The Wanderings of Odysseus
The Adventures of Book 9: Polyphemus the Cyclops
In Book 9, Odysseus narrates one of the most famous episodes in all of ancient literature: the encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus and twelve chosen companions enter the enormous cave of Polyphemus — a giant with a single eye in the middle of his forehead — in hopes of receiving the gift of xenia, the code of hospitality that any Greek host owed a stranger. Instead, Polyphemus seals the cave with a massive boulder, seizes two of the men and eats them raw. He will do the same each morning and evening for as long as Odysseus remains his prisoner.
Odysseus’s first instinct is to stab Polyphemus in his sleep, but he quickly realises that would be fatal: only the giant can move the boulder that blocks the entrance. This moment shows the essential quality that distinguishes Odysseus from other heroes — his metis, or cunning intelligence. Brute force would kill him. He must think.
Odysseus’s escape plan has four stages: he finds a wooden stake in the cave, sharpens and hardens its tip in the fire, gets Polyphemus drunk on wine, blinds him by driving the stake into his eye, and then hides his men (and himself) beneath the giant’s rams as they leave the cave in the morning — since Polyphemus runs his hands over the backs of the sheep but does not check their undersides.
The ‘Nobody’ Trick
When Polyphemus, reeling from the wine, asks Odysseus his name so he can give him a “gift” of xenia in return, Odysseus tells him his name is “Nobody” — Outis in Greek. When Odysseus drives the stake into Polyphemus’s eye and the giant screams in agony, the neighbouring Cyclopes come to the entrance of the cave and ask what the matter is. “Nobody is killing me,” roars Polyphemus. The others conclude he must be ill and go away. The trick is a masterstroke of wordplay and deception: in the oblique grammatical forms Polyphemus uses when reporting his pain, mē tis (no one) becomes indistinguishable from mētis (cunning intelligence), creating a layered pun that quietly signals the quality that has defeated him.
However, Odysseus’s cunning is shadowed by a fatal flaw: excessive pride. As his ships pull safely away from the island, Odysseus cannot resist taunting Polyphemus and — crucially — revealing his real name. He shouts that it was Odysseus, son of Laertes, from Ithaca, who blinded him. Polyphemus calls on his father, the sea-god Poseidon, to curse Odysseus. This moment plants the seed of every subsequent delay in Odysseus’s return: Poseidon will make the sea his enemy for the rest of the poem.
Polyphemus embodies everything that is the opposite of civilised Greek society. He does not farm the land — he lives entirely off his flock. He has no concept of the gods or of xenia: when Odysseus invokes Zeus as the protector of guests, Polyphemus dismisses the gods entirely, saying the Cyclopes are stronger than any immortal. He lives alone, with no community or law. He eats his guests rather than feeding them.
Homer signals his barbarism through precise descriptive details. His cave is enormous but messy and unstructured — milk pails and cheese are stored without order; pens of lambs are organised only by age. He sits among his flocks like a man among animals. In contrast, Odysseus and his men, for all their fear, maintain their civilised behaviour, discussing options and following a plan. The contrast between Odysseus’s intelligence and the Cyclops’s brute size is the central drama of the episode.
Book 10: The Witch Circe
In Book 10, after further adventures, Odysseus’s ship arrives at the island of Aeaea, home of the goddess-witch Circe. Odysseus sends a scouting party — half his men — to explore the island. They find a palace in a woodland clearing, surrounded by wolves and lions, which are in fact men Circe has already transformed. Circe invites the men in and serves them a feast laced with a drug. When they eat, she strikes them with her wand and turns them into pigs. Only one man, Eurylochus, escapes because he hangs back, suspicious.
Odysseus sets out alone to rescue his men. On the way, the god Hermes meets him in the form of a young man and gives him the herb moly — a white flower with a black root — which will counteract Circe’s magic. He also instructs Odysseus to rush at Circe with his sword when she tries to transform him. Circe, astonished that her magic has failed, recognises Odysseus and surrenders. She restores his crew, and Odysseus and his men stay on the island for a year, feasting with Circe as their willing host.
Hermes gives Odysseus the herb moly to protect him from Circe’s magic. When Circe’s drug fails to transform Odysseus, she recognises him as the man foretold by Hermes. He forces her to swear an oath not to harm him, and she restores his men. This episode is significant because Circe, unlike Polyphemus, ultimately fulfils the obligations of xenia: she feeds, hosts and eventually helps Odysseus.
Circe is one of Homer’s most interesting characters. She begins the episode as a dangerous, magical predator who destroys men without warning. But once Odysseus resists her magic and confronts her directly, she transforms into a generous and knowledgeable host. She provides food, rest and, crucially, information: it is Circe who tells Odysseus he must travel to the Underworld to consult the dead prophet Teiresias before he can find his way home.
This transformation from threat to helper reveals something about Odysseus’s ability to bring order out of chaos through force of will and intelligence. It also raises the question of how Homer portrays powerful women. Circe has divine power, knowledge and authority that most of the male characters in the poem lack. Yet she ultimately places herself in service to Odysseus’s mission. The tension between her power and her submission to Odysseus reflects the poem’s broader interest in what makes a man truly dominant.
The Crew of Odysseus
In both episodes, the crew of Odysseus plays a crucial role — and not always a heroic one. In the Cyclops episode, it is one of Odysseus’s men who spots the cheese and lambs in Polyphemus’s cave and urges him to take them, rather than leaving as caution demanded. In Book 10, the crew’s curiosity and recklessness lead directly to their transformation into pigs. Homer’s point is consistent: Odysseus’s men lack their leader’s self-restraint and sophrosyne — the quality of knowing one’s limits. The men are brave and loyal, but they cannot resist the temptations placed in their way, and this failure will ultimately destroy them.