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| Character | Odysseus | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Adult (36-50), Senior (>50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Crying, Descriptive, Lamenting, Afraid, Reminiscing life story/Telling a story | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Ancient Greek | |
| Genre | Action, Fantasy, Tragedy, Drama, Adventure | |
| Description | Odysseus narrates to the Chorus how he escaped the Cyclop's cave | |
Summary
The Cyclops are mythological giants with one eye on their forehead that live in Sicily on Mount Aetna. Odysseus, going back to Ithaca after the Trojan war, gets lost and runs into the Cyclops when he stops in Sicily. They meets Silenus and his sons the Satyrs that have been enslaved by the Cyclops.
In the beginning of the play Odysseus meets Silenus and he offers to trade wine for food. When the Cyclops arrive Silenus accuses Odysseus of stealing his food. As a consequence the Cyclops kidnap Odysseus and members of his crew and brings them to their cave where he eats a few of his crew members. Odysseus, however, manages to escape by getting him drunk and sneaking out.
In this monologue Odysseus narrates to the Chorus how the Cyclops killed and cooked some of his crew members. He describes in detail the gruesome killing. Then he tells them how he had the idea to get him drunk in order to be able to escape from his cave.
In the beginning of the play Odysseus meets Silenus and he offers to trade wine for food. When the Cyclops arrive Silenus accuses Odysseus of stealing his food. As a consequence the Cyclops kidnap Odysseus and members of his crew and brings them to their cave where he eats a few of his crew members. Odysseus, however, manages to escape by getting him drunk and sneaking out.
In this monologue Odysseus narrates to the Chorus how the Cyclops killed and cooked some of his crew members. He describes in detail the gruesome killing. Then he tells them how he had the idea to get him drunk in order to be able to escape from his cave.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
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| ODYSSEUS When we had entered yonder rocky abode, he lighted first a fire, throwing logs of towering oak upon his spacious hearth, enough for three wagons to carry as their load; next, close by the blazing flame, he placed his couch of pine-boughs laid upon the floor, and filled a bowl of some ten firkins, pouring white milk thereinto, after he had milked his kine; and by his side he put a can of ivy-wood, whose breadth was three cubits and its depth four maybe; next he set his brazen pot a-boiling on the fire, spits too he set beside him, fashioned of the branches of thorn, their points hardened in the fire and the rest of them trimmed with the hatchet, and the blood-bowls of Aetna for the axe's edge. Now when that hell-cook, god-detested, had everything quite ready, he caught up a pair of my companions and proceeded deliberately to cut the throat of one of them over the yawning brazen pot; but the other he clutched by the tendon of his heel, and, striking him against a sharp point of rocky stone, dashed out his brains; then, after hacking the fleshy parts with glutton cleaver, he set to grilling them, but the limbs he threw into his cauldron to seethe. And I, poor wretch, drew near with streaming eyes and waited on the Cyclops; but the others kept cowering like frightened birds in crannies of the rock, and the blood forsook their skin. Anon, when he had gorged himself upon my comrades' flesh and had fallen on his back, breathing heavily, there came a sudden inspiration to me. I filled a cup of this Maronian wine and offered him a draught, saying, "Cyclops, son of Ocean's god, see here what heavenly drink the grapes of Hellas yield, glad gift of Dionysus." He, glutted with his shameless meal, took and drained it at one draught, and, lifting up his hand, he thanked me thus "Dearest to me of all my guests! fair the drink thou givest me to crown so fair a feast." Now when I saw his delight, I gave him another cup, knowing the wine would make him rue it, and he would soon be paying the penalty. Then he set to singing; but I kept filling bumper after bumper and heating him with drink. So there he is singing discordantly amid the weeping of my fellow-sailors, and the cave re-echoes; but I have made my way out quietly and would fain save thee and myself, if thou wilt. Tell me then, is it your wish, or is it not, to fly from this unsocial wretch and take up your abode with Naiad nymphs in the halls of the Bacchic god? Thy father within approves this scheme; but there! he is powerless, getting all he can out of his liquor; his wings are snared by the cup as if he had flown against bird-lime, and he is fuddled; but thou art young and lusty; so save thyself with my help and regain thy old friend Dionysus, so little like the Cyclops. |
