Michael Shanahan

Mrs. Balka

Pre-AP English 9

13 November 2015

The Cyclops

The story of Odysseus and the cyclops Polyphemus from Homer’s “Iliad” has

spawned many paintings as well as a movie based off of the story. However, it seems

almost every art piece have a different portrayal of the Cyclops. For example, in Jacob

Jordaens painting, Polyphemus is shown as more human-like, giving you a different

perspective than the usual almost alien-like way he is normally shown. For example,

you may think more about how Odysseus and his crew are intruding and causing the

giant trouble, not to mention they didn’t ask permission to do anything, they just went

and ate the giant’s cheese and did whatever they really felt. On the other hand, the

movie of the same story shows the cyclops in a nastier light, showing that he got mad

immediately and ate several crew members without question. There are many, many

other art pieces that display Polyphemus in varying ways in between these 2.

In Jordaens’ painting, Polyphemus is depicted on the left, hands outreached,

searching for Odysseus and his crew. Meanwhile, he and his crew are escaping under

Polyphemus’ sheep because he is only petting the tops of the sheep to let them pass.

Still, some of Odysseus’ crew are cowering further back in the painting. The main

defining factor about this painting is the fact of how human looking Polyphemus is. This

makes the viewer think deeper about maybe the fact that Odysseus came disturbing
him, not vice versa. And when you think about this concept, you realize how this really

could be true, because Polyphemus was living peacefully with his sheep making cheese

and wasn’t bothering anybody, that is, until Odysseus showed up. This style is very

unique to other depictions of the same scene, which tend to show him as more evil and

cruel, however none of this is described in the original story.

Contrary to Jordaens’ portrayal of Polyphemus and the story in general, the

Hollywood movie version shows the whole story differently. It displays him as a huge

beast ugly and terrorizing the poor Odysseus and his crew. One thing the movie shows

that pictures do not is the fact that you can get more of a visual sense of what is going

on, rather than having a still image. However, movies/films leave less up to the

watcher’s imagination as opposed to a painting or book. The movie also cannot

describe things that can be shown in a painting or a book, such as Odysseus and his

crews emotions and thoughts. This detracts from the overall experience,however having

a full video showing what is going in the surroundings is certainly better than a painting.

When you compare the movie and painting, you will slowly begin to notice

several similarities as well as differences in them. For example, in almost all renditions

of the story, Odysseus and his crew are horrified of Polyphemus. On the other hand, the

way the giant looks as far as his facial features, size, and height, among many other

things, are very different between the two. They show Polyphemus as ugly, large, and

unwelcoming in the movie, however in Jordaens painting, he is revealed in a more

humanlike way, with similar facial features and body build. These along with various

other features and details display just how differently this story can be interpreted.
 All in all, the story of the Cyclops has sparked many renditions of paintings, as

well as even a movie. Because of all the mass amounts of paintings, and the vagueness

of the original story, there have been limitless interpretations of the story. These vary

massively in the different versions and portrayals of the story. For example, Jordaens’

painting depicts Polyphemus as more humanlike and smaller, whereas the movie shows

him as much larger and beastly. Overall, the story of the cyclops from Homer’s Iliad has

become extremely popular over the years and has caused many paintings and even

movies to be made about it.