Cyclops by Euripides
"Cyclops" is a satirical play by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, believed to have been written around 421 BCE. The story centers on Silenus, a companion of the wine god Bacchus, who finds himself trapped by a fearsome, one-eyed giant known as the Cyclops. Silenus, together with a chorus of satyrs, laments their captivity and prays for deliverance as they encounter a group of sailors led by Odysseus, who are cut off from their journey home after the Trojan War. The Cyclops, notorious for his cannibalistic tendencies, returns home ravenously hungry, leading to a tense situation where Odysseus must outsmart him to save his crew.
Using his cunning nature, Odysseus devises a plan to intoxicate the Cyclops with wine, rendering him vulnerable. The play blends themes of cleverness and inebriation, as it highlights both the dangers of the Cyclops and the resourcefulness of Odysseus. The narrative culminates in a dramatic confrontation, where Odysseus blinds the giant and escapes, eliciting a mix of humor and horror. "Cyclops" reflects ancient Greek values surrounding wit and survival, while also engaging with elements of folklore and mythology that enhance its cultural significance. The play serves as a unique lens through which to explore themes of power, trickery, and the human condition in the face of monstrous adversity.
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Cyclops by Euripides
First produced:Kyklōps, c. 421 b.c.e. (English translation, 1782)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Satyr play
Time of plot: Antiquity
Locale: Mount Aetna in Sicily
Principal characters
Odysseus , king of IthacaThe Cyclops ,Silenus , aged captive of the CyclopsChorus of Satyrs ,Companions of Odysseus ,
The Story:
As he rakes the ground before the cave of his master, the Cyclops, old Silenus laments the day he was shipwrecked on the rock of Aetna and taken into captivity by the monstrous, one-eyed offspring of Poseidon, god of the sea. About Silenus gambols his children, the Chorus of Satyrs, who pray with their father to Bacchus for deliverance. Suddenly, Silenus spies a ship and the approach of a group of sailors who are clearly seeking supplies. Odysseus and his companions approach, introduce themselves as the conquerors of Troy, driven from their homeward journey by tempestuous winds and desperately in need of food and water. Silenus warns them of the cannibalistic Cyclops’s impending return, urges them to make haste, and then begins to bargain with them over the supplies. Spying a skin of wine, the precious liquid of Bacchus that he did not taste for years, Silenus begs for a drink. After one sip he feels his feet urging him to dance. He offers them all the lambs and cheese they need in exchange for one skin of wine.
As the exchange takes place, the giant Cyclops suddenly returns, ravenously hungry. The wretched Silenus makes himself appear to be terribly beaten and accuses Odysseus and his men of plundering the Cyclops’s property. Odysseus denies the false charge, but although he is supported by the leader of the Chorus of Satyrs, the Cyclops seizes two of the sailors, takes them into his cave, and makes a meal of them. Horrified, Odysseus is then urged by the satyrs to employ his famed cleverness, so effective at Troy, in finding some means of escape.
After some discussion, Odysseus hits upon a subtle plan: First they will make the Cyclops drunk with wine; then, while he is in a stupor, they will cut down an olive tree, sharpen it, set it afire, and plunge it into the Cyclops’s eye. After that escape will be easy. When the Cyclops emerges from his cave, Odysseus offers him the wine, and the giant and Silenus proceed to get hilariously drunk. So pleased is the monster with the effects of the Bacchic fluid that Silenus without much trouble persuades him not to share it but to drink it all up by himself. The grateful Cyclops asks Odysseus his name (to which the clever warrior replied “No man”) and promises that he will be the last to be eaten. Soon the Cyclops finds the earth and sky whirling together and his lusts mounting. He seizes the unhappy Silenus and drags him into the cave to have his pleasure with him.
As the Cyclops lies in a stupor, Odysseus urges the satyrs to help him fulfill the plan they agreed upon, but the cowardly satyrs refuse and Odysseus is forced to use his own men for the task. Soon the agonized Cyclops, shouting that “no man” blinded him, comes bellowing out of the cave. The chorus mocks and jeers at him for this ridiculous charge and gives him false directions for capturing the escaping Greeks. The berserk giant thrashes about and cracks his skull against the rocks. When the escaping Odysseus taunts him with his true name, the Cyclops groans that an oracle predicted that Odysseus would blind him on his way home from Troy, but he foretold also that the clever one would pay for his deed by tossing about on Poseidon’s seas for many years. The satyrs hasten to join the escape so that they can once more become the proper servants of Bacchus in a land where grapes grow.
Bibliography
Arnott, Peter D., trans. Three Greek Plays for the Theatre: Euripides, “Medea,” “Cyclops”; Aristophanes, “The Frogs.” Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1961. A fine translation of the play, with an introduction. Cyclops is described as a tragedy and a comedy.
Green, Roger L. Two Satyr Plays: Euripides’ “Cyclops” and Sophocles’ “Ichneutai.” New York: Penguin Books, 1957. A good translation, with an introduction. Sophocles’ The Searching Satyrs, an incomplete satyr play, offers a useful opportunity for comparison.
Morwood, James. The Plays of Euripides. Bristol, England: Bristol Classical, 2002. Morwood provides a concise overview of all of Euripides’ plays, devoting a separate chapter to each one. He demonstrates how Euripides was constantly reinventing himself in his work.
Mossman, Judith, ed. Euripides. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Collection of essays, some providing a general overview of Euripidean drama, others focusing on specific plays.
Seaford, Richard. Introduction to Cyclops, by Euripides. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. Offers a sixty-page survey of the features of satyric drama in general and of Cyclops in particular. The connections of satyr drama with the cult of Dionysus in Athens are emphasized.
Sutton, Dana F. The Greek Satyr Play. Meisenheim an Glan, Germany: Hain, 1980. A comprehensive survey of the genre. Traces the history of the satyr play, offers a critical appraisal, and provides a useful bibliography.
Webster, T. B. L. Monuments Illustrating Tragedy and Satyr Play. London: Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, 1967. Presents visual evidence from archaeological sources of satyrs and their role in drama. Explores the links between tragedy and the satyr play.