Polyphemus
One-eyed giant son of Poseidon who trapped Odysseus and ate six of his men before being blinded with a burning stake.
The Myth of Polyphemus
He asked his father Poseidon to curse Odysseus — and that single prayer is why it took ten years to get home. Polyphemus trapped Odysseus and twelve men in his cave, sealing it with a boulder no humans could move. He ate two men at each meal. Odysseus could not kill him because only Polyphemus could move the boulder. Instead, he got the Cyclops drunk, told him his name was Nobody (Outis), and drove a sharpened, fire-hardened stake into his single eye. When Polyphemus screamed that Nobody was hurting him, the other Cyclopes ignored him. Odysseus escaped under the bellies of sheep. But he foolishly shouted his real name, and Polyphemus prayed to Poseidon for vengeance.
Parents
Poseidon, Thoosa
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Nobody trick may be the oldest recorded example of a word-play escape strategy in world literature.
Explore Further
Polyphemus
🐉 creatureThe Cyclops blinded by Odysseus
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.
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.
Typhon
🐉 creatureFather of all monsters
The most fearsome monster in Greek mythology, who challenged Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. Typhon was the father of many of mythology's most dangerous creatures.
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.
Typhon
🐉 creatureMost powerful monster who challenged Zeus
Typhon was the most fearsome monster in Greek mythology — a giant with serpent heads who nearly overthrew Zeus and would have ruled the cosmos.
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.
Alcyoneus
🐉 creaturegiants
The mightiest of the Gigantes, immortal within his homeland, who stole the cattle of Helios
Calydonian Boar
🐉 creatureMonstrous boar sent by Artemis
The Calydonian Boar was a massive, destructive beast sent by Artemis to ravage Calydon after King Oeneus forgot to honour her in sacrifice.
Sybaris
🐉 creaturemonsters
A monstrous serpent-dragon that terrorised the region around Delphi until slain by a young hero
Tityos
🗡 heroGiant punished for assaulting Leto
Tityos was a giant whose attempt to assault Leto earned him one of the underworld's most graphic eternal punishments — two vultures feeding on his liver.
Sphinx
🐉 creatureRiddling monster with a lion body and human head
A creature with the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and head of a woman. The Sphinx terrorized Thebes with her deadly riddle until Oedipus solved it.
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.