The Odyssey
The main character of Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus, is a cunning man. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus' long and trying journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. On his way home, he upsets Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding Poseidon's son. In retaliation, Poseidon strives to make Odysseus' sail home to his kingdom as hard as it can be. During this odyssey, Odysseus' encounters many enemies and must use his cunning to keep himself and his men alive.
When first setting off from Troy, Odysseus and his men find themselves at the island of the Cyclopes. While seeking shelter, Odysseus and a few of his men find a cave inhabited by a Cyclopes named Polyphemus. When the Cyclopes returns Odysseus gives his name as Nobody. When the men ask for food and shelter, Polyphemus immediately kills one of them. Realizing that him and his men are in grave danger, Odysseus gets the Cyclopes drunk and punctures his eye while he is sleeping.
Odysseus and Nausicaä by Charles Gleyre (19th cen...
ODYSSEUS karnavires 51
ODYSSEUS karnavires 66When the men escape, Polyphemus tells his fellow Cyclopes, " 'Nobody, friends...Nobody's killing me now by fraud and not by force' " (Pg. 224). The other Cyclopes disregard his tantrum immediately and Odysseus makes a safe escape.
When Odysseus finally returns home, he arrives at the house of his swineherd. While disguised as a beggar Odysseus creates a false identity to test the swineherd for loyalty to his king.
"I hail from Crete's broad land, I'm proud to say, and I am a rich man's son. And many other sons he brought up in his palace, born in wedlock, sprung of his lawful wife. Unlike my mother. She was a slave, a concubine he'd purchased, yes, but he treated me on par with all his true-born sons- Castor,