The Aeneid (III)

Book 3 of the Aeneid, deals mainly with Aeneas continuing his story, recounting the aftermath of the fall of Troy. They (Aeneas's group) hold a funeral for their Polydorus, and continue on their journey. They meet the god of the sun Apollo, who instructs him to go to the land of his ancestors. Aeneas and his group sail to Crete and began to build a new city, but a terrible plague soon strikes. Aeneas meets Andromache, and following her instructions, Aeneas pilots his fleet along the southern coast of Italy to Sicily. On the shore they see a stanger who begs to be taken onboard. He tells them about how his crew (under Ulysses) was captured by a Cyclops. As soon as he finishes telling his story, the cyclops stumbles upon Aeneas's crew. Below is a very vivid description of the cyclops, of which we can see clear imagery of what is happening.

Scarce had he spoken when on the mountaintop we saw the giant himself, the shepherd Polyphemus, moving his mighty bulk among his flocks and seeking the well-known shore – a monster awful, hideous, huge, and eyeless. In his hand a lopped pine guides and steadies his steps. His fleecy sheep attend him – his sole joy they, sole solace of his woe! . . . As soon as he touched the deep waves and reached the sea, he washed therein the oozing blood from his eye’s socket, gnashing his teeth and groaning, then strides through the open sea; nor has the wave yet wetted his towering sides. (655)

Virgil does an amazing job describing the giant cyclops, Polyphemus. He depicts the huge hulking giant with "towering sides" and has sheep that attend him. It is almost almost ironic how Virgil calls Polyphemus a shepherd, as the cruel giant, is hardly human. Also interesting, through the historical lens is how Virgil links his story to other mythology, and other stories as he links his story to that of Ulysses, and his epic journey. As we see the cyclops with the gauged out eye, and even the warrior recounting the story of Ulysses in Virgil's epic poem.

Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 2006. Print. .