Odyssey
Book 9
Phaecians
Ody was at the at the king of the Phaecian's home and Ody tells them who he is. The king asks Ody to tell them where he has been. "He starts by describing his home – the island of Ithaka of course – and all of the surrounding islands."" (shmoop.com, The Odyssey book 9 summary) Ody then takes his story to what happend after he had sacked Troy.
Cicones
"Odysseus and his men first come to the land of the Ciconians, where they kill everyone, take plunder, and enslave the women." (shmoop.com, The Odyssey book 9 summary) All this fighting right after he sacked troy in a huge ten year war! This angers Zeus because of them being so mean, and so Zeus blows them off course on their travel home and the land where the lotus eater live.
Lotus Eaters
The Lotus Eaters are people who eat the lotus flower and according to mythology once you eat the flower, you never want to leave the island and all you can think about is eating the flower. When Ody and his crew land there, there was bound to be trouble. Some of his crew ate the flower, but Ody, being smart, refrained from eating it. He ended up dragging his crew off the island, all of them were mad at him and all went through some sort of withdrawal, but Ody was able to get them away. and they continued on their way home just to land on another island. This island was perfect, it had everything needed to sustain life. Ody was very curious, he could hear something on a near by land, so he set off with a few members of his crew to go the see what it was.
Polyphemus
"Next they arrive at the land of the uncivilized Cyclopes, giant monsters with only one eye. Because of their uncivilized ways, these monsters have no seamanship and let their fertile land go to waste. All they do is tend flocks of sheep." (Shmoop.com, The Odyssey book 9 summary) Ody and his crew find a cave that they go in and they feel like the cyclops will be hospitable, isn't that how greeks are soposed to be? Well the cyclops returns from tending his sheep and he is not very nice at all. he does not believe in the ways of Zeus and being Hospitable, he only respects his father, Poseidon. The cyclops, his name Polyphemus, blocked the cave with a boulder so the sheep wouldn't get away, as well as the people, he then ate a few people, brutally. Ody thinks of a good idea, while Polyphemus was out with his sheep the next day he would sharpen a stick and get ready to blind the beast. Ody gets Polyphemus drunk on wine and tells him that his name is Nobody. When The Cyclops passes out drunk they gouge his eye, blinding him, now the crew had to find a way to get out of the cave. Polyphemus yells so loud that other cyclops come to ask him what was wrong and his response was along the lines of, Nobody did it, Nobody is killing me!to get out of the cave, the men hold tight to the bottom of the sheep, so when the cave was opened, the sheep would take them out and Polyphemus couldn't find them. When they were finally free, and on the boat, Ody was prideful and yelled at Polyphemus saying his name and giving a auto-biography of himself. Polyphemus was throwing boulders at the boat, but could not hit it, so he cried to daddy to make sure Ody would die on his journey home or have nothing when he gets home. The Cyclops throws one more boulder that makes a wave to send them away.