Cyclops Polyphemus Vs Odysseus

Every author has their own perspective on different myths. As we can see, there are three different versions of the myth regarding Cyclops Polyphemus, written by Homer, Theocritus, and Ovid, respectively. All three authors portrayed Cyclops Polyphemus in different ways, according to their own views. Homer portrayed Polyphemus as a violent monster, Theocritus portrayed him as a lovesick creature, and Ovid portrayed him as a mix of Homer and Theocritus's portrayal. In this essay, I will be doing an analysis of the similarities and differences on all three versions of Cyclops Polyphemus. In Homers’ Odyssey, Homer wrote about the story of Odysseus and his crew, who went on an expedition to find out whether the Cyclopes are “wild savages with no sense of right or wrong or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 303). On their expedition, Odysseus and his crew came across the cave where the Cyclops Polyphemus lived. When they went inside the cave, they found “crates of cheese, and pens crammed with lambs and kids” (304). Odysseus’s crew members wanted to steal the produce and
In both versions, Polyphemus is selfish and egoistic. In Homer's Odyssey, Polyphemus shows his egoistic nature when he says, “Cyclopes don’t care about Zeus or his aegis or the blessed gods, since we are much stronger” (Homer 304). Here, Polyphemus is egoistic, as he thinks that he is the strongest creature in the world. In Theocritus’s poem, Polyphemus shows his egoistic nature by singing “but even though I am like I am, I herd one thousand animals and draw the finest milk from them to drink. And I don't lack for cheese, not in the summer, not in the fall, and not in the dead of winter” (Theocritus). Here, Polyphemus is boasting about his richness to Galateia, hoping that she would love him. Both versions of the myth of Polyphemus portrays him as a selfish and egoistic