Odysseus and his men are lost at sea.
After coming upon an island,the boat was secured and most of the well armed Greeks set out to search for food and fresh water. Lucky for them they also carried heavy wine skins. Finally Odysseus and his men had waited in a cave in order to trade the wine for food with whoever lived there,but had eaten the cheese belonging to its owner. Greeks seem to take what they want and behave like Pirates. However as sheep are driven into the cave what appears is the sheepherder a Giant Cyclopes who enters the cave and then rolls a huge stone across the only entrance and way out.
They are all trapped. Polyphemus the Son of Poseidon is angry to find men eating his food. So after introducing himself the Cyclopes sits down. He then catches and eats one of Odysseus men. Biting off the good bits he likes best,and throws down what`s left of the legs.Then sitting there he picks his teeth with the tiny Greek sword the poor fellow had carried.Horrified the Greeks realize their fate.
Odysseus introduces himself as Nobody fearing the Cyclopes might recognize his real name. Then laughing he urges the Giant to sip the wine. "Wine! Whats Wine?" Polyphemus asks out in his demanding load voice." It is the Drink of the Gods." Odysseus answers,and beckons his men to ply the Cyclopes with the sweet wine.
As a flute is played the soothing music flows upon each gentle breath.After much wine had been gulped down by Polyphemus ,he falls to sleep being quite full of Vintage Trojan wine.
( Spoils of war. )
With his men now wanting to kill the Cyclopes, Odysseus calms them down with a question. " If you kill him ,who will roll away the stone so we can escape?" Some leap upon the chance to move the massive stone,but cannot. Others try too. All fail. They could never,ever move such a stone. Odysseus,as ever has a plan. Fetching a large length of wood ,a pole that lay in the cave,a spike was hacked out in its pointed shape by a sharp Greek sword. Soon Odysseus,in the lead followed by a handful of his men manhandle and maneuver themselves with this stake up above on the rock face ,over looking the head of this man eater. Upon a split second as the Greeks plunge downward with the spike,Polypemus opens his eye. It was far to late,as it was driven in .The darkness and blinding pain made the Cyclopes roll about in agony. Pulling out this wooden stake,he cried out for his Brothers to come help him. Rolling the large stone away from the entrance he howled out, "Nobody,has blinded me.Come help me my Brothers." It appeared to all now that there were others of this kind. With the way open now the sheep began running out,and one by one the blind Cyclopes fingered and felt out each and every one that now passed between his legs. One Greek tried to escape by holding a sheep over his head and body,but was blindly found out,but slipping the gropping fingers he manage to scramble out to freedom. Screaming he fled in the direction of the boat. The last of the sheep now out of the cave ran in all directions. Polyphemus blinded ,with blood a plenty pouring from his eye socket,cried out,"I`m blind! Blind! But I`ll eat everyone of you."
Now upon his hands and knees he blocked the way out. The Greeks,were still trapped with no way of avoiding the searching out of giant fingers. It now fell upon the courage and self sacrifice of the gentle Flute Player,as he enticed the blind Polyphemus to seek him out with load sounding notes. As those giant hands finally found him the last defiant note slipped out as the fingers , thumbs and teeth tore him apart. Behind the Cyclopes a gap had appeared just enough for the other Greeks to escape.
Seizing the oppertunity of escape all ran for their lives,knowing that The blind Cyclopes would follow on best that he could behind them. As they were nearing the boat Odysseus shouted out to the men on board to shift out the oars and make ready to sail. Jumping frantically on board each grabbed an oar,and soon pulled the boat away to sea. Hearts racing,but with heads of relief they rowed for all their worth. As they eyed the cliff tops of the island they were pulling away from ,the blinded Polyphemus came into view upon the highest point.
Polyphemus stands upon the cliff overlooking the sea. However being blinded he has to rely upon his hearing. As Odysseus and his men escape on board their boat they shout out insults to Polyphemus which is nearly their downfall ,because he hurls huge rocks after them that crash into the sea around the boat sending giant plumes of water sky wards.
As we leave the exhausted oarsmen slumped over their oars who now sail away upon a good wind to whatever adventure may await them next. This is the end of the Story of Polyphemus Giant Cyclopes.
Written entirely by BB
Finally Friends
Work in Progress
As you have seen i bought the Cyclopes.
The first thing i did was to make the plastic base. I used Green-Stuff,and rolled and shaped it,and then used the rubber end of a pencil to form it in the required direction of my fancy. "A good tool to use",i made mention of it to Mrs B. The sticky stuff does not stick to the rubber end.No skill needed just a pencil.
The next job is to paint him. A wonderful thing i have not much talent for,but in line with the story i will have a good stab at it. BB