger than them." Without further ado, he grabbed two of the men, devoured them with huge gulps of milk, leaving not even a scrap or a bone. Then the giant lay down among his sheep and fell asleep.

Ulysses would have liked to kill the Cyclops as he lay there, but he remembered that if he did, his comrades would die miserably. How could they move the great rock that blocked the cave entrance? So they waited until morning. When the monster rose, he seized two more men and ate them for his breakfast. Then he went to the pastures, but put the great rock back over the mouth of the cave, just as a man puts the lid on his quiver of arrows.

All that day, wise Ulysses thought about what he could best do to save himself and his companions. His planning led to this: there was a large pole in the cave, a green olive wood beam as big as a ship’s mast, which the giant intended to use as a walking stick. Ulysses broke off a fathom’s length of it, and his comrades sharpened it and hardened it in the fire. Then they hid it away.

In the evening, the giant returned, drove his flocks into the cave, fastened the door, and made his cruel feast as before. Then Ulysses came forward with the skin of wine in his hand and said, "Drink, Cyclops, now that you have feasted. Drink and see what a fine wine we had in our ship."

So the Cyclops drank and was greatly pleased. "Give me more," he demanded. "Truly, this is a wonderful drink. We also have vines, but they do not yield juices like this, which must be what the gods drink."

Then Ulysses gave him the skin again, and he drank from it. Three times he gave it to him, and three times the giant drank, not knowing how it would affect him. At last, the Cyclops fell into a deep sleep. Ulysses told his men to take courage, for the time of their deliverance had come.

They thrust the olive stick into the fire until, green as it was, it was ready to burst into flame, and they thrust it into the monster’s eye—for he had only one eye, set in the middle of his great forehead—and made him blind.

Then the Cyclops leaped up and tore the stake from his eye, crying out so loudly that all the Cyclopes who lived on the mountainside heard him and came down, crowding around the entrance of his cave. The Cyclops rolled away the great stone from the door and came out among the other giants, stretching out his hands to try to gather his sheep. Ulysses wondered how he and his men could escape.

At last, he hit upon a good plan. The Cyclops had driven the rams into the cave along with the other sheep, and they were huge and strong. Ulysses tied his comrades underneath the rams, using osier twigs from the giant’s bed. There was one mighty ram, far larger than all the others, and to this Ulysses clung, grasping the fleece tightly with both hands. So they waited in the depths of the cave for morning.

When morning came, the rams rushed out to pasture as the giant sat at the entrance, feeling the back of each as it passed, but never touching the men tied underneath. With them, Ulysses escaped.

When they were out of reach of the giant, Ulysses let go of the ram and then untied his comrades. They hurried to their ship, climbed in, and struck the sea with their oars, rowing with all their might to escape from that cursed land. But when they had rowed about a hundred yards, the Cyclops heard them. He broke off the top of a great hill—a massive rock—and hurled it toward the sound of the oars. It fell just in front of the ship’s bow and pushed the ship back to shore. But Ulysses seized a long pole with both hands and pushed the ship away from land, then ordered his comrades to row quietly, nodding his head, for he was too wise to speak, lest the Cyclops know where they were. Then they rowed with all their strength.

They had gone twice as far as before when Ulysses’ pride overcame him, and he could no longer be silent. He stood up in the boat and shouted, "Hear, Cyclops! If anyone asks who destroyed your power for evil, say it was the warrior Ulysses, who lives in Ithaca."

The giant heard him and lifted up his hands to Neptune, god of the sea and father of the Cyclopes. "Hear me, Neptune, if I am indeed your son and you are my father. May this Ulysses never reach his home. Or if the Fates have decreed that he shall reach it, may he come alone, with all his comrades lost."

As the Cyclops ended this wicked prayer, he hurled another massive rock that almost struck the rudder end, but missed it by a hair’s breadth. So Ulysses escaped, and all his comrades with him. They came to the island of the wild goats, where they found the rest of their men who had waited long for them, fearing they had perished. And they sailed home in triumph to Greece.