Beau Boulton

Odyssey Retelling
Sailing home from Troy after the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men
came across and sacked the stronghold of the Cicones. Odysseus urged them
to take their spoils with them and set sail, but the men decided instead to
enjoy their plunder on the beach outside the city. Meanwhile, enemy
reinforcements approached the beach from further inland. After a battle
lasting most of the day, Odysseus army fled back onto their ships, losing six
soldiers for each ship, and sailed off, defeated. The wind blew the ships off
course, until eventually they came upon the land of the Lotus-eaters.
Odysseus sent men to scout it out and see if they were any danger and if any
among them might be normal and hospitable. The Lotus-eaters gave the
scouts lotus to eat, and the scouts forgot about their journey home and lost
all interest in returning to the ships. Odysseus brought them back, with much
protest from the scouts, and tied them to their rowing seats. He then ordered
that they set sail at once. They soon came across the land of the Cyclops,
and came ashore on a nearby island. There they slept for the night, and
rested and feasted all of the next day. The day after that, Odysseus decided
to investigate the Cyclops and see if they were friendly. He took one ship and
its crew across the water to where the Cyclops lived, and traveled to a large
cave nearby with a dozen of his crew. Odysseus also brought along a giant
skin of strong wine. In the cave, the Cyclops was not there, but there were
pens of lambs and kids, and racks of cheese. Odysseus men tried to
convince Odysseus to take the cheese and livestock, and return to the ship,
but he refused. They built a fire, ate some of the cheese, and waited for the
Cyclops to return. He came in herding his flock of sheep and goats and
carrying large dry logs for a fire. When the Cyclops had herded in the last of
his flock and set down his firewood, he closed the cave with a giant stone
slab. The Cyclops then milked his goats, setting aside half of the milk to
make into cheese and the other half to drink. When the Cyclops noticed the
men, he asked who they were. Odysseus answered and stated that it was
custom for the host to offer his hospitality or he would fear the wrath of
Zeus. The Cyclops replied that he didnt fear the gods, and asked where they
had landed their ship. Odysseus lied and said that they had been
shipwrecked. The Cyclops then grabbed two of the men, bashed their heads
on the stone floor, killing them instantly, and then proceeded to tear them
limb from limb and eat them. The Cyclops then washed his human meal
down with milk and fell asleep, as Odysseus and his remaining men sat
paralyzed. Odysseus was about to stab the Cyclops with his sword while he
slept, but then realized that he and his men would be trapped, having no
way to move the slab. In the morning, the Cyclops awoke, lit his fire, milked
his sheep, ate two more men, and took his herd back out to pasture, sealing
the men back in the cave. Odysseus then saw a club the size of a ships
mast, and told his men to cut off a length of it. He then carved a point on the
end, hardened the point in the fire, and hid the spike. He then asked his men

for volunteers to help drive the stake into the Cyclops eye while he slept,
and the four he would have picked himself volunteered. That night, the
Cyclops led his herd back into the cave, replaced the slab behind him, milked
his livestock, and ate two more men. Before he washed down his meal with
milk, Odysseus offered him some of his wine in a wooden bowl he had
carved. The Cyclops demanded more and asked Odysseus name. After
Odysseus had gotten the Cyclops drunk on two more bowls of wine, he said
his name was Nobody. The Cyclops declared that his gift to Odysseus for the
wine and for sharing his name was that he would eat him last. With that, the
Cyclops fell down, vomited up wine and bits of human flesh, and fell fast
asleep. Odysseus and his four volunteers heated the stake up in the fire, and
plunged it into the sleeping Cyclops eye. Several of the other Cyclops on the
island all gathered outside his cave at the sound of his screams, and asked if
someone was attacking him. The Cyclops in the cave replied that Nobody
was harming him, and so the other Cyclops left. He then removed the stone
slab, and Odysseus quickly planned his escape. He lashed sheep together
three in a row, and hid his men between them while they left the cave. As
the Cyclops felt the top of the sheep, he was unaware of the men hiding
among them. When Odysseus himself was the only one left, he grabbed onto
the underbelly of the largest ram, and rode it to safety. Then the Odysseus
and the rest of the men all boarded the ship and sailed off.