In Book Nine, Odysseus and his men are trapped by the giant Cyclops in his cave. In this situation, the men face several problems. One problem is how unmoved, and unpitying the Cyclops is. Odysseus told the Cyclops about being blown off course and Zeus’s spite towards them. To this, the cyclops gave a blasphemous response. However, Odysseus was ready with a lie to build sympathy and told him that Poseidon was the one who wrecked their ship and forced them to be beached . The Cyclops did not pity them or gave a response, instead he grabbed two of Odysseus’s companions, beat their brains out, and ate them. Another problem is that after they are imprisoned by this savage and colossal cyclops, they realize that they do not have the strength necessary …show more content…
As he watches the sheep file out, Odysseus realizes that the Cyclops’s ram were the only ones to go past the Cyclops. They were very fat with heavy, dark fleece. Thus Odysseus and his men escape by hanging underneath the ram. Odysseus ties three ram to each man, and chooses the woolliest, finest ram for himself. Safely back on the ship, it would seem all their problems are behind them, but Odysseus creates a new, even greater problem when he begins to taunt the Cyclops due to his ego and arrogance. He orders to load the herd and as they are escaping, he begins to shout at the Cyclops, making fun of his gullibleness. This problem is the greatest of all because it angers the Cyclops and causes him to pray to Poseidon for Odysseus to lose all companions and feel bitter until the day he arrives home. Poseidon heard his prayer and created a huge wave that returned them to the island. They unloaded all of the Cyclops’s flock at the shore. However, Odysseus sacrificed the wooliest of the rams to Zeus. All in vain, since Zeus disdained his offering; destroying his ships and men who sailed them. Odysseus has no other choice but to leave, feeling guilty about his companions’ lives and full of melancholy as they sailed out into the open