The Lonely Cyclops
After Odysseus and his men had won the great battle of Troy, their fight was merely over. They still had a great distance to travel back to their homeland. There was no telling what they would come across and what monsters they would face.
After about five days in the Ocean they came to a great island, flowing with green trees, water and growth. “This is the home of a great monster” warned Odysseus, “But we are running low on food and supplies, so we have no other choice but to stop and try to gather more.” Odysseus prepared his men for what they may face and began to explore the island, swords drawn and ready to attack whatever may come at them.
As they were traveling through the brush they came across a large clearing with a giant cave. Odysseus told his men to prepare to attack as this was surely where the great monster lived. Suddenly, a huge giant walked out of the cave. He had one eye, wore nothing but sheepskin shorts and looked like he was tall enough to sit on the clouds. “Cyclops” said Odysseus. Gripped with fear, he tightened his grip on his sword and was about to call on his men when the Cylops with his great booming voice yelled “Hello! How wonderful it is to see fellow life on this island! From where do you little people come from?” Confused, Odysseus explained how he and his men had traveled a great way after winning the battle and were on their way back to their homeland when they came across the island. “Wonderful! I have been plagued with great loneliness on this great island by myself and now we can all live together in great joy and harmony, and I will keep you and take care of you forever!”
Odysseus tried to explain that they were just merely passing through and could not stay for more than a day or two and the Cyclops became very sad and began to cry. His tears fell like rain and soaked Odysseus and his men. I will be stuck with this loneliness forever, let me at least feed you and your men and restock your supplies while you rest before carrying on with the rest of your journey” cried the Cyclops.
After two days of rest and feasting, it was time for Odysseus and his men to leave the kind and hospitable Cyclops. However, Odysseus was heart warmed by the Cyclops’ kind spirit that he had a great offer for him. “Cyclops, I know you have been plagued with great sadness and loneliness on this island by yourself and you have shown me and my men such kindness and compassion that I want to ask you to travel back with us to my homeland and live with us forever in peace and friendship.” The Cyclops cried out in happiness and together they all set out for home, the Cyclops protecting them from everything that came their way.
It wast then that the Cyclops was lonely no more, and him and Odysseus’s people lived happily together in harmony until the end of time.
The Island. Web Source.
Authors note: In the original text by Homer, the Cyclops is a great monster that is no happy with Odysseus’s arrival. He traps them in his cave and eats his men throughout the time they are there. Odysseus and his surviving men are able to escape by tying themselves to the underbellies of sheep. When setting sale from the Island the angered Cyclops throws a giant stone at the ship, merely missing it. Odysseus and his men are able to continue on their journey just barely, leaving the cyclops behind.
Hi Mckenzie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story about Odysseus and the Cyclops. Since you kept the characters the same from the original story, it helped in figuring out what you changed in your story. Although the original story had the Cyclops being more ruthless toward Odysseus and his men, I liked how you made him lonely and seeking companionship. Although Odysseus and his men did not want to stay at the beginning but ended up doing so to be nice, they ended up making a friend out of the Cyclops and inviting him to continue traveling with them. That was a cool twist to the original story. You also included good details about the main characters and their needs and wants on the stranded island which helped in knowing the plot of the story you created. While I enjoyed reading your story, you may want to try and make the story font a little larger. For me personally, it was a little hard to read the small font since my eyes aren't the best. But, if the small font is better for you, continue to use it, I was just suggesting a way to improve your stories and blog.
Hi Mckenzie,
ReplyDeleteI like your story about Odysseus and the Cyclops. I likes that you gave the story a positive twist and allowed the cyclops to befriend Odysseus' troop. I have to say, I miss the trickery of the original story (with the escape using the sheep), so it would have been cool to incorporate the same kind of twist somewhere into the story!
Great job and I look forward to reading more!
Wow, that is quite the twist on an old story. I really like what you did with it, it was an interesting new take.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what it would be like to be that alone for so long, but to still have that much compassion on random strangers when they stumble across you and need your help like that. I also like how you turned the two groups into friends at the end, especially since that was not in the original story. Now I am curious about how their new friend would affect the rest of their trip and the encounters they come across. Would this new friend be able to prevent some of the trials they have to face or cause new, possibly worse issues to come upon the group? This new aspect, in the form of a new, special team member, revitalizes this story and makes it fresh all over again.
Hi Mckenzie! I really love the exposition in this story. You really get a sense of place and have great descriptors. Each location and scene had its own feeling, from ominous to joyous. You are able to wist a story to evoke different emotions well; I really enjoyed your ending. You also really get to the 'why' behind your characters, which lets the reader get into the mindset of the character and really understand them. I got a little confused in the middle of the story. The long paragraph had multiple people speaking. I wonder if you could break that up into shorter paragraphs? And the ending... What if you explored the future of the cyclopes in the world more? How do people adapt to him in Greece? How does his site affect the journey back? I think that your twist and the way you explored it is really cool, but you can push it farther.
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