This cup changes everything.

They Might Be Giants.

Common perception makes us believe that cyclopses should be giant. We even see this in the text: “so [Polyphemus] spoke. His voice, so deep and booming, and his giant size, made our hearts sink in terror” (9.255-257). However, this cup shows Polyphemus about the same size as the humans blinding him.

Odysseus who?

The artist did not make Odysseus the star of the show. He would presumably be the first figure because that is the one serving wine to the cyclops. However, this person is not nearly as radiant and godlike as Odysseus in The Odyssey. For instance, the quote “I am Odysseus, Laertes’ son, known for my many clever tricks and lies. My fame extends to heaven” (9.19-21) shows just how magnificent he was in the text.

That fish has a purpose.

The appearance of the fish might be a reference to Poseidon, the father of Polyphemus and God of the Sea. We might consider this addition dark foreshadowing for Odysseus and his men. Although The Odyssey never explicitly mentioned fish throughout the work, the cyclops prayed to his father after the incident.

What could the snake mean?

Perhaps the most puzzling addition to this cup is the snake hovering in space above the men. We might assume the artist wanted to allude to Hermes because he is often associated with a serpent wrapped staff called a caduceus. In the text, Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe, so the artist might have wanted us to believe that Hermes also guided Odysseus through the great cave escape.

These changes aren’t insignificant.

I consider the story in the above image to be pretty similar to the account in The Odyssey. The main difference is that Odysseus is blinding Polyphemus alone. Nevertheless, it shows just how extreme the artist’s rendition of the cup was. This situation is fascinating because the modern European 16th-century artist Pellegrino Tibaldi closely followed the text in his painting. However, the ancient Greek artist (who was closer in time to Homer) was much more radical in his representation of the epic.

In ancient Greece, aristocratic men would ritually drink and socialize together after a banquet in an event called a symposium. People likely used the cup during this tradition. The extreme changes between the cup and the original text might have served to strike up conversations about The Odyssey during the symposium. Those who used this cup could have discussed that Polyphemus and Odysseus might not have been as great as they were in The Odyssey or the more perplexing additions of the fish and snake.

Let the cup immerse you.

I believe that the artist chose to retell this famous story as a way to portray their message rather than simply writing a new text due to the rich history of The Odyssey. Even before Homer compiled each tale into one work, they were passed on for generations verbally. Written texts are fixed documents once finished, so we can consider this cup as the artist’s way of continuing the tradition of passing on these ancient tales.

People were also able to interact with this cup in a way that a written work cannot necessarily achieve. The person drinking from it becomes a part of the legacy. As the artwork on the bottom appears, the cup transports the drinker into becoming Polyphemus. This situation shows one of the artist’s messages that drinking too much will lead to ill fate. More importantly, the puzzled drinker becomes engaged with everyone at the symposium discussing the hidden meaning of this cup, which continues the chain of stories that The Odyssey has represented for centuries.