Polyphemus
Polyphemus was the one-eyed giant Cyclops, son of Poseidon, who trapped Odysseus's men in his cave and ate six of them before Odysseus blinded him and escaped.
The Myth of Polyphemus
Polyphemus was a Cyclops, son of Poseidon, who herded sheep on an island traditionally identified with Sicily. When Odysseus and twelve men entered his cave seeking hospitality, Polyphemus trapped them by rolling a massive boulder across the entrance. Each evening he devoured two men. Odysseus devised a plan: he gave Polyphemus undiluted wine, told the Cyclops his name was "Nobody," and when the giant passed out, drove a sharpened olive stake into his single eye. When Polyphemus screamed for help, the other Cyclopes heard him cry "Nobody is hurting me" and left. Odysseus and his surviving men escaped clinging to the bellies of sheep. But Odysseus, shouting his true name, earned Poseidon's curse — ten more years before reaching Ithaca.
Parents
Poseidon and the nymph Thoosa
Children
Galatus (by Galatea, in some versions)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Cyclops's single eye may originate from ancient Greeks finding dwarf elephant skulls — the large central nasal opening looks like a single eye socket.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Polyphemus
🐉 creaturesavagery
One-eyed giant son of Poseidon who trapped Odysseus and ate six of his men before being blinded with a burning stake.
Cyclops
🐉 creatureOne-eyed giant
Race of one-eyed giants. The original three Cyclopes forged Zeus's thunderbolts; later Cyclopes were savage shepherds, the most famous being Polyphemus.
Cyclopes
🐉 creaturesmithing, monstrous
One-eyed giants who existed in two distinct traditions: divine craftsmen who forged Zeus's thunderbolts, and savage pastoral giants encountered by Odysseus.
Argus Panoptes
🐉 creatureHundred-eyed giant watchman
Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes covering his body — the all-seeing watchman whom Hera set to guard Io.
Geryon
🐉 creatureThree-bodied giant of the west
Geryon was a giant with three bodies joined at the waist who owned magnificent red cattle at the world's western edge — Heracles' tenth labour was to steal them.
Aloadae
🐉 creaturegiants, rebellion
Twin giants who grew nine fathoms each year and attempted to storm Olympus by stacking mountains, threatening the gods before Artemis or Apollo destroyed them.
Alcyoneus
🐉 creaturegiants
The mightiest of the Gigantes, immortal within his homeland, who stole the cattle of Helios
Briareos
🐉 creaturegiants,sea
One of the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Giants), beings of immense power with fifty heads and one hundred arms, allies of Zeus in the Titanomachy.
Minotaur
🐉 creatureBull-headed monster of the Labyrinth
A monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull, imprisoned in the Labyrinth beneath Crete. The Minotaur was fed Athenian youths until Theseus slew it.
Gegenees
🐉 creaturegiants
Six-armed earth-born giants who attacked the Argonauts on Bear Mountain
Nemean Lion
🐉 creatureInvulnerable beast of Nemea
The Nemean Lion was a monstrous lion with an impenetrable golden hide that no weapon could pierce — the first of Heracles' twelve labours.
Sybaris
🐉 creaturemonsters
A monstrous serpent-dragon that terrorised the region around Delphi until slain by a young hero