In the Land of the Cyclops

In Odyssey the Cyclops, (Ancient Greek: Κύκλωπες), are giants, each one having a single eye on their forehead.  The Cyclops lived in the eastern part of Sicily, in the region in between the cities of Catania and Taormina, where Mount Aetna is located.

Another location that contends as the land of the Cyclops, is the island of Serifos, in the Cycladitic archipelago.    

Legend has it that the caves and prehistoric dwellings found on Serifos are where the giants lived and kept their herds.  

Upon arrival to the land of Cyclops, Odysseus noted a fire and together with some of his men went to investigate.  They found a giant cave full of lambs and cheeses. They help themselves to the food until the cave's occupant, a Cyclop named Polyphemus led his flock in and sealed the entrance to the cave. Finding themselves trapped, Odysseus appeals to Polyphemus to honor Zeus and respect the rights of a guest.    

The Cyclop laughs, picks up two of Odysseus' men, and kills and devours them. Faced with such overwhelming force, Odysseus decides to trick Polyphemus by telling the Cyclop his name is 'Nobody' and offering him wine. Odysseus' real plan is to get the Cyclop drunk.  

This he accomplishes rather quickly; and while the monster sleeps, Odysseus and his men jam a red-hot pole from the fire into his sole eye. Polyphemus screams in pain, attracting the other Cyclops from nearby caves who are concerned. But when his neighbors ask him if someone is attacking him, Polyphemus screams 'Nobody"! “Nobody is attacking me!” thus the confused Cyclops depart. 

Odysseus and his men then escape the cave by clinging to the bottom of Polyphemus' sheep as the now blind Cyclop herds them out in the morning.

Yet Odysseus is too cocky. Having escaped Polyphemous, he cries out his name “I am Ulysses the King of Ithaca” so that Polymphemous might tell the other Cyclops who had blinded him. The furious giant attempts to sink their boat by throwing huge boulders at it. However, the giant was unsuccessful. At this point Ulysses and his crew start on their journey back home to Ithaca.  Unbeknown to Odysseus, Polyphemus is a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon now knows Odysseus' name, and he will make him pay for blinding his son. For a sailor, there is no worse God to anger than Poseidon.  

The boulders can be found off the east coast of Sicily near the charming village of AciTrezza which is located in between the towns of Catania and Taormina.  In addition to Homer many authors in antiquity such as Pliny have described the Cyclopean Rocks or Isole dei Cyclopi.  It was from the Rocks of Cyclops from where we started the last of the three major crossings on our way back home.    

Skyla and Charybdis

In antiquity crossing the Strait between Italy and Sicily was perilous as two monsters resided on either side.  On the North side Scylla a vicious sea monster lived in a cave.  On the South side was Charybdis a dangerous sea whirlpool that could submerge and sink entire boats.  Scylla had 6 heads and 12 legs used to catch and devour mariners.  Charybdis was a whirlpool on the ocean floor that sunk and trapped boats killing their crews for food likewise.  Odysseus decided to cross close to Skyla thus he lost only six of his crew.  He was also following Athena who had metamorphosed herself as an owl and was flying in front of his ship showing him the way. 

A 17^th century engraving shows how busy the strait was, with Sicily depicted on the right and Calabria on the left.  Although modern writers have presented Charybdis as the creation of poetic fancy, a British frigate got caught by its eddies and kept spinning as appears in the book Travels in Sicily, Greece and Albania by Sir Thomas Hughes “…. we ourselves witness the strength of this current at the mouth, when a large frigate in full sail, having incautiously approached too near, was drawn with irresistible force stern for-most into the port, from whence it required the united efforts of the whole flotilla to extricate her…”. We motored by Charybdis and although eddies of the famous whirlpool are still visible our 10 HP engine drove us by without any difficulty.  My brother and I personally know, Thanasis,  a most capable sailor who crossed the strait using his sails only on his remarkable trip from Marseille to Greece, on his 6.5 meter boat Kalliste all alone.

A sensual Sicilian ballad that talks about the moon that is buring in the sky as we burn with love on this earth,  brucia la luna n’cielu E ju brucia d’ amuria from the town of Corleone, enjoy the beautiful song about feelings.....