Suddenly, through the fog, I see land. Finally, a landscape I haven’t seen in over ten years! Ithaca, at last.
Fog swirls around me, and my beautiful homeland disappears. Everything goes black, and then suddenly I’m in the cave of the Cyclops again, this time alone with none of my men. The only light is coming from a tiny lit candle in the corner. To my horror, the mangled corpses of my beloved men are strewn everywhere. I sit down and begin to sob. Haven’t I already been through this? I blinded the Cyclops! I blinded the mighty son of Poseidon! Why am I back in this horrible place?
The giant stone that is blocking my only exit begins to roll away, and for a brief moment the moon illuminates everything around me, but then a giant figure blocks it. I already know who it is: Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon.
“What is your name, human?” he asks me.
Instead of answering I just reply, “What kind of way is this to treat a guest? I am very hungry; you should be feeding me, and giving me gifts! Why, in Ithaca, we give strangers their weight in gifts, and slaughter cows for them to eat everyday! Now, stranger, feed me.”
Polyphemus just chuckles and says, “Well, as you can see I have enough of your men to keep me satisfied for a while. Here’s my gift to you: I will eat you last.”
I vividly remember him making this statement before, and his manic laughter that followed chilled my bones for hours nonstop after we finally escaped. But how am I to escape now? I have no wine to get him drunk on; I have nothing to blind him with again.
“So,” the monster begins, “what is your name?”
Slowly, I reply, “My name…is Nobody.”
For some odd reason this is terribly funny to him, and he bursts into laughter.
“Your name isn’t Nobody!” He shouts. “You’re Odysseus! King Odysseus of Ithaca! And I am going to eat you!”
His gigantic hand reaches out for me, and I begin to scream.
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