Cyclops and Poseidon | Teen Ink

Cyclops and Poseidon

October 13, 2013
By 411Ellie PLATINUM, Fridley, Minnesota
411Ellie PLATINUM, Fridley, Minnesota
41 articles 28 photos 235 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Paper is more patient than people." –Anne Frank


Poseidon, the Cyclops’s father, surfaces to investigate a commotion in his domain. He witnesses his hung-over son frantically hurling rocks into the ocean from atop a cliff on the island and hears him wailing something unclear.

POSEIDON (to himself with a fatherly tone that mounts with anger)
Polyphemus, my son, whom I put on an island,
only a stone’s throw away,
to protect from the evils of man;
from those discriminate mortals
who separate the sheep from the goats.
Now, I see him distressed and cockeyed,
his peace and innocence corrupted!
I will get to the bottom of this,
just as boulders get to the bottom of the ocean!

A boulder cannons into the sea, barely missing Poseidon. The Cyclops roars in the background. Poseidon generates a tidal wave and rides it up to the crag.

POSEIDON
Polyphemus, dear child, I hear your slurred cries!
You may stop skipping rocks
and stoning the sea.
You have called upon me,
I am here now.
Do you not see me?

CYCLOPS
GGGRRRRNNNNAAWWWWWWWW!
Cyclops eye! Cyclops eye!

POSEIDON (concerned yet slightly agitated)
Polyphemus, you must clarify.
Tell me, what is wrong with your eye?

CYCLOPS
GGGRRRRNNNNAAWWWWWWWW!
Cyclops no see! Help Cyclops see!

POSEIDON (concerned yet slightly agitated)
Stop wailing for a moment.
Sit still as stone.
Let me see your eye.
Let me take a stab at it.

CYCLOPS
NOOOOOOOOO!

The Cyclops stomps and staggers, causing the Earth to quake.

POSEIDON (rather harshly)
You must stop this Neanderthal behavior!
You may live in a cave
but you are not a caveman.
You are laughingstock for the Gods!
They brand you
retarded;
regard you
with shame!
My vindications,
they fall on stony ground.
The Gods look down upon you, Polyphemus.
Don’t give them rocks
with which to stone you.

The Cyclops begins blubbering.

CYCLOPS (in between sobs)
Cyclops. Hurt.

POSEIDON (with compassion)
Tell me,
who is to blame for your anguish?
I will leave no stone unturned
for vengeance;
an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.

CYCLOPS (in between sobs)
Odysseus. Hurt. Cyclops. Eye.
Father. Hurt. Cyclops. Heart.


The author's comments:
This piece is a scene expansion written for Simon Armitage's book The Odyssey: A Dramatic Retelling of Homer's Epic. The book is written as a radio-play script, so my article is formated accordingly.
*Note: I have very minimal knowledge of Greek mythology, so I apologize for any fallacies.

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This article has 2 comments.


on Nov. 11 2013 at 11:26 am
411Ellie PLATINUM, Fridley, Minnesota
41 articles 28 photos 235 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Paper is more patient than people." –Anne Frank

Thank you!

Blaque SILVER said...
on Nov. 10 2013 at 10:14 pm
Blaque SILVER, Oklahoma, Oklahoma
8 articles 0 photos 22 comments
beautiful