The name means "round eye," and these giants were so
called because they had but one eye, and that placed in the middle
of the forehead. They dwelt in caves and fed on the wild
productions of the island and on what their flocks yielded, for
they were shepherds. Ulysses left the main body of his ships at
anchor, and with one vessel went to the Cyclopes' island to
explore for supplies. He landed with his companions, carrying with
them a jar of wine for a present, and coming to a large cave they
entered it, and finding no one within examined its contents. They
found it stored with the richest of the flock, quantities of
cheese, pails and bowls of milk, lambs and kids in their pens, all
in nice order. Presently arrived the master of the cave,
Polyphemus, bearing an immense bundle of firewood, which he threw
down before the cavern's mouth. He then drove into the cave the
sheep and goats to be milked, and, entering, rolled to the cave's
mouth an enormous rock, that twenty oxen could not draw. Next he
sat down and milked his ewes, preparing a part for cheese, and
setting the rest aside for his customary drink. Then, turning
round his great eye, he discerned the strangers, and growled out
to them, demanding who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied
most humbly, stating that they were Greeks, from the great
expedition that had lately won so much glory in the conquest of
Troy; that they were now on their way home, and finished by
imploring his hospitality in the name of the gods.
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