The way authors use sight to accentuate their views, and
what the author wants a reader to see can be very different from
or parallel to styles of other authors. Homer, James Joyce, and
Derek Walcott are three famous authors who use sight as a key
image in their stories. Each author uses the Cyclops as a
character or esential part of their story even though he is
represented in each in very different ways. The authors use
epithets to illuminate their characters although the Cyclops
doesn’t always recieve one.
In Homer's The Odyssey, the use of Cyclops, its one eye,
and its blinding have been carried over into Joyce's Ulysses and
both Walcott's Omeros and his stage version. In Homer’s The
Odyssey, Odysseus' cunning and trickery dupe the Cyclops. When
the spear blinded the Cyclops, a different kind of sight and
power was given him, foresight and understanding; the power to
curse Odysseus, and the power to understand who his attacker
was.
As the Cyclops gets carried over to Joyce's Ulysses, he
is changed from a one eyed monster to a human being. In the
"Cyclops" chapter a unique sybolism is used to identify the
Polyphemus character by alluding to his eye by replacing his
name with “I”: “said I”(pg 300, Ulysses). In this way the “I”
symbolizes the “eye” of Polyphemus, and he is therefore
identified by the way in which the reader sees the words, and
switches from a physical identity to a metaphorical identity.
Walcott uses the Cyclops in his Omeros and the stage
version of “The Odyssey” in different ways completely. In The
Odyssey, a Stage Version, the Cyclops (Polyphemus) is still the
one eyed monster, but this time he seems very jolly and makes fun
with Odysseus even though he is still cruel. In the stage
version, Cyclops' eye is used to emphasize his cruelty, and at
the same time to point out the cruelty and lack of sensitivity
that stems from having just one view of things. Unlike humans,
Cyclops has only one eye and therefore lacks the ability to cry
because of grief, or to even feel sadness at all. His narrow and
singular point of view combined with his ability to “see
all”(pg65 of The Odyssey, a Stage Version) also puts the Cyclops
in the position of “Big Brother”, imposing his way on all those
around him. This comparison is made even more clear by the
blaring sirens announcing Odysseus’ escape (p71-72 The Odyssey, a Stage
Version).
In Walcott's Omeros, there are plenty of times the
Cyclops is mentioned, but he is no longer a person but a thing.
Walcott's Cyclops in Omeros becomes entirely a metaphor. As in
Joyce's Ulysses, the Cyclops is again no longer the monster in
Greek mythology but an echo of Polyphemus’ attributes. The
lighthouse, the cyclone, and the octopus are all representations
of the Cyclops, but at the same time each symbolizes the Cyclops
in their own ways. The lighthouse(p ), with the exception that
Cyclops is blinded during the day, most of the original Cyclops
has all become vanished into the metaphor and is harder to
recognize. The biggest difference apart from the Cyclops no
longer being a creature or human is that the Cyclops regains its
sight by turning its light back on again during the night. The
cyclone in it’s use as the Cyclops becomes a powerful monster,
even ripping palm trees up into the air. The form of the Cyclops
however depends on how you look at it. From the realalistic
point of view, it has one eye at the center (like a weather
pattern) but is also personified and takes on the humanoid form,
having it’s eye pierced by the palm tree (p51 Omeros). The
Cyclops is represented a third time by the octopus (p86 Omeros),
and once again takes on creature form. Through the course of the
metaphors the Cyclops becomes more alive changing from the
inanimate light house, to the moving cyclone, and finishing as a
real living octopus. This relationship between the metaphors
allows the Cyclops to gain life over the course of the story in
the same way as the Cyclops gained insight in Homer’s The
Odyssey.
Although the Cyclops is the most powerful image and
concentration of sight that is paralleled through the different
stories, sight is also used uniquely through many other
situations and characters. Eyes are involved in the recognition
and disguise of characters. The use of eyes in the epithets,
like Athena "the bright eyed goddess", and others, allow for an
identification of the person’s character. Throughout Homer’s The Odyssey,
Athena's epithets help bring out her attributes. Her cunning
and quick mind are suggested by her epithet "bright eyed";
she's "clear eyed" because of her ability to see through
stories, and to show her fighting spirit she sets her "eyes
aflame"(p299). The particular images of clear, bright, and
shining eyes are used for others as well. On page 339 Telemacus'
shining eyes are not only an indicator of his joy at seeing the
swineherd, but also connects Telamacus to Pallas Athena's, and
Odysseus' cunning. So in this case his shining eyes also help to
announce Telemacus' manhood.
Other epithets associated with the eyes in Homer’s The Odyssey
show the characters’ emotions and feelings towards objects and
other people. Odysseus' men "feasted their eyes" on the animal
he brought them on Circe's Island show their anticipating hunger.
Odysseus' sealed eyes represented the sleep and rest that all too
often led Odysseus and his men into trouble. We can see that the
sealing of his eyes (p352 Homer’s The Odyssey) went hand in hand
with getting into trouble by being unaware of his surroundings.
Odysseus' flaming eyes showed his burning desire for vengeance
against the suitors, and by having his eyes dulled he could be
unrecognized by the suitors.
In Omeros, epithets are used to describe the eyes of the
characters. The almond eyes are often referred to as a mark of
the native people of the island. As Walcott extends his
metaphors in many ways, the almond eyes are not just shaped like
almonds, but also colored like almonds. Those who receive this
epithet, they are being looked at favorably and through the
almond eyes, other things that can be compared to almonds can
also be looked on as favorable.
Epithets are not as common in The Odyssey, a Stage
Version and Ulysses but phrases can be found. In
Ulysses, epithets dealing with the eyes are not used, but
in the “Cyclops” chapter, the use of “I” to identify the
character reprsenting Polyphemus is very close. In the
The Odyssey, a Stage Version, epithets are also not used
so widely, although the Cyclops still gets an epithet calling
himself “the Great Eye”(p64, The Odyssey, a Stage Version).
The Cyclops and his many forms become a truely vibrant
image that Homer, Walcott, and Joyce all use. “Polyphemus”,
“Cyclops”, “the Great Eye” by any other name, or in any form is a
concentraited source sight and imagery, and even recieves special
attention that other story-line characters do not get. Although
epithets are used widely in Homer’s The Odyssey, and sparingly in
Omeros, Cyclops isn’t allotted the epithets that other characters
recieve. However, in The Odyssey, a Stage Version and Ulysses
he recieves special attention with an epithet. Cyclops really
becomes an illuminated part of each of the authors works.
Michael Roschuni
honr279Z
Variations on the Odessey
note: check out the rest of my site, Ciao! Hi Professor Doherty!