THIS IS A TEST - THE ODYSSEY

[qwertyMike]

Why is the Cyclops never mentioned in The Odyssey os only having one eye?

[EFerrari]

1. Because Homer was being polite.

He probably just hummed that part.

[MonkeyFunk]

2. Hrmmm....

maybe not specifically, but they stab one eye, and the Cyclops is blinded:

"Seizing the olive stake, sharp at the tip, they plunged it in his eye, and I, perched up above, whirled it around. As when a man bores shipbeams with a drill, and those below keep it in motion with a strap held by the ends, and steadily it runs; even so we seized the fire-pointed stake and whirled it in his eye. Blood bubbled round the heated thing. The vapor singed off all the lids around the eye, and even the brows, as the ball burned and its roots crackled in the flame. As when a smith dips a great axe or adze into cold water, hissing loud, to temper it, , for that is strength to steel, so hissed his eye about the olive stake. A hideous roar he raised; the rock resounded; we hurried off in terror."

[petronius]

3. Wouldn't Homer's audience have known that the Cyclops were one-eyed?

There would be no need to explicitly mention it to people already familiar with the mythology... :shrug: