Introduction
This project focuses on the monsters in Homer’s The Odyssey, specifically the Sirens, Scylla, and Polyphemus. The monsters serve two-purposes: to depict Odysseus as a great but flawed leader, as well as represent themes of misogyny and xenophobia. As readers explore this interactive page, different case studies that focus on the analysis of Homer’s monsters in a new light will be revealed.
The Siren are the first monsters discussed. They represent how female sexuality has been demonized throughout history. Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s story creates a convoluted web of perspectives- a deeply misogynistic man through the voice of a modern woman who holds an opposing belief. What comes of this is the ability to clearly identify misogyny where it is present as well as understand how wrong and damaging these stereotypes can be.
Scylla is another monster that betrays the double standards women face. Homer’s story portrays her as soulless and evil, when in reality once we learn of her backstory, we see a fellow human in her. Scylla is less of a monster, and more of a woman wronged.
Polyphemus serves as the last case study to explore this idea. He is a monster because he is an outsider. Polyphemus portrays how easily we fear and demonize those that are different from us. This speaks to the topic of xenophobia. We must understand how dehumanizing a group of people leads to discrimination. Polyphemus, Scylla, and the Sirens are all wrongly portrayed in Homer’s version, and our project seeks to let their voices be heard.
Case Study 1:
The Sirens
In book twelve of the Odyssey, the goddess Circe warns Odysseus of the Siren song. On his journey he will encounter an island where Sirens- female-like monsters- will attempt to lure him and his men to their deaths. She gives him instructions to plug his men’s ears and tie himself up to resist their temptation. The goddess is doing Odysseus a favor by forewarning him because no man unprepared can survive the lure of the Sirens. This passage presents a common theme of the gods wanting to aid Odysseus, the great and unlucky hero. Sirens are portrayed by Homer as such tempting figures that even the mighty Odysseus would not stand a chance. The book does this by using language such as words like “bewitch” and “seduce”. The word bewitch is derived from the greek word ἐξίστημι which means to literally put someone out of their mind. The word seduce has a negative connotation that leads one to imagine a helpless man in the grasps of an evil woman. Part of the danger of the Sirens is that they are not as they seem- at first they seem like beautiful women, when in reality they are ill-intending monsters. This is portrayed through setting. Circe tells Odysseus that they will be sitting in a meadow, which evokes images of peaceful grasses and flowers. Only later does she reveal that the Sirens are surrounded by the rotting bodies of men they killed.
A major theme in this passage is that a woman’s beauty diminishes men to helplessness, and they are therefore no longer responsible for their actions. This is what the Sirens represent. Circe announces that if Odysseus’s men listen to the Siren’s voices, they will never return home and “…never make his wife and children happy…” (12, 42). What the goddess means by this is that they will die, but she also presents the misogynistic understanding that men are faultless and the woman is to blame. No matter how progressive the modern world pretends to be in comparison to the Greeks, this idea exists in our current world as well in the case of cheating.
For example, if a man cheats on his wife with another woman, the other woman is the “homewrecker” when in actuality it was the man’s actions that split his family apart. The Sirens are a key example in highlighting how misogyny has continued throughout time. Another example of this is how “The Sirens who sit there in their meadow will seduce him with piercing songs” (12, 43-45). This sentence paints the Sirens as completely evil. Using the word “will” leaves no room for the possibility that maybe the Sirens will choose not to seduce a man, and become good. In the context of the book, where they are just monsters this makes sense. However, the bigger picture is the Sirens, who represent the type of woman who embraces her sexuality, it becomes clear that this is demonizing sexuality in women.
One last example that portrays the Sirens as completely evil is when Circe says, “Around them lie great heaps of men, flesh rotting from their bones, their skin all shriveled up” (12, 45-47). Homer, by creating this bloody interaction with the Sirens, obviously wanted his listeners to have no sympathy for them. However, this is a translation by a woman so our understanding shifts a little. Emily Wilson makes sure to include such obviously sexist dialogue to expose these misogynistic ideas so her readers can better point them out. Knowing that the Sirens represent women and the double-standards they face, female readers cannot help but feel empathy for them and their story. This interaction between Circe and Odysseus not only shows how favored Odysseus is by the gods, but also exhibits the sexist themes in the Odyssey that can sometimes go unnoticed.
(a)
Homer is not the only figure to attempt to characterize the Sirens. The image linked above is another example of their portrayal throughout history. Unlike Homer’s version, which does not describe any physical traits, this depiction focuses mainly on the Siren’s image where they are in a feminine form (a woman’s body). This links womanhood to monsters. The image shows three naked women, lying atop a cliffside, waving to the ship of men passing by. One of the women has a red cloth draped across her thighs and is wearing a crown adorned with red flowers, as well as a red bracelet. Red represents blood and violence in Greek mythology. By subtly slipping in the color red, the artist is hinting to viewers that the Sirens are dangerous. The ground beneath the Sirens is sprouting with flowers and the Sirens themselves are adorned in cloth, pearls, gold, and other niceties. This gives the impression they are peaceful and beautiful women, which fits into the theme of deception Homer also speaks to. If you look past the niceties, there are bones and starving male bodies around them. As written above, the Sirens are not as they seem.
Another sign of this is the sky. The sky is blue and clear all around, but in the center lay black storm clouds. In this version of the depiction, the Sirens hold instruments to show that they are entrapping men through song. Not all versions include instruments, but they are included here because it is otherwise unclear they are singing.
This is a large oil painting by the English artist William Etty. The image is entirely based on the interaction in the Odyssey. Traditionally, the Sirens have been depicted as human-animal chimeras but here they are naked women. Many applauded Etty for this while others called him tasteless. He chose to depict naked women because throughout his career, his aim was to “paint some great moral on the heart… the importance of resisting sensual delight”. To him, the Sirens were more “sensual” as naked women than half humans. Odysseus appears larger than his fellow sailors, most likely to be better able to tell him apart. The three Sirens are very similar in appearance, and it is believed that Etty painted the same model in three different poses. Their dramatic poses signify the fashion at the time (the 1800s). This artist represented the Sirens accurately based on Homer’s The Odyssey. They are sexualized, and because of their nakedness, the viewer blames the Sirens for being attractive to the sailors instead of placing blame on the men.
The most striking thing about this image is the Siren’s nakedness- it is used as a weapon in this context. It is not their beauty exactly that makes them dangerous, instead it’s their blatant sexuality. Although nakedness was common in Greek culture, it was not in 1800 English culture, which is why the painting is considered scandalous. However, I’m not sure this distinction between beauty and sexuality could have been portrayed better if it were not shown through being naked, or scantily dressed. Even though they are the focal point, the Siren’s voices are silenced. Viewers cannot hear their perspective in this painting, and there is no dimension to their characters. This is a common representational strategy of the time- the women catch the viewer’s attention by sitting there and looking pretty, while men in the background are busy doing something intelligent. In this case, Odysseus and his men are outsmarting the Sirens. This image is successful in representing the misogynistic tones seen in the case of the Sirens, just like Homer’s depiction. Although the image does not combat the sexist portrayal, through its representation of these themes, viewers of the Sirens can better understand how the identity of feminine sexuality has been continuously demonized throughout history.
Our Own Voices: Siren
(b)
The last portrayal of the Sirens discussed is quite different from the previous two. This image is taken from a movie that exposes a new perspective from the Sirens. As viewers, when viewing this image of the movie trailer Siren, viewers actually root for the Sirens instead of against them. Viewers understand their blood lust is not particularly their fault, and are able to see a new side of humanity in them in their willingness to stop hurting, build community, and work towards a positive greater purpose. However, it is not necessary to watch this movie to understand this. From the image above alone, viewers can see obvious differences than Homer’s portrayal. The Siren’s blue eyes are the main focal point of this image. They are opened wide in a vulnerable way, and emulate fear, innocence, confusion. Her cheeks and forehead are slightly bloody and bruised, showing she has been through a lot and has been harmed not the other way around. She is beautiful, but she is covered modestly and cowers from her beauty.
This directly contrasts Homer’s and Etty’s interpretation of Sirens. Not only does it do that, but it combats the view that women who emulate sexuality are evil. The Siren in this image cowers from her beauty, suggesting that it has been used against her by men. This Siren doesn’t necessarily want to be beautiful because it has only brought her pain so far. Instead of the narrative that beautiful women are willingly tempting for men, this suggests that the fate of a beautiful woman has been decided for her by men since birth. Men not having the ability to resist beauty is a punishment forced on women. It does not benefit women whatsoever, unlike how Homer and Etty portray their Sirens, who are lavished in gold and jewels because of man’s downfall. Homer and Etty failed to understand this perspective due to misogyny, and it is only uncovered now in a 2018 reenactment.
My interest in the story of the Sirens has stemmed from its root in misogyny, and how unnoticed it has gone until now. With so many cases in literature, characters are drowning in sexism and because audiences are so desensitized to it, they don’t question it. Take Medusa for example- she was raped by Poseidon because of her beauty, but while the god went unpunished she was turned into a monster. So many of these characters represent aspects of womanhood, and it is necessary to expose the sexism written into their stories in order to distinguish between women and men’s interpretation of women. This image of the Siren chosen does all of this. It is the first portrayal of Sirens that inspires empathy in viewers instead of disdain. Without empathy, audiences have no desire to understand a character. These feelings of empathy and community are the only way to rewrite an age-old story rooted in sexism, and uncover the truths about the female experience.
Case Study 2:
Scylla
In Book 12 of the Odyssey, Odysseus is warned about the sirens, including Scylla. Before encountering the sirens, Odysseus is given important instructions on how to successfully escape the lure of the sirens from Circe; plug your ears and bind your hands and feet to the ship. This ensures that Odysseus and his men wouldn’t feel the urge to listen to the sirens’ songs. Even though Odysseus is seen as this great leader and hero, not even he could resist their temptation without proper preparation. Along with this, Odysseus’s encounter with Scylla and Charybdis demonstrates his leadership skills, his ability to think of solutions to avoid trouble, and the loyalty he has to his men. Although Odysseus gave into Scylla’s temptation, it was ultimately because he would lose less men than he would have if he steered his ship in the direction of Charybdis, a fatal whirlpool.
Throughout Book 12, readers learn how dangerous Scylla and the other sirens are. Scylla is described as having six long necks with each having their own head with three separate rows of teeth, twelve legs, and that she is “pregnant with death” (12, Lines 85-91). The description Circe gave Scylla goes to demonstrate how truly terrifying of a creature she is. Along with this, it goes to show how women are depicted in the Odyssey. For instance, the sirens are known to seduce men, which shows how women in stories are used to distract men, which depicts a sexist narrative. However, despite the alarming description of Scylla, Circe notes that even a god would fear her because of her “puppy-like” voice. With her voice, she can lure sailors in, and meet the fate of inevitable death. This is evident when Odysseus didn’t warn his men about Scylla because he knew they would scurry and hide in fear, instead of bravely fighting back. With Scylla, she is supposed to be a roadblock for sailors. She is supposed to be a challenge that heroes need to overcome.
Only a hero who is brave enough and has a strong will can make the decision to sacrifice his own men is able to lead them past Scylla, this great obstacle. By Wilson writing that Scylla is “pregnant with death” goes to prove further how powerful Scylla really is. Although it may come off as sexist to some that she used the birthing of death as a negative thing, it could be seen as empowering, as birth and creation is the ultimate power for a woman.
Despite the dangers of Scylla, she ultimately taught Odysseus the power of loyalty and sacrifice. If Odysseus decided to sail towards Charybdis instead of Scylla, he would’ve lost most, if not all his men. However, because he followed Circe’s directions of steering close to Scylla, he was able to lose less men (although the men lost were his 6 strongest and fiercest troops), and he was able to navigate out of the encounter with Scylla in the safest possible way. This ultimately led to him and his men returning home safely. However, because most of the monsters are depicted as women, this narrative can create an idea that women are the true monsters and enemies to heroes prevailing in life.
(c)
The image selected depicts a sea creature with 6 scaly heads, almost dragon-like. Right under her 6 additional heads, Scylla appears to have medium-length wavy hair. Although the coloration of Scylla is entirely a dark gray, she has red pigment just below her mouth. After investigating this image, it is apparent that this is blood, not only because of the color but also the way it drips down her mouth. Additionally, the colors in this image are all very dark, besides the sky. Sitting below Scylla is a dark-teal body of water with swaying and crashing waves. The detail of the waves and the water gives the reader a better understanding of how treacherous and intense the Strait of Messina was to navigate. In terms of Scylla’s physical appearance, she has tentacles sticking out of the water, almost looking like thick, curvy branches jutting out. This goes to show how monstrous Scylla really is. Her 6 heads, her tentacles, and her ability to churn the water to make it virtually impossible for sailors to escape her unscathed.
After conducting research about Scylla, it was revealed that she was a previous lover of Poseidon, the God of the Sea. After Poseidon’s wife, Amphitrite, found out about Scylla and Poseidon’s affair, Amphitrite reshaped Scylla into the horrific sea monster she is by using poisonous bath salts. Ultimately, Scylla is not a monster. As creatures, everyone craves to feel love from the people they care the most about. This is no different for Scylla. Because Scylla was unable to get the love she craved from Poseidon, and was ultimately tricked by Amphitrite, Scylla feels envious of travelers being able to go home to their loved ones.
Overall, the way Scylla is depicted in the Odyssey is very negative and terrifying. This is evident when Wilson writes, “No sailors ever pass that way unharmed” (12, 98). This quote illustrates the unbridled terror Scylla bestows over people.
More specifically, before sailors and their crews reach the Strait of Messina, they already have a preconceived notion of who Scylla is, her powers, and her ability to kill. However, this shows how her image has been manipulated in a way to make her appear to be a heartless destroyer, when she’s this scorned person who has been cursed to live a life she never wished for. This is like many other women in literature, especially Greek literature during this time. Most women in literature aren’t given an opportunity to show their intelligence, like men are. In fact, women aren’t written to be complex, they’re written to be simple. “But while our frightened gaze was on Charybdis, Scylla snatched six men from the ship – my strongest, best fighters” (12, 244-246). This demonstrates how intelligent Scylla really is, rather than her being a one-dimensional monster.
Our Own Voices: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
(d)
Rick Riordan’s book, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters is a great source to learn more about Scylla’s role in Odysseus’ journey. For example, the book introduces the audience to Scylla and Charybdis, just like the audience reading The Odyssey. For Riordan, Scylla looks the same as she is described in Homer’s epic: six scaly heads with 3 rows of sharp teeth and 12 legs. Along with this, Riordan depicts Scylla’s character to be vicious and a creature people fear. While Scylla is depicted identically in both Homer’s epic and Riordan’s book, it makes her character seem more accurate.
In Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Percy, his girlfriend Annabeth, and his half-brother Tyson embark on a journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Along the journey, Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson must sail through the Sea of Monsters, which is the modern-day Bermuda Triangle. In the Sea of Monsters, they encounter Scylla and
Charybdis, both sea monsters introduced in Homer’s epic, The Odyssey. When encountering Scylla in the Strait, Percy and his friends have a different experience than Odysseus. For starters, Scylla was unable to kill Percy and his friends. Readers learn that Percy, Annabeth and Tyson were able to not only outsmart Scylla but escape her unscathed. However, what Homer failed to do in The Odyssey was give Scylla a personality outside of killing any travelers sailing through the strait. For Riordan, he describes that each of Scylla’s heads depict a different facet of her personality, and that they’re constantly debating with each other. Although this detail may seem insignificant for Riordan to include, it shows that she is unpredictable, rather than her being a one-dimensional sea monster only written to kill daring sailors.
Rick Riordan’s books are a great source to learn about Greek mythology. Not only do they give us a modern perspective on Greek mythology, but his movie adaptations allow for the audience to understand the stories and characters visually. This is unlike readers reading The Odyssey. Although Wilson’s translation provides detailed descriptions of Scylla snatching sailors, such as, “No sailors ever pass that way unharmed. She snatches one man with each mouth from off each dark-powered ship” (12, 98-99). This is a visual representation that gives the reader a more embellished idea of the monster, which Wilson does with each monster. However, Homer’s version of Scylla does not give her any further perspective whereas Rick Riordan’s does. Scylla through the eyes of Percy Jackson is more humanized. Again, the idea that Homer fails to see past the discrimination coloring a character, monster or no, is present. As readers, who understand the entirety of her story, are more inclined to believe she is more woman than monster.
Case Study 3:
Polyphemus
During book nine of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew are escaping from Ismarus, which is a city in the Cicones, after their raid of the town caused reinforcements to drive them away. Their greed cost them many men as they departed for the open waters. Zeus then sent a storm that battered his fleet for nine days, causing significant damage to the ships and specifically to the sails, which forced them to make port in the land of the Lotus Eaters. Odysseus sent a scouting party of three men to see what the kinds of people lived on the island, but he had to drag them back to his ship and tie them up after they became intoxicated from eating the Lotus fruit that made them lose all thoughts of home.
After departing the land of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus and his fleet sailed through the night and landed on the island of the cyclops. After bringing twelve of his best men with him to explore the land, Odysseus and his men discovered a cave filled with sheep and crates full of milk and cheese. Despite the crew’s wishes to take the food and quickly leave, Odysseus risks everyone’s safety by gambling on the chance that the cyclops Polyphemus will adhere to traditional Greek customs of offering guests gifts and hospitality. However, this goes horribly wrong when the cyclops returns to his cave to find the crew there and begins to eat them two at a time and imprison the rest in his cave. Odysseus knew that he and his crew were not strong enough to remove the stone blocking their exit from the cave so he devised a plan to wait until Polyphemus left his cave and removed the stone before killing him and leaving. Odysseus then managed to get Polyphemus drunk on copious amounts of wine and told him that his name is “Nobody” before stabbing him in his eye while he was asleep. This caused Polyphemus to shriek in pain and claim that “Nobody” is trying to kill him, which causes his alarmed neighbors to leave him be. Odysseus and his crew used this distraction to escape on the underbellies of the sheep going out of the cave to graze before returning to their ships and leaving the island. During their departure, Odysseus believed himself and his crew to be safe from harm and revealed his true name in a show of bravado and to receive the credit for their ingenious escape. This ultimately caused the crew a lot of suffering later on as Polyphemus prayed to his father Poseidon to inflict his vengeance on Odysseus for his trickery. This event was very significant to Odysseus’ journey as his foolish act of hubris by revealing his name caused his entire crew to be in danger and ultimately die, leaving Odysseus alone as punishment for his trickery.
In order to escape the cave of Polyphemus, Odysseus had to use his strong intellect instead of brute strength. He began to put his plan into motion by offering Polyphemus some wine and telling him, “…Drink some wine, sample the merchandise our ship contains…Do you expect more guests, when you have treated us so rudely?” (9, 47-53). As a result of the offer, Polyphemus was tricked into getting drunk and allowed his guard to be lowered so Odysseus could stab his eye to blind him. Despite being able to use his wits to his advantage, Odysseus also displayed extreme hubris and greed. As he and his crew were escaping the island, Odysseus shouted to Polyphemus, “If any mortal asks you how your eye was mutilated and made blind, say that Odysseus, the city-sacker, Laertes’ son, who lives in Ithaca, destroyed your sight.” (9, 502-506). By revealing his true name to Polyphemus, he allowed himself to be cursed by Polyphemus, which resulted in all of his men killed and his journey home extended even longer and filled with more sorrow.
This particular passage illustrates how Odysseus carries intelligence and wit that attracts the attention of the wisdom goddess Athena, yet is also burdened with extreme hubris that is ultimately his and his crew’s downfall. Although the Odyssey ends with Odysseus reuniting with his family and retaking his throne, he is shown to be vulnerable throughout many parts of his journey like he was in this particular book. His fatal flaw of hubris was put on display and would ultimately serve as foreshadowing for the rest of the story. The irony in a man of Odysseus’ intellectual level acting as foolish as he did proves how Odysseus is a mortal with flaws just like any other man, despite being seen as a legendary hero.
(e)
Book nine of the Odyssey mainly focuses on Odysseus and his crew escaping from the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus. This image above 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.
Our Own Voices: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
(f)
The character of Polyphemus the cyclops has been used in many different adaptations of his character in The Odyssey. His most prominent character traits are his cruelty towards his victims, his blindness, and being easily fooled by Odysseus. One of the most popular forms of media that displays Polyphemus in this manner is the movie Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Adapted from the popular book series authored by Rick Riordan, the movie features Polyphemus as one of the main villains in the story. This adaptation of Polyphemus is canonically the same Polyphemus from The Odyssey who has been resurrected and is in possession of the Golden Fleece that is needed to restore the magical boundaries of Camp Half-Blood. Many other stories use characters that are similar to Polyphemus but are not the actual cyclops while Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters uses the actual character and portrays him to be the same as he was in The Odyssey, making him feel more authentic than other adaptations.
In Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the main character Percy leads his friends into a cave in order to save his satyr friend Grover after he was captured trying to search for the Golden Fleece. As they traverse deeper into the cave, Percy and his friends realize that a massive boulder next to them is the same boulder Polyphemus used to trap Odysseus and his crew in his cave, which leads them to realize that Grover is trapped in the cave of the same Polyphemus from the Greek legends. After searching through the cave, they eventually find Grover in a wedding dress with a single eye on his forehead impersonating a female cyclops to fool Polyphemus. Despite Polyphemus being borderline blind, he could still smell Percy and his friends trying to take the Golden Fleece off his shoulders, which leads to Polyphemus chasing them throughout the cave and threatening to eat them. After running through the entrance of the cave, Percy and his friends drop the same boulder Polyphemus used to block his cave to prevent him from chasing them. The movie also gives Polyphemus’ a real motive for holding the Golden Fleece so his island can flourish, while The Odyssey portrays him to be a simple farmer living his life. He’s given a reason to be an important part of the story instead of being one event in a series of tragedies like he is in The Odyssey.
The Percy Jackson series as a whole is a great way for people to understand Greek mythology without having to read through several different ancient writings that use syntax and verbiage that are hard to read. The movie gives people a visual picture to use when thinking of Polyphemus and his cave that is harder to imagine when only reading through The Odyssey. In The Odyssey the best description of Polyphemus comes when Odysseus describes him to be, “His voice, so deep and booming, and his giant size, made our hearts sink in terror.” (Wilson 248). In the movie, Polyphemus himself is shown with shaggy hair, tattoos all over his body, and his singular eye looking extremely scarred with blurry vision after his battle with Odysseus. His voice is also deep and booming, echoing in the cave and making it shake, which immerses the viewer to see how scary Polyphemus is in the eyes of regular humans. Although The Odyssey and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters use different elements of the same story and character, they both portray Polyphemus to be the same monstrous villain that the main hero needs to defeat in order to move on in their own perspective journeys.
Conclusion
Depicting traits that are often demonized or looked down upon in society using them to characterize a monster is a way to speak on discrimination. Homer, a misogynistic and xenophobic man himself, did not intend to combat these stereotypes, but his novel plays a role in revealing how prevalent these prejudices have always been. Literature reveals the thought-processes of the times and it takes a deeper analysis like we have explored in this project to understand them. Not only have we spoken on the discrimination present in the case of these monsters, but also how they serve to characterize Odysseus as a leader. While Scylla and the Sirens portray Odysseus as a good leader, the case of Polyphemus does the opposite. This is intended to show that while Odysseus is a good leader, his fatal flaw of hubris keeps him grounded as human instead of elevating him to a god-like status. Understanding Odysseus’s character is crucial to understanding the novel, and monsters exist to allow readers to better grasp the complex story that is The Odyssey.
Bibliography
(a) The Sirens and Ulysses, 1837, 442.5 cm (14 ft 6.2 in) by 297 cm (9 ft 9 in)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirens_and_Ulysses
(b) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=9sm9aGMerqA
(c) https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Scylla_(mythology)
(d) https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScyllaAndCharybdis
(e)The Blinding of Polyphemus from the Room of Ulysses in the Palazzo Poggi, Bologna by Pellegrino Tibaldi (1550–51)
https://mythopedia.com/topics/polyphemus
(f) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mDIZ9QINjbQ