Storytelling For Week 3: Misunderstood Men

Hi, my name is Polyphemus. I am a greater known as the cyclops. I live on the Island of the Cyclops. Here we are very blessed by the gods and have very prosperous croups. Zeus blesses us with all the rains we could ever need. Our land is so rich that we never have to work it and we still have the best crops. Our society is so calm that we need no laws to control. We only make up our family rules. The reasoning for our bountiful lands were that the gods felt sorry for us because they forgot to give us two eyes and only gave us one which made our depth perception seem almost absent.

One day I was doing my normal chores of rounding up my sheep and bringing them to my cave for milking. These sheep weren't just any sheep. My sheep were very well fed and had the thickest wool. I brought the sheep in for milking and curdled half for storing and saved  the other half for drinking. After all of this was done I sat next to a fire I built and notice strange men in my cave. I asked them who they were and why they were in my cave. The leader of the group then threatened to take over my land and kill every cyclops that lived on it. I didn't much like this so I ate two of his men. After doing so I went to sleep knowing that none of his men were strong enough to hurt me.

The next day I woke up and ate two more men after gathering my sheep. This angered the man so much that he finally called for a truce. I asked him what his name is and he said Nobody. After we had a talk he proceeded to tell me that since we had a truce he would not kill me but would still kill everyone else! After I finished my days work I returned home and ate two more men. After this Nobody gave me a generous amount of wine and me being the nice fellow I am took the wine and happily finished the entire bowl. I passed out drunk from the wine. Later that night I woke up to a burning stick driven through my eye. The men had finally tricked me and overcame my powerful strength. I called for my fellow cyclops but when they came I had told them that Nobody had hurt me so they left. After I eventually lifted my door and left to tell the other cyclops what had happened they all left for the ocean. These actions by Odysseus made my father,Poseidon, very angry. I asked my father to make sure they did not return home eon favorable conditions. After this my life has never been the same

Odysseus gauging Polyphemus' eye

Author's Note:

This story is based off of the readings 1-4 from reading A in the UNtextbook of Homer's Odyssey. The original story is based off of first person reflections and actions from Odysseus. The story begins with Odysseus arriving at the Island of the Cyclops. Odysseus and his men explore the cave of Polyphemus and become trapped inside when Polyphemus arrives home. Polyphemus is angry with the men and eat a few of them. My story then follows along with the original story with the exception that Odysseus was the cruel one and Polyphemus was just protecting his home against the foreigners. I thought that since the original story was in first person that my story should be written in first person  because every story has two sides. I also thought the story should explain why they were given the land they had and why they behaved the way they did.  In the original, Polyphemus is describe as an animalistic being with no sympathy for the humans. In my version I described him as being more protective than animalistic and having a much more human side. The image I chose is form a museum gallery depicting the scene of Odysseus and his men gauging the eye of Polyphemus while he was passed out drunk.