Homer's Odyssey, Book 9

“Cyclops, if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so, say Odysseys, raiders of cities. He gouged out your eye, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca!”

Art: Odysseus in the Cave of Polyphemus, by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678)

In Book 9, we get to the heart of the matter: how Odysseus has angered Poseidon to the point of no return. And this time, we get to hear the story from the mouth of Odysseus himself, as he narrates it to King Alcinous's court.

After escaping first, the Cicones, and second, the island of the Lotus Eaters (@PercySeries anyone?), Odysseus and his men land on the island of the great cyclops, Polyphemus, and son of Poseidon. It's not as if they're in any actual real danger, as they hit land in a quiet cove, far away from the monster and his kin. They even have enough to drink and eat after raiding the stores of the Cicones. Homer makes a point of telling us all of this. But Odysseus's curiosity, sense of adventure, or perhaps even bravado get the better of him. He takes a group of men to investigate.

That's how they all end up trapped in Polyphemus's cave, not because the monster poses a real and immediate threat to them. In many ways, when the Greeks invade Polyphemus's space and eat his food, they resemble the suitors wreaking havoc back in Ithaca, don't they? When they're discovered, things escalate quickly. Odysseus and his men have already served themselves to cheese, but they ask for hospitality and claim to be in need, stranded at sea. Polyphemus scoops a few of them up and eats them like snacks. Things just went from bad to worse.

Now, Odysseus has to figure out how to get his men out of a problem they created for themselves. They lie in wait. Then, when the moment is right, they blind Polyphemus by jamming a red-hot spear into his eye like a poker.

Notice how Odysseus, narrating the events, revels in his own cleverness when he tells Polyphemus that his name is "Nobody." So, when the cyclops calls out for help in the middle of the night, he tells his comrades that "nobody" is harming and killing him... so they don't come to his rescue. But even after his men escape, by clutching on to giant sheep and escaping Polyphemus's lair, Odysseus's great pride (or "hubris") can't be silenced. He can't resist yelling out: Hey, Polyphemus! My name's not Nobody. So, when someone asks you who got the better of you, know that it's the great Odysseus himself, king of Ithaca! And that, in a nutshell, is how great pride comes before a great fall... because if Odysseus had contented himself with sailing away, as all his crew urged him to do, Polyphemus could never have told Poseidon who did him such harm. And maybe the Greeks could have journeyed home to Ithaca along a much easier route.