Cyclops
By: Euripides ; [translated by J. Michael Walton]
Contributors: Walton, J. Michael, 1939-
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2013
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
Subjects: Cyclopes (Greek mythology); Drama
Other titles: Six Greek comedies.
Description: Silenus, father of the Satyrs, has been trapped on Sicily, held prisoner by the Cyclops son of Poseidon, Polyphemus. Silenus is despondent: his captive fate was found when seeking to rescue another god, Dionysus. Instead, it is Silenus and his sons who are prisoners, of a much lesser, more ravenous god. The potential for rescue comes when Odysseus, the hero strategist of the Trojan War, washes up on the Sicilian shore. His men too get captured, but rather than bemoan his fate, Odysseus connives to destroy the Cyclops once and for all, using wit, wisdom and plenty of wine. A celebration of the liberating effects of alcohol, 'Cyclops' is a Euripidean take on the Homeric myth, full of jokes, tricks and stagey comedy.
Notes: Originally published: in print in Six Greek comedies. London: Methuen Drama, 2002.