# Cyclops — The Odyssey character guide

> Cyclops in The Odyssey by Homer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Polyphemus, the cannibal Cyclops, O Cyclops

**First appearance:** 0009-book-viii-festivals-in-honor-of-ulysses

## Snapshot

A one-eyed giant who devours Ulysses' men in his cave and earns a blinding that will haunt the wanderer for years.

## Who they are

Polyphemus lives outside every law of guests and gods, tending his flocks in a cave that becomes a slaughterhouse the moment Ulysses accepts his own curiosity as an invitation. He is strength without craft, and his howl of pain when blinded carries a father's curse across the sea. His encounter with Ulysses sets the terms of the hero's long suffering: every later storm has Polyphemus's prayer behind it.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters/cyclops
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters