The Cyclops began the day by eating two more of my men for breakfast. After this he wandered out of the cave leaving us trapped inside once again. Knowing that we needed to defeat the beast in order to escape, I realized that we needed a weapon large enough to take the Cyclops down. Looking around the cave I saw the Cyclops' club. It was the size of a small tree and appeared to be our best option. I ordered my men to smooth the tree down and I sharpened the end to give it a deadly point. Now we needed to figure out how to get this large steak into the eye of the Cyclops.
Later that day the Cyclops returned and again ate two more of my men. Once he finished his meal and sat down I approached him with the weed that we had taken from the land of the Ciconians. It had been blessed by Snoop the god of marijuana to be irresistible once one used it. "Great beast! I brought this as a gift to you before you began to attack us. How could anyone visit a being who acts as cruelly as you do?"
He loaded his giant pipe with my gifts and began to puff large clouds towards the entrance of the cave. "This is straight gas," the Cyclops proclaimed "refill my pipe and tell me your name so that I may pay you back with a gift of your own human. The fertile earth produces rich marijuana plants, and Zues' rain swells them: but this is sent straight from the heavens above.
"Nobody. My name is Nobody." I told the Cyclops who was too high to question me. Talking slower than he was before the giant mumbled "Then my gift to nobody is that I will devour him last of his crew."
As he said this, his droopy, bloodshot eye began to shut and the Cyclops slumped onto the floor. I quickly rallied my men and we lifted the giant steak that we had crafted. We jammed it into his eye and twisted it around to make sure that he was blinded.
The Cyclops screamed in terrible pain so loudly that I thought I would lose my hearing. We jumped back and hid so that the beast wouldn't harm us as he stumbled about. Rushing to the exit of the cave the other Cyclops came near. "Polyphemus, what is causing you to make such a ruckus? Are you being attacked by a mortal."
"Nobody is in my cave and stabbed my eye!" he roared.
Smelling the marijuana in the air the others determined that he was high and left him to suffer.
Author's Note: The source story that I used was The Cyclops Defeated from Homer's Odyssey, translated by Tony Kline. I took a similar approach to this story as the original; however, one major change that I made was to use marijuana instead of wine which was used in the original. I thought that this would give the story a different feel and seem to make it relevant to the changing times of today. I also thought that it would make the Cyclops look like more of a fool to the others when they went to check on him at the end of the story.
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ReplyDeleteHi James!
ReplyDeleteYour changing of the wine to marijuana was actually kind of funny for me. In the end when his buddies walked in and dismissed his distress for simply being high made me chuckle. You could have taken this a step further and shown how the Cyclops was an avid user of marijuana in his free time, or added little descriptors about his smell or demeanor upon his arrivals to eat the men.. maybe a reference to munchies? haha.
I am wondering about the ending, you say the men hide safely to avoid the injured cyclops' stumbling and that they all make a dash for the exit when suddenly another cyclops appears. Are the men discovered by this cyclops? If they aren't how did they avoid it's gaze or awareness? Are all cyclops heavy marijuana users and thereby have reduced perception? These are just a few possibilities to help resolve what feels like a quick ending. Great story!
This was a hilarious revamping of the story. I love how at the end the Cyclops' friends just come in and ignore him, that was a lot more blatant than in the actual story. However, the general themes and essence of the story remained the same. I really enjoyed the read, and it was a clever manipulation. Great job, James!
ReplyDeleteHi James,
ReplyDeleteI really like what you did this story. You kept the same plot but switched the wine to marijuana, which I believe makes this story more relatable and modern. This was a clever idea and it was a story that made me laugh. My favorite part of this story was when you brought in Snoop and made him the God of marijuana. If anything I think maybe you could've added a little bit more dialogue to make this story even funnier. You did a great job and I enjoyed reading this.
Hey James!
ReplyDeleteAlways thought this legend was a clever and your retelling is no different from the switching of wine for marijuana making for a rather funny reaction from fellow cyclops to the inclusion of Snoop (most likely referencing the current artist Snoop Dogg) as the god of marijuana. I like how modern you made the legend with just some subtle changes throughout leading to a great read!