S1: Welcome to the Hillsdale College Online Courses podcast. I'm Jeremiah Regan.
S2: And I'm Juan Davalos. We're back with the Odyssey lecture
S2: number five, the Cyclops.
S1: Yeah, this is a fun one. And everybody knows the
S1: story of the Cyclops, right?
S2: Everybody's heard at least of a Cyclops. Well, this is
S2: where it's from.
S1: But there's a lot to this story. There's quite an
S1: interesting character arc within this one book.
S2: I like to refer to this lecture as Pride Comes
S2: Before the Fall, because we have Odysseus having this amazing moment,
S2: and he's so proud of it. And then he commits
S2: terrible blunder, right?
S1: We see a real moment of triumph. We see this
S1: man of twists and turns, this witty man who uses prudence.
S1: That's that's seeking the good based on the circumstances around
S1: you escape from grave peril. That's a triumph, no question
S1: about it. But he kind of spoils it at the end.
S2: Yeah. And so in the last lecture, we saw the,
S2: the juxtaposition of of chaos or that this seeking for
S2: glory and pity. And now we're seeing between chaos again,
S2: this seeking for glory and prudence. You can't have this
S2: pursuit of glory without being prudent about it.
S1: I mean, Aristotle talks about moderation, being wanting the right
S1: things in the right amount at the right time for
S1: the right reason. And Homer is not critiquing Kleos. He's
S1: not critiquing proper glory. I mean, Aristotle talks about this.
S1: Hobbes talks about this. There are circumstances in which glory
S1: is earned and it should be appreciated and enjoyed, and
S1: yet it has to be within moderation. And that is
S1: a lesson that Odysseus here learns quite dearly.
S2: Something that I really appreciated of how Doctor Whalen frames
S2: this whole lecture, is how there's two ways in which
S2: Odysseus presents himself, and he's proud of his accomplishments. The
S2: first one is with Ephesians, in which he does it
S2: in the right way. That is, he first finds the
S2: favor of the Ephesians by telling his stories and everything,
S2: and then he reveals his name in a more appropriate way.
S2: And then with the Cyclops is the opposite. He does
S2: it poorly, and that leads to his, you know.
S1: And of course, Homer is messing with time. And so
S1: we learn why he was careful with his identity with
S1: the Phaeacians. Because earlier, even though it comes later in
S1: the poem, the event happens earlier, he was prideful and
S1: revealed his name in an imprudent way with the Cyclops.
S1: He's learned that lesson and he doesn't repeat that error.
S1: And to really appreciate this poem, as we've said before,
S1: you need to read it. Professor Whalen uses the same
S1: translation that our undergraduate students use when they're learning about
S1: the Odyssey here on campus. And that's the Robert Fagles translation.
S1: It's a very good translation, very vivid. I don't have Greek,
S1: but my friends who do say it's quite accurate as well.
S1: And while there's many good translations, this is the one
S1: we use. So you should pick that up and read
S1: the words in their entirety for yourselves.
S2: I think I've mentioned before that last time I probably
S2: read this book was in high school, and it was
S2: a terrible it was a terrible translation, which is why
S2: I probably had a terrible time learning the book as
S2: I'm rereading it now with this translation. It's very accessible.
S2: It's a delightful story, and I encourage everybody to go
S2: to hillsdale.edu/course. That's hillsdale.edu/course. At the top of the page,
S2: you'll see the book's button and you can purchase the
S2: book for yourself.
S1: Now let's turn back to Professor Whalen for lecture five
S1: of the Odyssey, the Cyclops.
S3: In our last lecture, we reached the conclusion of book
S3: eight of the Odyssey, where Alcinous, the King of the Phaeacians,
S3: notices Odysseus weeping as he hears the story of the
S3: fall of Troy. In this lecture we will cover book
S3: nine of the Odyssey, in which Odysseus responds to Alcinous question,
S3: who are you? By revealing his identity and beginning to
S3: tell his story of his adventures after the fall of Troy? Indeed,
S3: the next four books of the Odyssey books nine through 12,
S3: all are told to us by Odysseus himself. Odysseus here
S3: becomes the storyteller. Odysseus becomes something of a bard. He
S3: gives a narration of his adventures since the fall of Troy.
S3: This section, these four books, constitute something of a. Of
S3: a mini epic, a tale within a tale. And they
S3: give us the backstory for the. In media res beginning
S3: of the epic. The epic began in the middle of things,
S3: and Odysseus, now in his own voice, is going to
S3: give us the backstory. It's in these books that Odysseus
S3: tells us some of the most famous or infamous elements
S3: of the Odyssey as a whole Odysseus's journey to the
S3: land of the Lotus eaters, his encounter with the Cyclops,
S3: his encounter with the sirens. And finally, and most importantly,
S3: his journey to the underworld. This narration sits at the
S3: end of the first half of the Odyssey as a whole.
S3: The Odyssey is comprised of 24 books, and these books,
S3: books nine through 12 bring us to the end of
S3: the first half. Indeed, book 13 will begin with Odysseus
S3: finally reaching Ithaca, so we can see the whole of
S3: the narrative of the Odyssey broken between these two halves.
S3: Everything that's happened to Odysseus since the fall of Troy,
S3: up to getting home, and then everything that Odysseus must
S3: do once he gets home, encountering the suitors and his wife, Penelope. Now,
S3: book nine begins with Homer emphasizing Odysseus role as a
S3: storyteller himself. And in fact, we might even read Odysseus
S3: as a sort of poet. Here Odysseus, the great teller
S3: of tales, launched out on his story Alcinous, Majesty shining
S3: among your island people. What a fine thing it is
S3: to listen to such a bard as we have here.
S3: The man sings like a god. The crown of life,
S3: I'd say. There's nothing better than when deep joy holds
S3: sway throughout the realm. And banqueters up and down the palace.
S3: Sit in ranks. Enthralled to hear the bard. And before
S3: them all the tables heaped with bread and meats. And
S3: drawing wine from a mixing bowl. The steward makes his
S3: rounds and keeps the wine cups flowing. This, to my mind,
S3: is the best that life can offer. This is an
S3: interesting way to begin his narration. Odysseus making an assertion
S3: about the summum bonum, the highest good, the best that
S3: life can offer. It's an idealized vision, but it's also
S3: a vision of what Alcinous enjoys. This informs Odysseus, his ends,
S3: his aims, what he is striving for. This is what
S3: Odysseus wants to establish on Ithaca when he returns, Odysseus continues.
S3: But now you're set on probing the bitter pains I've borne,
S3: So I'm to weep and grieve. It seems still more. Well, then,
S3: what shall I go through first? What shall I save
S3: for last. What pains the gods have given me my share.
S3: Now let me begin by telling you my name. So
S3: you may know it well, and I in times to come.
S3: If I can escape the fatal day will be your host,
S3: your sworn friend. Though my home is far from here.
S3: I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world
S3: for every kind of craft. My fame has reached the skies.
S3: Sunny Ithaca is my home now. Odysseus statement of his
S3: name and the island where he's from establishing his identity
S3: is a deeply significant moment in the story as a whole.
S3: As we've covered in previous lectures, both Nausicaa and Alcinous
S3: had intimated that they would be interested in having Odysseus
S3: as Nausicaa's husband. So Odysseus, declaring himself as Odysseus from
S3: sunny Ithaca is in fact closing the door to that option.
S3: Or perhaps we should even call it that temptation that is,
S3: in asserting his identity and establishing who he is, Odysseus
S3: is saying, I will not stay here and marry Nausicaa.
S3: I will return to my home and to my wife
S3: and family. All Odysseus would need to do to live
S3: on Scheria with Nausicaa as his wife, in ease and
S3: wealth and splendor for the rest of his life, would
S3: be to change his identity, to make up a story,
S3: to tell some sort of tale about who he is.
S3: In declaring himself as Odysseus, Odysseus is turning from that.
S3: He is embracing Ithaca and his wife Penelope, and he
S3: is embracing the hardships that are entailed in that, Odysseus
S3: continues on and narrates the adventures that he and his
S3: men went through after the fall of Troy. The first
S3: place they came to were the Cicones. He says, The
S3: wind drove me out of ilium on to Ismarus, the
S3: Cicones stronghold. There I sacked the city, killed the men.
S3: But as for the wives and plunder, that rich haul
S3: we dragged away from the place, we shared it round.
S3: So no one not on my account would go. Deprived
S3: of his fair share of spoils. Then I urged them
S3: to cut and run. Set sail. But would they listen?
S3: Not those mutinous fools. There is too much wine to swill.
S3: Too many sheep to slaughter. Down along the beach and
S3: shambling longhorn cattle. And all the while the Cicones sought
S3: out other cicones called for help from their neighbours living inland.
S3: A larger force and stronger soldiers. Two skilled hands at
S3: fighting men from chariots skilled. When a crisis broke to
S3: fight on foot out of the morning mist. They came
S3: against us. Packed as the leaves and spears that flower
S3: forth in spring. And Zeus presented us with disaster. Me
S3: and my comrades doomed to suffer. Blow on mortal blow.
S3: Lining up both armies. Battled it out against our swift ships.
S3: Both raked each other with hurtling bronze lances. Long as
S3: mourning rose. And the blessed day grew stronger. We stood
S3: and fought them off, masked as they were. But then
S3: when the sun wheeled past the hour for un yoking oxen,
S3: the cicones broke our lines and beat us down. At last,
S3: out of each ship six men at arms were killed.
S3: The rest of us rode away from certain doom. Now,
S3: this is an interesting beginning. To Odysseus's adventures. They have
S3: sailed away from Troy. They've just sacked the city, and
S3: instead of making straight home for Ithaca, they stop at
S3: the Cicones and we hear no more details in this
S3: narrative about them than simply that they're another city and
S3: they sack that city and wage further war. This does
S3: not seem like the behaviour of a man who really
S3: is determined to get home, who really wants to return
S3: to Ithaca. Instead, Odysseus and his men here read much
S3: more like pirates, like buccaneers, like wandering adventurers who are
S3: simply seeking violence and plunder. This is something that will
S3: have to be corrected in Odysseus character. Here he is
S3: still very much the man of war, the man of violence,
S3: a lawless man. As Odysseus adventures continue in books nine
S3: through 12, we'll see him come to appreciate and desire
S3: home more such that he will turn from this behavior
S3: and seek finally his own family. After their defeat with
S3: the Cicones, Odysseus and his fleet come to the island
S3: of the Lotus Eaters. The island of the Lotus Eaters
S3: is a strange sort of mystical or magical island, where
S3: there's this strange substance, lotus, that makes sailors and people
S3: forget where they are from, forget their names, forget their identities.
S3: Forget any desire for homecoming, for return, for Nostos that
S3: they might have. And this is the first of what
S3: will be a sustained part of Odysseus narrative, where he
S3: enters a sort of magical fairy tale or fable like realm.
S3: Odysseus will begin to come to different islands, where kings
S3: have sacks of winds and monsters like Cyclops Live, or
S3: giant sea monsters live or witches live. It's a magical, strange,
S3: fable like place. Our squadron reached the land of the
S3: Lotus Eaters, people who eat the lotus mellow fruit and flower.
S3: We disembarked on the coast, drew water there, and crewmen
S3: snatched a meal by the swift ships. Once we'd had
S3: our fill of food and drink, I sent a detail ahead.
S3: Two picked men and a third a runner to scout
S3: out who might live there. Men like us, perhaps, who
S3: live on bread. So off they went, and soon enough
S3: they mingled among the natives. Lotus eaters, Lotus eaters, who
S3: had no notion of killing my companions? Not at all.
S3: They simply gave them the lotus to taste instead. Any
S3: crewmen who ate the lotus. The honey sweet fruit lost
S3: all desire to send a message back, much less return
S3: their only wish to linger there with the lotus eaters
S3: grazing on lotus. All memory of the journey home dissolved forever.
S3: But I brought them back. Back to the hollow ships
S3: and streaming tears. I forced them, hauled them under the
S3: rowing benches, lashed them fast, and shouted out commands to
S3: my other steady comrades. Quick! No time to lose. Embark
S3: in the racing ships so none could eat the lotus.
S3: Forget the voyage home. Here we see a different sort
S3: of threat to Odysseus's homecoming, to his nostos. If, on
S3: the one hand, one sort of threat might be Cicones
S3: who could kill them. On the other hand, something like
S3: the lotus eaters constitute a threat to one's memory and
S3: one's desire to return home. The lotus eaters change or
S3: make one forget one's very identity, who one is and
S3: where one should return to. We will see a recurrence
S3: of this sort of threat as Odysseus continues his adventures. Now,
S3: after Odysseus saves his men from the lotus eaters by
S3: tying them to the ship and forcing them to sail away,
S3: they come to the land of the Cyclops. And this
S3: is one of the one of the most infamous episodes
S3: in all of the Odyssey. Homer tells us. From there
S3: we sailed on our spirits now at low ebb, and
S3: reached the land of the high and mighty Cyclops, lawless
S3: brutes who trust so to the everlasting gods. They never
S3: plant with their own hands or plow the soil. Unsown Unplowed.
S3: The earth teems with all they need. Wheat, barley, and
S3: vines swelled by the rains of Zeus to yield a big,
S3: full bodied wine from clustered grapes. They have no meeting
S3: place for counsel. No laws either. No. Up on the
S3: mountain peaks they live in arching caverns, each a law
S3: to himself, ruling his wives and children. Not a care
S3: in the world for any neighbor. It's interesting here that
S3: Odysseus is attentive to the lawless nature of these Cyclopes. This.
S3: The Cyclopes do not constitute a political community. Instead, they
S3: are lawless and part of being lawless is having no
S3: care for one's neighbor. And as we can already anticipate,
S3: no care for guests. That is lawful. Men are men
S3: who fear the gods and who are hospitable. They exercise
S3: the virtues that Zeus demands. Here the Cyclopes will not
S3: be that they don't, in fact, fear the gods, and
S3: they don't care for their neighbor or for their guests.
S3: Now Odysseus leaves most of his fleet anchored by a
S3: neighboring island, but he takes his ship into the Cyclops island,
S3: and he takes his crew into the cave of one
S3: particular Cyclops, he tells us. Our party quickly made its
S3: way to his cave, but we failed to find our
S3: host himself inside. He was off in his pasture, ranging
S3: his sleek flocks. So he explored his den, gazing wide
S3: eyed at it all, the large flat racks loaded with
S3: drying cheeses, the folds crowded with young lambs and kids,
S3: split into three groups. Here the spring. Born here, mid yearlings. Here,
S3: the fresh sucklings off to the side. Each sort was
S3: penned apart and all his vessels, pails and hammered. Buckets
S3: he used for milking were brimming full with whey. From
S3: the start my comrades pressed me, pleading hard. Let's make
S3: away with the cheeses. Then come back. Hurry! Drive the
S3: lambs and kids from the pens to our swift ship
S3: put out to sea at once. But I would not
S3: give way. And how much better it would have been!
S3: Not till I saw him. Saw what gifts he'd give.
S3: But he proved no lovely sight to my companions. There
S3: we built a fire, set our hands on the cheeses,
S3: offered some to the gods, and ate the bulk ourselves,
S3: and settled down inside, awaiting his return. And back he
S3: came from pasture late in the day, herding his flocks
S3: home and lugging a huge load of good dry logs
S3: to fuel his fire. At supper he flung them down
S3: in the cave, a jolting crash. We scuttled in panic
S3: into the deepest dark recess. So this one eyed giant
S3: comes into the cave, throws the logs down, and then
S3: he rolls a big boulder over the mouth of the
S3: cave so that Odysseus and his men, who have retreated
S3: to the back, are trapped within the cave. With this Cyclops.
S3: The Cyclops then tends to his sheep. He milks them
S3: and he settles down, and then finally he notices Odysseus
S3: and his men. He asks Odysseus, who are you? And
S3: are there others of you? And Odysseus is intelligent enough
S3: to know that he shouldn't reveal the presence of his
S3: entire fleet sitting by the neighboring island? Instead, he says,
S3: so he laid his trap. But he never caught me.
S3: No wise to the world, I shot back in my
S3: crafty way. My ship Poseidon, God of the earthquake, smashed
S3: my ship. He drove it against the rocks at your
S3: island's far cape. He dashed it off against a cliff
S3: as the winds rowed us in. I and the men,
S3: you see, escaped a sudden death. Not a word in
S3: reply to that, the ruthless brute lurching up. He lunged
S3: out with his hands toward my men, and snatching two
S3: at once, wrapping them on the ground, he knocked them
S3: dead like pups. Their brains gushed out all over, soaked
S3: the floor and ripping them limb from limb to fix
S3: his meal. He bolted them down like a mountain lion,
S3: left no scrap, devoured entrails, flesh and bones, marrow and all.
S3: We flung our arms to Zeus. We wept and cried aloud,
S3: looking on at his grisly work, paralyzed, appalled. But once
S3: the Cyclops had stuffed his enormous gut with human flesh,
S3: washing it down with raw milk, he slept in his cave,
S3: stretched out along his flocks. Now Odysseus first response, as
S3: he sees a Cyclops lie down, is to pull his
S3: sword out and kill the Cyclops, but he catches himself.
S3: He controls himself, understanding that with this massive boulder rolled
S3: in front of the mouth of the cave. If they
S3: kill the Cyclops, then they'd all be trapped in the
S3: cave with no way to get out. So Odysseus wonders
S3: what to do. The next day, the Cyclops wakes up.
S3: He takes his herd of sheep out. He does not
S3: let Odysseus and his men escape, and he rolls the
S3: boulder back in front of the cave so that Odysseus
S3: and his men are trapped there. Now, Odysseus knows they're
S3: simply going to be consumed over the next several days
S3: by this flesh eating giant monster. And so Odysseus comes
S3: up with his clever plan. Odysseus takes the club of
S3: the Cyclopes, a giant piece of wood, and he sharpens
S3: one end of it, and he hardens that end in
S3: a fire. It's the weapon that Odysseus is fashioning for
S3: the Cyclopes. Then when the Cyclops comes back in the evening, Odysseus,
S3: who had fortunately taken a sack of very strong wine
S3: with him, offers it to the Cyclops, and he determines
S3: to get the Cyclops drunk, as Odysseus tells us. I
S3: poured him another fiery bowl. Three bowls I brimmed, and three.
S3: He drank to the last drop. The fool. And then,
S3: when the wine was swirling round his brain, I approached
S3: my host with a cordial, winning word. So you ask
S3: me the name. I'm known by Cyclops. I will tell you.
S3: But you must give me a guest gift. As you've promised. Nobody.
S3: That's my name. Nobody. So my mother and father call
S3: me all my friends. But he boomed back at me
S3: from his ruthless heart. Nobody. I'll eat nobody. Last of all,
S3: his friends. I'll eat the others first. That's my gift
S3: to you. With that, he toppled over, sprawled full length
S3: flat on his back and lay there, his massive neck
S3: slumping to one side, and sleep that conquers all overwhelmed
S3: him now as wine came spurting, flooding up from his
S3: gullet with chunks of human flesh. He vomited blind drunk.
S3: These are some of the visceral details in Odysseus narrative,
S3: in Homer's narrative, that give it such colour and and vivacity. Now,
S3: this detail about Odysseus name that Odysseus comes up with
S3: this ploy of calling himself nobody is quite significant, but
S3: we have to read on to find out why Odysseus
S3: and his men take up the huge pointed club that
S3: they've prepared. And Odysseus tells us, hoisting high that olive
S3: stake with its stabbing point straight into the monster's eye.
S3: They rammed it hard. I drove my weight on it
S3: from above and bored at home as a shipwright bores
S3: his beam with a shipwright's drill that men below whipping
S3: the strap back and forth whirl. And the drill keeps
S3: twisting faster, never stopping. So we seized our stake with
S3: its fiery tip. And bored it round and round in
S3: the giant's eye. Till blood came boiling up around that
S3: smoking shaft. And the hot blast singed his brow and
S3: eyelids round the core and the broiling eyeball burst. This
S3: is the first step of Odysseus plan. He needs to
S3: blind the Cyclops. The only way they're going to escape
S3: from the cave is by removing the Cyclops single eye.
S3: It's also an interesting detail, though the simile that Odysseus
S3: tells us is that they drive the stake into the
S3: Cyclops eye as a shipwright bores his beam with a
S3: shipwright's drill. That is, Odysseus is using this club, using
S3: this weapon in a way that's familiar to himself and
S3: his comrades as naval voyagers, as people who have the
S3: craft of shipwrights. This is something the Cyclops don't have.
S3: They don't have cultivation. They don't have technology. They simply
S3: live as lawless brutes in a cave. And so the
S3: fact that Odysseus is using the club like a shipwright
S3: might construct a ship is a suggestion that the way
S3: Odysseus is defeating the Cyclops is not through brute force.
S3: The Cyclops has that, but instead through intelligence and through.
S3: In a sense, technology in techne, his knowledge of how
S3: things work. So this is a triumph of Odysseus. Mattis,
S3: of his cunning and practical intelligence. This is a triumph
S3: of Odysseus as a man of cultivation, of culture and
S3: of technology rather than simply brute force. Now, once they've
S3: punctured the Cyclops eye, Odysseus tells us, the monster wrenched
S3: the spike from his eye, and out it came with
S3: a red geyser of blood. He flung it aside with
S3: frantic hands and mad with pain, he bellowed out for
S3: help from his neighbor Cyclops, living round about in caves,
S3: on windswept crags. Hearing his cries, they lumbered up from
S3: every side and hulking round his cavern. Asked what ailed him, what, Polyphemus,
S3: what in the world's the trouble roaring out in the
S3: godsent night to rob us of our sleep? Surely no
S3: one's rustling your flocks against your will. Surely no one's
S3: trying to kill you now by fraud or force. Nobody. Friends!
S3: Polyphemus bellowed back from his cave. Nobody's killing me now
S3: by fraud and not by force. If you're alone, his
S3: friends boomed back at once. And nobody's trying to overpower
S3: you now. Look, it must be a plague sent here
S3: by mighty Zeus, and there's no escape from that. You'd
S3: better pray to your father, Lord Poseidon. Now, there are
S3: several things going on here in this passage. This is
S3: the first time we actually learn the Cyclops name Polyphemus. Now,
S3: Polyphemus can mean making a lot of noise, which clearly
S3: fits the bill here as he's bellowing in the Cyclops.
S3: The other Cyclops are bellowing back at him, but the
S3: name Polyphemus can also mean in the Greek he who
S3: gives great fame or great renown, or also having several
S3: sorts of prophetic speech. And this is interesting, since we
S3: already know from book one and Zeus's conversation that it
S3: is this action of Odysseus, the blinding of Polyphemus that
S3: so angers Poseidon and turns the great god of the
S3: sea against Odysseus. So it's this action, in fact, that
S3: is both the source of Odysseus's great suffering and his
S3: long journey, and also the source of his triumph and
S3: fame as well. And in fact, that fame, that great
S3: renown that Odysseus gets from Polyphemus, lives on to today.
S3: This is one of the most famous episodes in all
S3: of Homer's works. But it is also here that we
S3: can appreciate the cunning of Odysseus in telling Polyphemus that
S3: his name is nobody. Now, this is actually a difficult
S3: thing for English speakers to appreciate in Homer's work, because
S3: Homer is working off of a pun that works in
S3: Greek but doesn't translate easily to English. As our translator
S3: Robert Fagles states in his notes at the end of
S3: this volume, the Greek word Otis, the name Odysseus gives himself,
S3: is formed from the normal Greek locution for nobody. Ooh,
S3: tis not anybody. This enables Homer to make brilliant use
S3: of wordplay that cannot be adequately reproduced in English. When
S3: his fellow Cyclops asked Polyphemus why he is making such
S3: an uproar and he tells them, nobody's killing me now
S3: by fraud and not by force, they naturally misunderstand it
S3: and reply, if nobody's trying to overpower you. But in Greek,
S3: their reply has a different form for no one not UTIs,
S3: but Matis, the usual form for use after the word if.
S3: But Matis, not anyone sounds exactly the same as Matis.
S3: A key word of the Odyssey. The main characteristic of
S3: its hero craft or cunning, and Polyphemus is in fact
S3: being overpowered by the Matis. The craft and cunning of Odysseus.
S3: So we see here in Odysseus plan his cunning, his cleverness,
S3: to tell Polyphemus that his name is Otis, that his
S3: name is nobody. He not only saves his men from
S3: interference with the other Cyclops, but he, in fact forces
S3: Polyphemus to state unconsciously the way in which he's being defeated.
S3: He is being defeated by Odysseus cunning. It's not force
S3: that leads to Odysseus triumph. It is fraud. It's practical intelligence.
S3: It's Metis. After having blinded Polyphemus, Odysseus completes his plan
S3: for escape. He knows that in the morning, Polyphemus will
S3: need to let his sheep out to graze. And so
S3: he takes his rams by sets of three and ties
S3: them together, and then lashes one of his men underneath
S3: each set of rams. Then in the morning, when Polyphemus
S3: does roll the stone back, he feels the Rams feeling
S3: their tops to make sure they're not men escaping but
S3: doesn't detect Odysseus's men lashed underneath them. Odysseus himself escapes
S3: by taking the biggest, oldest ram that Polyphemus has, and
S3: hanging on to the wool underneath its belly, Polyphemus knows
S3: this ram. He feels it. He even speaks to it fondly.
S3: But he doesn't detect Odysseus hanging on for dear life underneath.
S3: And so Odysseus and his men escape from Polyphemus Cave,
S3: and they make their way to the ship. Emboldened by
S3: his success embracing his triumph, Odysseus, as his men are
S3: sailing away from the shore, shouts out taunts at the Cyclops.
S3: He's boasting, he's bragging, and he shouts so Cyclops! No
S3: weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour.
S3: There in your vaulted cave with your brute force, your
S3: filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal,
S3: daring to eat your guests in your own house. So
S3: Zeus and the other gods have paid you back. This
S3: is an interesting taunt on Odysseus's part. In part he's
S3: exuberant in his triumph. He's also asserting that Polyphemus. Violation
S3: of the guest host relationship of Xenia, of the obligation
S3: to be hospitable, is being punished by the gods. Odysseus
S3: is presenting himself here as an agent of the gods,
S3: bringing justice to Polyphemus by punishing him, by blinding him
S3: for being inhospitable. Polyphemus can't see Odysseus and his men,
S3: but Odysseus starts shouting at Polyphemus about how he was
S3: fooled and bested by nobody. And Polyphemus takes huge boulders
S3: and crags and starts hurling them into the ocean, and
S3: the waves, in fact, drive Odysseus's ship back towards the
S3: Cyclops island. Odysseus's men are begging Odysseus to stop taunting
S3: and stop provoking the Cyclops. But Odysseus continues nevertheless, and
S3: it's here that Odysseus reveals who he is. So they begged,
S3: but they could not bring my fighting spirit round. I
S3: called back with another burst of anger. Cyclops. If any
S3: man on the face of the earth should ask you,
S3: who blinded you? Shamed you? So say Odysseus, raider of cities.
S3: He gouged out your eye, Laertes son, who makes his
S3: home in Ithaca. It's this revelation of his name and
S3: his identity that allows Polyphemus to offer up a prayer
S3: to his father, Poseidon, the god of the sea. Otherwise,
S3: if Odysseus had not boasted in this way, Polyphemus would
S3: not know who it was who blinded him. And so
S3: Poseidon would not then have been angered at Odysseus. So
S3: this is a disastrous, proud, hubristic moment on Odysseus's part
S3: in revealing who he is here. In this boasting taunt,
S3: he brings down the God of the sea's anger upon him.
S3: We also see, interestingly, in this moment how quickly Odysseus
S3: has moved from. Nobody rushes to Odysseus himself. We see
S3: this movement is part of Odysseus's desire for kleos. The
S3: boasting about who he is and where he's from is
S3: establishing his greatness as a warrior. I am Odysseus raider
S3: of cities from Ithaca. But it's this desire for glory,
S3: unfettered from prudence, that leads to the disastrous consequences of
S3: Poseidon's anger. Now, interestingly, in terms of the larger narration,
S3: we can note that Odysseus here with Polyphemus, proudly, boastfully
S3: reveals who he is, and so endures Poseidon's anger and
S3: has great suffering, terrible consequences. But Odysseus, in the present tense,
S3: with the Phaeacians and with Alcinous, was very reticent to
S3: reveal who he was. We can see in this that Odysseus,
S3: in fact, has learned something. Odysseus great error is the
S3: boastful revelation and statement of his name. After many years
S3: of suffering and many persecutions of Poseidon, Odysseus much more
S3: carefully reveals who he is to Alcinous. In fact, we
S3: can see now that all of book nine is sandwiched
S3: between two revelations of Odysseus's name. The first to the
S3: Phaeacians into. Alcinous comes only after Odysseus has won their goodwill,
S3: and is a humbled man who is a beggar and
S3: a suppliant, asking for passage home. The second one to Polyphemus,
S3: boastfully shouted as his marker of triumph, and as his
S3: assertion and grasping of Kleos leads to his suffering and punishment.
S3: We can see in this which is the more proper way,
S3: which is the more prudent, the more virtuous way to
S3: reveal one's name, and what it is that Odysseus has
S3: learned over the years of his captivity on Calypso's Island.
S3: Now book nine ends with Odysseus escape from Polyphemus in
S3: the Cyclops island, but it does not end his adventures
S3: and will follow where Odysseus goes in our next lecture.
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