POLYPHEMUS

in Greek mythology, the most famous of the Cyclops (one-eyed giants), son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and the nymph Thosa. According to some accounts, Polyphemus loved Galatea, a Sicilian Nereid. When the Greek hero Odysseus was cast ashore on the coast of Sicily, he fell into the hands of Polyphemus, who shut him up with 12 of his companions in his cave and blocked the entrance with an enormous rock. Odysseus at length succeeded in making Polyphemus drunk, blinded him by plunging a burning stake into his eye while he lay asleep, and, with six of his friends (the others having been devoured by Polyphemus), made his escape by clinging to the bellies of the sheep let out to pasture.