Book nine of the Odyssey mainly focuses on Odysseus and his crew escaping from the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus. This image depicts Odysseus stabbing Polyphemus in his eye using a wooden spear. Odysseus is dressed in regal attire befitting a leader while Polyphemus is completely naked with his loincloth underneath him as he slept. Surrounding Odysseus and Polyphemus in the image are many different elements that Emily Wilson described in her depiction of the imprisonment of Odysseus and his men. To the left of Odysseus and Polyphemus are the skeletal remains of two members of Odysseus’ crew after Polyphemus ate them. The upper left corner of the image contains the sheep belonging to Polyphemus. This is an important detail to show as they are key to Odysseus’ escape plan of clinging to their underbellies as they are shepherded outside the cave. The upper right corner of the image shows the fire that Odysseus used to heat up the tip of his spear to make it even more lethal. Odysseus’ crew is shown to be hiding behind a wall and watching their fearless leader Odysseus stab Polyphemus in his eye. Polyphemus is depicted to be crying out in agony after he awoke to his eye being stabbed by the hot, sharp spear Odysseus used. 

Overall, this image does a very good job in illustrating the main conflict of book nine of the Odyssey. It shows off Odysseus’ wit in coming up with the escape plan as well as his fearlessness and courage to approach the cyclops who has already eaten many of his crew members. It also shows how revered he is to his crew as they are putting all of their faith and their lives into Odysseus’ hands while they hide behind the wall, terrified of when Polyphemus wakes. 

The lighting in this image is split in half as Odysseus and Polyphemus are spotlighted due to them being the main part of the story while the crew hiding behind the wall in the other half of the image are shown to be in a darker setting, despite them being next to a fire. This is meant to put more emphasis on the main hero and villain of this particular scene. This is accurate to the story as it mostly details the way Odysseus navigates his journey home, giving the reader his perspective of the many events that happen without reading much about the other crew members, with the exception being when they die. Even when they do die, the story is quick to point out that it is Odysseus’ fault the majority of the time. This theme is especially prevalent as lost in the beauty of this image is the fact that the only reason the crew is in this situation to begin with is because Odysseus’ greed caused them to wait for Polyphemus to return to his cave for a chance to receive gifts they didn’t need. Although Odysseus and his crew eventually escaped Polyphemus’ cave, it came with heavy losses that were completely preventable. Despite this, Odysseus was still seen as a heroic leader by his men who put their complete trust into him, ultimately dooming them the rest of the journey home.