Polyphemus

Polyphemus was the son of Poseidon and Thoosa, a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. He was a cyclops and enemy of Odysseus, who blinded him.

Myths & Legends
The Sicilian Greek poet Theocritus wrote two poems circa 275 BC concerning Polyphemus' desire for Galatea, a sea nymph. When Galatea instead married Acis, a Sicilian mortal, a jealous Polyphemus killed him with a boulder. Galatea turned Acis' blood into a river of the same name in Sicily.

The Odyssey
According to Homer's The Odyssey, the Cyclopes live on a remote island, an island which was found by Odysseus and his crew after they escape the Trojan war. The Cyclops Polyphemus was encountered by Odysseus and his crew, and instead of helping them, he ate and killed various members of the crew and trapped the rest in his cave. When Polyphemus slept, Odysseus blinded him with a wood stick in retaliation of what he did.

Polyphemus then called on his immortal father to punish Odysseus, which resulted in the 10-year-long delay he experienced in returning home from Troy.

The epic Roman poet Virgil wrote in book three of The Aeneid how Aeneas and his crew land on the island. Virgil's accounts act as a sequel to Homer's The Odyssey, even describing the fate of Polyphemus as a blind cyclops after the escape of Odysseus and his crew.

Gallery

 * Polyphemus Gallery Page