Let the Cyclops Eat Odysseus’ Men in Peace
E(i)ditorial — June 2018
Recently there was a fair bit of argument about the decision by Odysseus to censure the cyclops Polyphemus for eating Odysseus’ fellow crew members. It wasn’t the first time that guests have felt moved to express strong feelings about what the proper guest-host relationship should be. We on the Eidolon editorial board understand the strength of these feelings, but we don’t think their expression is a healthy development.
Polyphemus had just dined on several of Odysseus’ comrades for dinner in his cave. Several of Odysseus’ other crew members were sobbing, anticipating that they would be eaten in the future. Respecting his crew’s wishes, Odysseus formed a plan to stop the cyclops from further cannibalism and criticized him for his actions, reportedly saying, “Do you expect / more guests, when you have treated us so rudely?” (trans. Wilson).
Obviously, passions are running high. Those who defend Odysseus’ criticism say this is no ordinary guest-host dispute. The cyclops had literally eaten six of Odysseus’ men, and had declared his intention to eat the rest, including Odysseus last of all. Odysseus needed to speak up however he could.
Odysseus’ defenders will get no argument from us regarding Polyphemus’ cannibalism, and when it comes to escalating into violence, he is the prime offender. We nonetheless would argue that he should be allowed to eat dinner in peace and Odysseus should not commit violence against him. Those who are insisting that we are in a special moment justifying incivility should think for a moment how many Greeks might find their own special moment. How hard is it to imagine, for example, that people who don’t believe in the sanctity of the guest-host relationship might start literally putting the children of asylum-seekers in cages?
Down that road lies a world in which hurting people less powerful than you are actually has negative consequences. That benefits no one.
Disclaimer: Yes, this piece is satire. No, we don’t agree with the Washington Post.
Donna Zuckerberg is the Editor-in-Chief of Eidolon. She received her PhD in Classics from Princeton, and her writing has appeared in the TLS, Jezebel, The Establishment, and Avidly. Her book Not All Dead White Men, a study of the reception of Classics in Red Pill communities, is forthcoming from Harvard University Press in Fall 2018.
