Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Cyclops - Euripides

Plot [partly Google Gemini generated]

The play is a comical retelling of Odysseus's encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus: Euripides' version parodies the more serious account found in Homer's Odyssey. Euripides' version retells the story like this:

Stranded Satyrs: The play opens with Silenus, a drunken satyr, explaining how he and his crewmates ended up enslaved by the Cyclops Polyphemus in Sicily.

Wine for Food:
Odysseus and his men arrive, seeking provisions. Silenus, ever the wine lover, trades their wine for the Cyclops' food, despite having no authority to do so.

A Monstrous Host: The monstrous Polyphemus enters, a one-eyed giant who sees humans only as food. He devours several of Odysseus's men

Nobody's Foolery: Odysseus, using his wit, hatches a plan. He tells the Cyclops his name is "Nobody" and offers him strong wine. The Cyclops, gullible and enjoying the drink, gets very drunk.

Blinding the Beast: As the Cyclops sleeps in a drunken stupor, Odysseus blinds him with a sharpened olive stake.

Escape by Deception: Odysseus and his remaining men escape by clinging to the underside of the Cyclops' sheep as they are released from the cave.

A Furious Farewell: Polyphemus, blinded and enraged, stumbles around trying to catch Odysseus. Odysseus reveals his true name, fulfilling a prophecy that the Cyclops would be blinded by "Nobody." The play ends with the frustrated Polyphemus left behind.


Argument

On the return of Odysseus from Troy to Ithaca, he was blown off course to Sicily, where Polyphemus and the Cyclops dwelt. Meeting with Silenus and the Satyrs, who had been enslaved to Polyphemus, he sought to purchase meat and cheese in exchange for wine. Polyphemus entering, Silenus accused Odysseus of stealing, and offering violence to himself and his companions. All would have perished, but Odysseus and his sailors bored out the one eye of the sleeping Polyphemus, and thereby escaped, liberating the Satyrs. The plot is entirely Homeric.


English Translations

The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: Euripides' Cyclops tr by P.B. Shelley - Google Books

References


Cyclops (play) - Wikipedia

Polyphemus - Wikipedia

The Odyssey of Homer (Chapter 1 Polyphemos the Cyclops): retold by Barabara Leonia Picard - Internet Archive

Euripides: Cyclops (Κύκλωψ) - - Major Reference Works - Wiley Online Library


Euripides' Cyclops and Major Fragments of Greek Satyric Drama | Patrick O'Sullivan - Academia.edu

Cyclops - Euripides - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature

Cyclops by Euripides - GreekMythology.com

Euripides: Cyclops - Tom's Learning Notes

The Cyclops - Course Hero

The Odyssey (Butler)/Book IX - Wikisource,


The Odyssey Chapter 9 The Cyclops : Homer  - Internet Archive

Myths of the Odyssey in art and literature : Harrison, Jane Ellen, - Internet Archive

Mercedes Aguirre; Richard Buxton (7 May 2020). Cyclops: The Myth and its Cultural History. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-252442-3.

Polyphemus - Wikipedia

Euripidean drama : myth, theme and structure Chapter 18 The Satyr Play p. 317 : Conacher, D. J - Internet Archive


Ancient Greek Theatre blog - Satyr Play

Seaford, Richard. “The Date of Euripides' Cyclops.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 102, 1982, pp. 161–172. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/631134.

Euripides: Cyclops and Major Fragments of Greek Satyric Drama O'Sullivan & Collard
Search results | JSTOR

Greek Versions

Cyclops - Euripides - Internet Archive Teubner

Euripides: Cyclops and Major Fragments of Greek Satyric Drama - Google Books

Euripides (1891). Cyclops. Clarendon Press.

Euripides, Cyclops - Perseus Digital Library

Richard Hunter; Rebecca Laemmle (2 July 2020). Euripides: Cyclops. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-51051-3.


Evripidis Fabvlae Tomus I: recognovit breviqve adnotatione critica instrvxit - Internet Archive Gilbert Murray

Euripidis fabulae p. 598 Cyclops : Euripides - Internet Archive

Cyclops : Euripides - Internet Archive

Euripidis Fabulae, Tomus I - James Diggle: Euripidis Fabulae, Tomus I: Cyclops, Alcestis, Medea, Heracleidae, Hippolytus, Andromacha, Hecuba. (Oxford Classical Texts.) Pp. xvi+398. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.

Translations

Euripides, Cyclops - Perseus Digital Library

Cyclops : Euripides - Internet Archive


Hecuba and Other Plays p. 171 : The Cyclops - Internet Archive

Euripides II : Euripides  Cyclops  Internet Archive

The Internet Classics Archive - The Cyclops by Euripides

Euripides p. 51-  Cyclops trans David Kovacs - Internet Archive

Euripides I p. 241 : ed. David Grene. trans by William Arrowsmith -  Internet Archive

Euripides (2003). Heracles and Other Plays. The Cyclops. Oxford University Press. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-19-283259-7.

Euripides (2013). Delphi Complete Works of Euripides (Illustrated). Cyclops: Delphi Classics. pp. 895–. ISBN 978-1-909496-47-7. Trans by Edward P, Coleridge.

Euripides (27 June 2002). Heracles and Other Plays. Cyclops: Penguin Books Limited. pp. 364–. ISBN 978-0-14-044725-5.
Ebook: Euripides (27 June 2002). Heracles and Other Plays. Cyclops: Penguin Books Limited. pp. 366–. ISBN 978-0-14-196093-7.

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