If you ask us, this episode is *eye*conic.
We’re *eye*ing up one of our favourite mythological figures, the Cyclops, Polyphemus (yes he’s got a name guys, let’s use it). He’s our *blind* drunk, *eye*rate, *eye*ronic friend with just the one peeper (or is it just one?). Best known for his encounter with the hero Odysseus, who robs the Cyclops *blind*, doesn’t pay a *blind* bit of notice to his life, and sends him effing and *blind*ing (to put it mildly). We think Odysseus is a bit of a one-*eyed* snake, to be honest. After all: “There are none so blind as those who will not see”.
Okay – *eye* think we’re done with the puns ... for now...
Tune in to this two-parter to find out about the different versions of the Cyclops story, where he’s a lover, not just a fighter (and to get a window into how much we hate Odysseus, before our full-blown dedicated rant later on in the season...). We’ll take you through his journey from epic monster to preening (if ambitious) pastoral suitor and tell you why, we think, we should give him a bit of a break. No-one takes a man’s homemade cheese and gets away with it. We’re talking genre, xenia, landscape, drinking, pederasty, films, art, transgression, and Silenus, the old satyr, in a furry onesie and a “French Maid” costume.
All in all, he’s just a big, hairy guy with a bit of an anger issue and we think he deserves some Blind Love.
You might have to turn a *BLIND EYE* to his actions – but hey, Nobody’s perfect, right? (Trust us, this joke is hilarious – just listen to the episode...)
The opening feature comes from Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey and the closing feature is from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
References:
Part 1:
Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey
Homer’s Odyssey, 9.105-535
Euripides’, The Cyclops, c. 400 BCE
Theocritus, Idylls 6 and 11, c. 3rd century BCE
Propertius, Elegies 3.2, c. 50-15 BCE
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 13.740-897, c. 8 CE
Virgil, Aeneid, 3.613-674
Part 2:
Plato’s Symposium, c. 385-370 BCE
Remember to check out our Instagram (@mythdynamite) for a list of images.