The saga of Odysseus and the Cyclops begins on the rugged, untamed shores of what is now known as Sicily, in the shadow of the great volcano Mount Etna. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, was leading his fleet home from the ruins of Troy, but the winds of fate were fickle. Driven off course, his ships arrived at the Land of the Cyclopes, a race of lawless, solitary giants who neither planted crops nor gathered in assemblies. Unlike the civilized Greeks who valued the laws of hospitality, the Cyclopes lived in isolation, tending to their flocks of sheep and goats in the high mountain caves. Odysseus, ever curious and perhaps overly confident in his own status as a celebrated hero, decided to explore the island with a dozen of his finest men, carrying with them a skin of potent, unmixed wine given to him by Maron, a priest of Apollo.
Upon reaching a massive cave near the sea, the Greeks found it empty of its inhabitant but filled with the riches of a pastoral life. There were heavy crates of cheeses, pails overflowing with whey, and pens crowded with lambs and kids. Odysseus’s men, sensing a primal danger, pleaded with their captain to take the cheeses, drive the animals to the ships, and flee immediately. However, Odysseus refused. He was driven by a desire to see the giant for himself and to test if the creature would offer the 'xenia'—the sacred gift-exchange between host and guest—mandated by Zeus. This decision would prove nearly fatal. As evening fell, the ground began to tremble with the heavy footsteps of Polyphemus, a son of the sea god Poseidon. He was a creature of monstrous proportions, with a single, orb-like eye set in the center of his forehead. He drove his flocks into the cave and then heaved a gargantuan boulder across the entrance, a stone so heavy that twenty-two four-wheeled wagons could not have moved it.
When Polyphemus finally noticed the men cowering in the shadows, his voice boomed like thunder. Odysseus stepped forward, invoking the protection of Zeus and requesting the hospitality due to travelers. The Cyclops responded with a chilling laugh, declaring that his race cared nothing for Zeus or the other Olympian gods, for the Cyclopes were far stronger. Without another word, he reached out, snatched two of Odysseus’s companions, and dashed their brains against the floor. He devoured them raw, bones and all, before washing the meal down with milk and falling into a deep sleep. Odysseus drew his sword, intending to stab the giant in the liver, but he stopped himself just in time. He realized that even if he killed Polyphemus, he and his remaining men would be trapped forever, as they lacked the strength to move the massive boulder sealing the cave.
Dawn brought no relief, only more horror as the Cyclops ate two more men for breakfast before driving his flocks out and resealing the cave. While the giant was away, Odysseus’s mind raced. He spotted a massive staff of green olive wood, as large as a ship’s mast, which the giant intended to use as a walking stick. Odysseus and his men cut off a fathom-length of the wood, sharpened it to a point, and hardened it in the embers of the fire. They hid the stake in the dung that littered the cave floor. When Polyphemus returned in the evening and consumed two more Greeks, Odysseus approached him with the skin of Ismarian wine. He offered the giant a drink, claiming it was a gift to accompany his meal. The wine was so strong it usually required twenty parts water to one part wine, but the Cyclops drank it neat. Delighted by the intoxicating brew, Polyphemus demanded more and asked for the hero's name so he could provide a guest-gift in return.
Odysseus, the master of deception, replied, 'My name is Nobody. That is what my mother and father call me, and all my friends.' The drunken giant chuckled and gave his promised 'gift': 'Then I will eat Nobody last, after all his friends. That shall be your gift.' As the wine took hold, Polyphemus collapsed into a stupor, vomiting bits of human flesh and wine in his sleep. Seizing the moment, Odysseus and four of his bravest men heated the olive stake until it was glowing red. With a collective surge of strength, they thrust the burning point into the Cyclops's eye, leaning on it as a shipbuilder leans on a drill. The eye sizzled and the giant let out a scream so piercing that it echoed through the rocky cliffs of Sicily. He pulled the stake from his eye and bellowed for his neighbors, the other Cyclopes who lived in nearby caves.
When the other giants arrived outside the cave, they asked what ailed him and who was hurting him. Polyphemus shouted from behind the boulder, 'Nobody is killing me by fraud! Nobody is killing me by force!' Hearing this, the other Cyclopes grew annoyed. 'If nobody is hurting you,' they replied, 'then your sickness must be a plague sent by Zeus, and there is nothing we can do.' They walked away, leaving Polyphemus to groan in agony. The 'Nobody' trick had worked perfectly, stripping the giant of his only hope for reinforcements. However, the cave remained sealed. As morning broke, Polyphemus moved the stone just enough to let his sheep out, sitting in the doorway and running his hands over their backs to ensure no Greeks were riding them out. Odysseus, ever the strategist, had anticipated this. He lashed the thick-fleeced rams together in groups of three, tying a man under the middle sheep of each group. For himself, he chose the largest, finest ram in the flock, clutching its woolly belly and hanging on with iron grip.