The first crucial meeting is with the Cyclops Polyphemus, setting the scene for why his journey is so difficult. According to Greek mythology, Poseidon, the god of the sea, was Polyphemus’ father.

Fossils of prehistoric elephants may have inspired the Greek myth of giant, one-eyed, man-eating creatures, known as cyclopes. In the Odyssey, the ancient Greek poet Homer recounts the hero Odysseus’s ...