After the fall of Priamus’ city and the end of the ten-year Trojan War, the ships of the Achaean started their journey to return home. But the gods of Olympus were angry, because the Achaeans burned their temples in Troy.

Therefore, they sent strong winds and rough sea to make their journey difficult. However, all of them returned to their homes. Only Ulysses, the cunning king of Ithaca, wandered for ten whole years at sea and in faraway countries and suffered many troubles until he arrived to Ithaca, his homeland. Homer narrates the adventures of Ulysses, until his return to Ithaca, in the epic poem “Odyssey”.

At the Cicones, the Lotus-Eaters and the Cyclopes

Ulysses left with twelve ships from Troy. They traveled for many days, until the winds brought them to the island of Cyclopes. Only the ship of Ulysses approached. The other eleven ships stayed off the island. Ulysses with twelve men went ashore. Near the sea, there was a huge cave and the fellowship went inside. There were containers with milk, baskets with cheese and many lambs and goats. They ate and waited for the landlord to come. But when they saw him, they were scared. He was huge and he had only one eye on his forehead. He was the great Cyclops named Polyphemus, son of Poseidon. He closed the door of the cave with a huge rock and lighted a big fire.

He then saw the strangers and asked them fiercely. “Who are you?” “We are shipwrecked strangers, and we’re coming back from Troy,” Ulysses replied. Immediately, Polyphemus grabbed two of Ulysses men and ate them. After that, he fell asleep. The next morning, he ate another two, opened the door of the cave, brought the flock out and closed again the door. Then, Ulysses, the cunning king, took a huge oil club, sharpened it to a point and hid it in the ashes. The evening, when Polyphemus came back, he ate another two men. Ulysses approached him, holding a skin full of strong wine and gave him to drink. Polyphemus drank the wine; he liked it and asked for more. “What is your name?” he asked Ulysses. “I’m Nobody,” he replied. “You, Nobody, I’ll eat you last,” the Cyclops said again and continued to drink till the last drop of wine and fell asleep.

Then, Ulysses nailed the stake into Polyphemus eye, blinding him. The Cyclops jumped out and started yelling “Nobody blinded me…” “If nobody blinded you, then why you’re yelling?” replied the fellow cyclopes who went for help and left in anger. At dawn, the Cyclops opened the door of the cave to let the sheep out to graze and sat down with his hands spread out to catch Ulysses and his men. But they tied themselves under the bellies of Polyphemus’ rams. The Cyclops was feeling the rams’ back but he wasn’t feeling the men underneath. They ran safely to the boat and as they were sailing away, Ulysses boasted to Polyphemus “If they ever ask you who blinded you, tell them that Ulysses did it, son of Laertes of Ithaca.” The Cyclops grabbed a huge rock and threw it towards the boat, without hitting it. He lifted his hands to heaven and said: “Poseidon, my father, don’t leave Ulysses, the man who blinded me, to go back to Ithaca, but if he manage to do so, I want him to suffer many troubles, to return alone, without his ship and to find new disasters in his homeland.”

Product Details

Code: 01544

Dimensions: 26x24cm

Colors: White, Black, Brown