In ancient Greece, there was a creature called Cyclopes. This creature was a giant, bold and had only one eye. And there was this Cyclopes called Polyphemus. He was a special Cyclopes. Regardless of his appearance as Cyclopes, he was smart and elegant. He wore a wig, shaved his beard, and wore a nice suit of clothes that would be used for kings or princes. He was a gentleman, or a gentle-Cyclopes.
One day, while he was enjoying his tea time in a cabin he built, little creatures approached his territory. They were called humans. Polyphemus put down his tea and opened the door to greet them.
"Hello, little fellas. My name is Polyphemus, with a gentle spirit, a kind heart, and a nice smile."
Polyphemus smiled. He was aware of his scary appearance that would frighten these little, fragile creatures.
His intention was great; however, his smile was more scary than a hydra.
Humans stared at Polyphemus for a second. Then they started to scream. Polyphemus panicked. He tried to calm them down but the situation was getting worse. He had no other choice but to grab them and keep them somewhere safe until they are calm. He was a gentle-Cyclopes, but the other Cyclopes were not. They would hurt them.
After grabbing all humans to his secret chamber, called Cave, he decided to sit down and talk to them.
"Do not be scared, creatures of size of my toe. I will not harm you....nor will I smile"
He spoke with a soft tone. People were scared but they decided not to scream. Polyphemus was proud of his work of calming them down.
"Now tell me. What brought you, such tiny bodies, to here?"
He took out a tea pot that he brought from the cabin. He sat down and offered his tea with a giant cup.
Out of all the small humans, one stood up. His name was Odysseus.
"I am here to take a rest and possibly gain resources to feed my fellow soldiers here."
Odysseus replied. He drank a sip of a tea with his bare hands because he could not hold a cup of giants.
"I see, little one. Your problem will no longer be. I have a bread that can feed entire fellas of yours, I have a cup of water, which little one like you can drink for the rest of your life."
Polyphemus reached his shelf in the cave and grabbed a piece of bread and a cup of water. Although it was nothing but a small bread to him, it was big enough for humans to feed themselves for awhile.
Odysseus smiled and apologized for his rudeness to scream in front of him. Polyphemus accepted his apology.
"Regardless of your apology, young one. You shall give me some precious of yours in return. This is for my curiosity. I shall keep whatever you give to remind myself of such a tiny creature when you leave."
Odysseus agreed. He told his men to bring a wine bottle. Polyphemus tasted it and gladly accepted it.
"Now you shall have my bread and water."
Polyphemus gave his bread and water to Odysseus. But, before Odysseus left the cave, Polyphemus stopped him.
"Now I have called you with many titles. Since you gave me such a great wine of yours, I would like to call you with your name"
"My name is Odysseus. Odysseus, man of many resources, scion of Zeus, son of Laertes."
Polyphemus was surprised by his name. He heard his name from the greatest prophet he knew.
"Listen, Odysseus with many many titles. You have to leave now. I will not speak out your name but if other Cyclopes find you, you will not return home with your body but only with your ghost."
Odysseus left the cave immediately. Soon after he left, other Cyclopes came to Polyphemus's cave. They asked who humans were. Polyphemus took a sip of his tea and said.
"Nobody. It was nobody."
Author's Note: The original story is about Odysseus and Polyphemus, this Polyphemus is a monster called Cyclopes which is a monster that is cruel and stupid. In original story, Polyphemus abducted Odysseus and his men, for a eating purpose and eventually brutally eating most of them. His cruelness appeared when Odysseus offered his wine. Polyphemus loved his wine, but instead of letting him go, Polyphemus said he would eat Odysseus at the end. Odysseus took Polyphemus eye, which made him blind since he only had one eye. Moreover, his stupidity appeared when Polyphemus was fooled by Odysseus by calling him nobody, because that was a name that Odysseus gave to Polyphemus. Eventually, he found out that "nobody" was actually "Odysseus". Polyphemus threw a giant rock which destroyed ship of Odysseus which made his journey back home much longer. I noticed that there are plenty of monsters that are not evil but good kind. My purpose was to change this monster to evil creature to good monster. I thought the first step could be change the personality of this Cyclopes. I thought what if Polyphemus was not cruel, but gentle, and not stupid, but smart. I wanted to write a story about a nice monster rather a monster that destroy Odysseus' ship.
Bibliography: Homer's Odysseus by Tony Kline
He spoke with a soft tone. People were scared but they decided not to scream. Polyphemus was proud of his work of calming them down.
"Now tell me. What brought you, such tiny bodies, to here?"
He took out a tea pot that he brought from the cabin. He sat down and offered his tea with a giant cup.
Out of all the small humans, one stood up. His name was Odysseus.
"I am here to take a rest and possibly gain resources to feed my fellow soldiers here."
Odysseus replied. He drank a sip of a tea with his bare hands because he could not hold a cup of giants.
"I see, little one. Your problem will no longer be. I have a bread that can feed entire fellas of yours, I have a cup of water, which little one like you can drink for the rest of your life."
Polyphemus reached his shelf in the cave and grabbed a piece of bread and a cup of water. Although it was nothing but a small bread to him, it was big enough for humans to feed themselves for awhile.
Odysseus smiled and apologized for his rudeness to scream in front of him. Polyphemus accepted his apology.
"Regardless of your apology, young one. You shall give me some precious of yours in return. This is for my curiosity. I shall keep whatever you give to remind myself of such a tiny creature when you leave."
Odysseus agreed. He told his men to bring a wine bottle. Polyphemus tasted it and gladly accepted it.
"Now you shall have my bread and water."
Polyphemus gave his bread and water to Odysseus. But, before Odysseus left the cave, Polyphemus stopped him.
"Now I have called you with many titles. Since you gave me such a great wine of yours, I would like to call you with your name"
"My name is Odysseus. Odysseus, man of many resources, scion of Zeus, son of Laertes."
Polyphemus was surprised by his name. He heard his name from the greatest prophet he knew.
"Listen, Odysseus with many many titles. You have to leave now. I will not speak out your name but if other Cyclopes find you, you will not return home with your body but only with your ghost."
Odysseus left the cave immediately. Soon after he left, other Cyclopes came to Polyphemus's cave. They asked who humans were. Polyphemus took a sip of his tea and said.
"Nobody. It was nobody."
Author's Note: The original story is about Odysseus and Polyphemus, this Polyphemus is a monster called Cyclopes which is a monster that is cruel and stupid. In original story, Polyphemus abducted Odysseus and his men, for a eating purpose and eventually brutally eating most of them. His cruelness appeared when Odysseus offered his wine. Polyphemus loved his wine, but instead of letting him go, Polyphemus said he would eat Odysseus at the end. Odysseus took Polyphemus eye, which made him blind since he only had one eye. Moreover, his stupidity appeared when Polyphemus was fooled by Odysseus by calling him nobody, because that was a name that Odysseus gave to Polyphemus. Eventually, he found out that "nobody" was actually "Odysseus". Polyphemus threw a giant rock which destroyed ship of Odysseus which made his journey back home much longer. I noticed that there are plenty of monsters that are not evil but good kind. My purpose was to change this monster to evil creature to good monster. I thought the first step could be change the personality of this Cyclopes. I thought what if Polyphemus was not cruel, but gentle, and not stupid, but smart. I wanted to write a story about a nice monster rather a monster that destroy Odysseus' ship.
Bibliography: Homer's Odysseus by Tony Kline
Wow, great story! I really like how the begin gin and end where similar to the origin. I am also going to have to say I believe I like your story better then the original. It was a nice plot twist to the story. It was very creative and fun to read. I enjoyed that the cyclopes was willing to help the little humans as well as protect them form the other cyclopes.
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I really loved all of the dialogue in your story. It helped me feel like the characters were more real. Your story made me wonder what would happen in other parts of Odysseus's story if other normally cruel creatures were kind, and possibly if nice characters were cruel. Flipping around character traits is just a really cool idea in general and I hope to read some more flipped characters either from you or other people in the class.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what would happen if you developed the relationship between Polyphemus and the other cyclopes a little further. It would possibly add some depth to show how his kindheartedness conflicts with the other cyclopes' demeanor.
Overall, I really enjoyed your take on this classic tale. Also, I am not sure if it was intentional or not, but the design of your blog added some to your story. Having the vast sea of grass and dandelions made it feel a bit like walking around in an enlarged world such as that of the giants. If it was intentional, awesome! If not that is a happy coincidence and maybe something you could use in your storybook or portfolio.
Hi Fred!
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your story! It was upbeat and happy and just everything great in life! I read this story last week and enjoyed it then too! Your story reminds me of the BFG if you have every read it. It was an old children's story of the Big Friendly Giant. It brought be back to my childhood, which I enjoyed. If only Polyphemus was this nice in the actually story, then a curse wouldn't have been put on Odysseus and his way home! I enjoyed it and good job!
"He was a gentleman, or a gentle-Cyclopes." That part made me chuckle, but let me just say "WOW!" I love how you completely transformed the story and created your own masterpiece. From scrolling, the post looked a little long and I was concerned that I may not be engaged throughout reading it but you proved me wrong! I loved the entire story, there was humor, compassion and empathy all wrapped into one! I should have known that the post was going to be awesome from reading your reading diary. Great job, Hyo! Can't wait to read more!
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