The Odyssey – Book Nine - 1
March 2, 2010
The Odyssey – Book Nine
For quiz, know the following:
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O leaves Troy
O  Ismarus (Cicones) – 72 men die
O  Lotus Eaters – 3 men eat and forget – O rescues them (loyal to men)
O  Cyclopes
o O to cave
o How O defeats Cyclops (Polyphemus)
o How O and men escape
o Mistakes O makes
o What Polyphemus does to O in return
o What happens when O makes an offering to Zeus
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A. Odysseus (O) introduces himself
1. Son of Laertes
2. “formidable of guile” – famous for being skillfully sly and crafty
3. O is bragging  trying to impress his host – possibly earning respect
B.
Ithaca – O’s home – has been gone 20 years
1. faraway
2. beloved home – misses Ithaca terribly
C.
After Trojan War
1. O and his men – land on Ismarus – Cocones – friends of Trojans  they kill 72 men
2. Drifts on sea for 9 days
3. Lotus Eaters - don’t want to hurt anyone  this shows that O is loyal and caring to
his men (indirect characterization)
i. sends 3 men to find out who lives there – they eat the Lotus
ii. if you eat the Lotus, you don’t care about anything – forget about home
iii. dangerous because O wants to get home to Ithaca
iv. O makes the 3 who ate go to the ship and ties them down
4. Cyclopes (plural of Cyclops) [Sigh’ cloe peeze] – lines 86ff.
i. Cyclopes
1. one-eyed giants – each lives by himself; no community
2. Lawless, reckless – do what they want; uncivilized
ii. O watches the Cyclopes – sends expedition to find out whether the Cyclopes
are friendly or unfriendly  O is a brave, smart, cautious leader (indirect
characterization)
iii. O sees one Cyclops (huge, savage, brute) – like a “shaggy mountain”
1. Takes 12 best fighters – brings a pouch of special wine
The Odyssey – Book Nine - 2
2. Cyclops isn’t home, so O and his men explore the house, which is full of
animals and cheese – men want to steal food and leave
3. O wants to see Cyclops, so they make an offering, eat, and wait
4. Cyclops comes home and wants to know if they are friends or enemies
 O tries to scare and impress him to earn respect – asks to be treated
nicely  Cyclops calls O a ninny (fool)
5. Cyclops wants to know where O’s ship is, so Cyclops can kill others 
O lies, saying his ship was destroyed  hopes to make Cyclops
sympathetic
6. Cyclops eats 2 men  takes nap; men can’t escape because of boulder
in entrance
7. When Cyclops wakes up, he eats two men; then he goes out, leaving
boulder blocking the exit
8. O prays to Athena  O finds a tree  makes a stake by sharpening the
end, so they can grind it into Cyclop’s eye
9. Cyclops comes home  eats 2 more men
10. O gives Cyclops wine by tricking him Cyclops gets drunk and asks O
his name  O says his name is Nohbody  Cyclops says he will eat
Nohbody last  Cyclops is drunk  sleeps; he drools (little pieces of
men come out)
11. O puts the spear back in the fire, charring and hardening the end  he
and his 4 men ram it into Cyclops’ eye  the eyeball hisses and the
roots pop
12. Cyclops (Polyphemus) screams, “Nohbody tricked me no other
Cyclopes help Polyphemus
13. To escape the cave, O ties his men to the belly of the sheep, so as the
sheep leave and Polyphemus pets the sheep to make sure the men are not
getting out, the men sneak out under the bellies of the sheep
14. O and men  ship  O calls back and teases Polyphemus  O tells
Polyphemus his name and where he lives (Ithaca)
15. Cyclops remembers that he had a prophecy about a man named
Odysseus putting his eye out – wasn’t suspicious because O was so
small
16. Cyclops calls sweetly to O, telling him to come back  O doesn’t
17. Cyclops prays to Poseidon, asking for O to be cursed, and then throws a
huge boulder at the ships, missing them
18. May O never get home and see family OR
19. If he gets home, may his journey be long and may he lose all his men –
this comes true
20. Poseidon hears him and grants the wish
21. O meets up with the rest of his men  makes offering to Zeus 
offering is rejected (Zeus is not pleased with O)
22. There will be death and destruction for O and his men
23. O and his men head out on their journey