Carly Symington
First Document
The Cyclops by Euripides
The Cyclops
Background Information
The myth of the Cyclops is a well-known tale among the ancient Greeks. Everyone knew
that Cyclops were monsters of a gigantic manner, yet with human qualities and only one eye.
The Cyclops by Euripides, translated by E.P Coleridge focuses on the tale of how Odysseus is
lost on the island at the foot of Mount Aetna. Euripides was born around 484 B.C, and he wrote
an estimated total of 92 plays. He only won four first prizes for his works in his lifetime, but
now after his death he is known to be the most famous of the three Athenian tragedian writers:
Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus.
The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer was written in 800 B.C, about 400+ years before
Euripides time. It is arguably one of the most famous pieces of literature, rooted, of course, in
the fact that it is one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world. Needless to say, the story of
the Cyclops has been around for ages.
The play The Cyclops by Euripides is the only full satyr play of ancient Greece in
existence today. A satyr play is a play that tries to bring comedic relief to the audience. In
ancient Greece, plays were preformed in groups of three or four. The other plays in the
collection were usually tragedies, and the last play to perform was a satyr play. The purpose of
presenting a satyr play last is to let the audience leave the performances of the day lighthearted.
Satyr plays usually included light themes that consisted of, for example, drinking or sexual
content.
History of the Cyclops
There are two known generations of Cyclops. The first generation is said to be the sons
of Gaia and Uranus (the earth and the sky). They were disowned by their father Uranus,
however, and imprisoned
deep into the earth. Cronus
eventually set them free by
defeating Uranus. Their
freedom, unfortunately, did
not last long, for Cronus
feared they would take over
his kingdom. The Cyclops
were known for being huge,
burly, stubborn creatures
that roamed the land.
Therefore, he banished
them to Tartarus, deep in the
underworld. The Cyclops
were trapped until freed by
Zeus, who needed their
help in the battle against the Titans. The first generation of the Cyclops were three brothers
named Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. They were known as the first blacksmiths, and they helped
Zeus by making his thunderbolts. In a sense, they were also his protectors. Since, they helped
Zeus; he allowed them to stay in Olympus.
The second generation of the Cyclops were ruthless shepards. They descended from
Poseidon, and the most noteworthy of these Cyclops is Polyphemus. Polyphemus is the Cyclops
that Euripides based his play on.
Characters
The main characters in the play the Cyclops by Euripides are, of course, the Cyclops
Polyphemus. Polyphemus is grumpy and encompasses the traits of the other Cyclops. Another
character in this play is Silenus. He was enslaved by Polyphemus when his family got lost at
sea. This is a picture of
Silenus. He is displayed as a
fat, jolly old man with a
beard. He is often depicted
holding wine with some
sort of farm animal by his side
because of the fact that he
was enslaved by Polyphemus.
He Silenus is joined in the
play by Odysseus and his crew.
They, too, become lost at
sea and find their way to
Polyphemus’ island.
Throughout the play, these
characters are accompanied by a chorus of satyrs.
The Plot
Euripides play opens with the parados, which is the opening speech of the chorus,
complaining about the Cyclops. The chorus mentions the children of Silenus, and also, how
there is no food or wine. This parados is broken into a strophe and antistrophe. The first episode
begins with Silenus raking and cleaning the Cyclops cave. An episode is the part of the play
where all the action takes place. Silenus’ children are in the fields collecting the herds and
milking the cows. Silenus notices off in the distance of the shores, there is a lost boat. As the
play unfolds, it turns out that this is the boat of Odysseus and his crew, and they are lost.
Odysseus and his crew are searching for food. They are delighted to see Silenus in high spirits
of finding food, but he sorrowfully tells the crew that there is no food. Odysseus begs once
again, and he offers wine in return. The Cyclops is spotted returning home in the distance, and
Odysseus and his crew panic. Silenus tells them to go into the cave and calm down. He will
take care of everything. All Odysseus and his crew have to do is follow his lead. The Cyclops
comes into the cave. He sees Odysseus and his crew, and is infuriated. Silenus tells the Cyclops
they are robbers. This makes the Cyclops even angrier. Odysseus is appalled that Silenus is
lying to the Cyclops. He speaks up to make things clear. He tries to explain that he and his crew
are not robbers. They are merely looking for food. The Cyclops begins to eat them one by one
out of anger. The chorus then has another choral ode, which is called the stasimon. The
stasimon is a choral ode in the middle of the play, between episodes. The stasimon discussed
how the Cyclops was going to eat all of Odysseus’ crew members one by one. The next episode
continues with Odysseus, who has a plan. The next stasimon discusses this plan. In the next
episode, Odysseus offers the Cyclops wine, and Polyphemus gets drunk. While he is drunk and
passed out, Odysseus sets fire to him, and burns out his eye. The Cyclops wakes up and screams
in agony. He demands to know who did this to him. Odysseus answers that Noman did; Noman
meaning no one. Odysseus escapes while the Cyclops is occupied trying to find Noman.
The
play concludes with an exodus, otherwise known as the final choral ode, with the chorus leader
saying that we will all be servants of Bacchus, and we will carry the voyage of Odysseus with us.
The picture is an ancient Greek vase painting. Vase
paintings were common in ancient Greece to depict many
different stories. This one tells the tale of the Cyclops
Polyphemus. In this picture, he is getting his eye burned by
Odysseus. Vase paintings are either black figured or red
figured. This one happens to be a black figured painting.
Conclusion
Everything in ancient Greek culture is based upon myths and legends that come from the
Gods. They center their lives on the Gods, and how the mere mortals can make the Gods happy.
Most of the stories that have become famous in modern times were common knowledge in
ancient Greek times, and common tales in Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus’s times. The
three Athenian tragedians were just the first people to write down these legends.
Works Cited
“Cratinus and Euripides.” Jstor.org. Tanner, Rollin H.
http://www.jstor.org/view/00659711/ap010018/01a00120/0?currentResult=00659
711%2bap010018%2b01a00120%2b0%2cBFF7FBFF07&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2F
www.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26Query%3Dthe
%2Bcyclops%2Banalysis

This site gives a brief analysis of The Cyclops by Euripides compared to
Cratinus. Each one can help you translate the other one.
“Cyclops.” Monstrous.com. http://www.monstrous.com/monsters/cyclops.htm

In this site, you can read about the history of the family of the Cyclops.
“Cyclopes.” Pantheon.org. Anne Baldwin. March 3 1997.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cyclopes.html

In this site, you can read about the history of the family of the Cyclops.
“Euripides.” Imagi-nation.com. http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc4.htm

In this site, you can read background information on Euripides.
“Short Review.” Jstor.org. Wetzel, Wilfried.
http://www.jstor.org/view/0009840x/ap020465/02a00700/0?currentResult=00098
40x%2bap020465%2b02a00700%2b0%2c07&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.o
rg%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26Query%3Dthe%2Bcyclops
%2Banalysis

This site gives a brief analysis of Euripides version of the Cyclops versus
Homers version.
“The Cyclops.” Classics.mit.edu. E. P. Coleridge. Aug 30 2006.
http://www.classics.mit.edu/euripides/cyclops.html

This site provides the text to The Cyclops by Euripides, translated by E.P
Coleridge.