The Cyclops is an Ancient Greek satyr play by Euripides, the only complete satyr play that has survived. It is a comical burlesque-like play on the same story depicted in book nine of The Odyssey by Homer. A statue of Euripides Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (c. ... Image from a Greek chalice depicting a satyr with a tail and erect penis, Euphronios, 510–500 BC, Athens In Greek mythology, satyrs (in Greek, Σάτυροι — Sátyroi) are young humans, possibly with horse ears, that roamed the woods and mountains, and were the companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... In Greek mythology, sileni were a race of half-horse, half-humans, unlike the satyrs, who were half-goat. ... Odysseus and the Sirens. ... Polyphemus the Cyclops. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of comedy, similar to the modern-day burlesque style. ... A statue of Euripides Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (c. ... Photo of Lucky St. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... Homer (Greek Hómēros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ...

Background

Odysseus has lost his way on the voyage home from the Trojan War. He and his hungry crew make a stop in Sicily at Mount Aetna, which is inhabited by Cyclopes. They come upon the Satyrs and their father Silenus, who have been separated from their god Dionysus and enslaved by a Cyclops (named Polyphemus in the Odyssey). These characters are not contained in the Odyssey's version of the event. The addition of them provides much of the humor due to their cowardly and drunk behavior. Odysseus and the Sirens. ... The fall of Troy by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769) From the collections of the granddukes of Baden, Karlsruhe The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), by the armies of the Achaeans, after Paris of Troy... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian, Σικελία in Greek) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 km² and 5 million inhabitants. ... For other meanings of Etna, see Etna (disambiguation). ... Polyphemus the Cyclops. ... Image from a Greek chalice depicting a satyr with a tail and erect penis, Euphronios, 510–500 BC, Athens In Greek mythology, satyrs (in Greek, Σάτυροι — Sátyroi) are young humans, possibly with horse ears, that roamed the woods and mountains, and were the companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... Dionysus with a leopard, satyr and grapes on a vine, in the Palazzo Altemps (Rome, Italy) This article is about the ancient deity. ... Odysseus and his men blinding the cyclop Polyphemus (detail of a proto-attic amphora, c. ...

Story

When Odysseus arrives he meets Silenus and offers to trade food for his wine. Being a servant of Dionysus, Silenus can't resist obtaining the wine despite the fact that the food is not his to trade. The Cyclops soon arrives and Silenus is quick to accuse Odysseus of stealing the food, swearing to a slew of gods and the Satyrs' lives (who are standing right beside him) that he is telling the truth. After an argument, the Cyclops brings Odysseus and his crew inside his cave and eats some of them. Odysseus manages to sneak out and is stunned by what he's witnessed. He hatches a scheme to get the Cyclops drunk, and when he's unconscious he'll burn out his eye with a giant poker.

The Cyclops and Silenus drink together, with Silenus attempting to hog the wineskin for himself. When the Cyclops is drunk, he says he is seeing gods and begins to call Silenus Ganymede (the beautiful prince Zeus made his immortal cup bearer). The Cyclops then steals Silenus away into his cave, with the implication that he is about do something sexual to him. Odysseus decides to execute the next phase of his plan. The Satyrs offer to help, but chicken-out with a variety of absurd excuses when the time actually comes. The annoyed Odysseus gets his crew to help instead, and they burn out the Cyclops' eye. The Rape of Ganymede, by Rubens In Greek mythology, Ganymede, or closer to the Greek Ganymede the great man that leads (in Greek — Γανυμήδης, Ganumēdēs) was a divine hero whose homeland was the Troad. ... The Statue of Zeus at Olympia Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in Ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th century engraving In Greek mythology, Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Ζεύς Zeús, genitive...

He had told the Cyclops earlier that his name was 'Noman'. So when the Cyclops yells out who was responsible for blinding him, it sounds like he's saying "No Man blinded me". In addition to this pun, there is a less easily translated joke on the fact that the form of "no man" used in the subjunctive mood is identical to the word for cleverness or art. The satyrs have some fun with him over it. They then make their escape, however the rest of the troubles Odysseus faces on his voyage home are due to this act (since the Cyclops was a child of Poseidon). Neptune reigns in the city centre, Bristol, formerly the largest port in England outside London. ...

Translations

• Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1819 - verse
• Edward P. Coleridge, 1891 - prose: full text
• Arthur S. Way, 1912 - verse
• J. T. Sheppard, 1923 - verse
• Roger Lancelyn Green, 1957 - verse
• David Kovacs, 1995? - prose: full text
• Heather McHugh and David Konstan, 2001 - verse

	Plays by Euripides Cyclops | Alcestis | Medea | Heracleidae | Hippolytus | Andromache | Hecuba | The Suppliants | Electra | Heracles | The Trojan Women | Iphigeneia in Tauris | Ion | Helen | Phoenician Women | Orestes | Bacchae | Iphigeneia at Aulis | Rhesus (spurious)