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A review by oblomov
Cyclops by Euripides
2.0
Unlike the gory hilarity of the [b: Bacchae|380609|The Bacchae|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328704140l/380609._SY75_.jpg|1842204], here Euripides intentionally wrote a comedy, and it is the only full Satyr play still in existence (a burlesque type performance with a group of Satyrs replacing the usual chorus). As comedies go, Euripides is not quite up there with Aristophanes, and he should perhaps have stayed in his usual place on the comedy ladder: underneath it, so others may take the piss out of him.
The plot is taken from the well known Cyclops incident in [b: The Odyssey|1381|The Odyssey|Homer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390173285l/1381._SY75_.jpg|3356006]: come to the island for supplies, get kidnapped by a Cyclops, Noman, burning sticks, and Odysseus completely undermines this line from the beginning of his wikipedia article:
As for the comedy itself, Euripides is, again, no Aristophanes. The imprisoned shepherd and Satyr Silenus, who rats out Odysseus at the first sign of danger to himself and thus gets half the crew eaten, has a less funny and frankly more horrific comeuppance. Odysseus gets the Cyclops drunk so they can stab him in the soft part, but rather than quickly falling into a drunken slumber, the giant Cyclops grins at Silenus, proclaims him his Ganymede and proceeds to drag him into the cave. Jesus... Silenus, it seems, is saved before the Cyclops does a Zeus on him but its the most uncomfortable 'joke' here.
This isn't my favourite Euripides. There's no compelling moral quandries like in [b: Medea|752900|Medea|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328868366l/752900._SY75_.jpg|2936587], no likeably boisterous Hercules as in [b: Alcestis|1037768|Alcestis|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348408723l/1037768._SY75_.jpg|17055249] and no series of roaringly gruesome, 'what the hell was that?' antics like in the [b: Bacchae|380609|The Bacchae|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328704140l/380609._SY75_.jpg|1842204]. There's just the argument of why eating people is wrong, which isn't really an intellectual conundrum most of us muse over, at least not until we truly hit the days of Soylent Green, and Odysseus' silver tongue is lost on the Cyclops anyway: an immovable, inhuman character that embodies amorality.
A disappointment and I'm kind of glad I have nothing but Euripides' more meaty tragedies left to read.
The plot is taken from the well known Cyclops incident in [b: The Odyssey|1381|The Odyssey|Homer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390173285l/1381._SY75_.jpg|3356006]: come to the island for supplies, get kidnapped by a Cyclops, Noman, burning sticks, and Odysseus completely undermines this line from the beginning of his wikipedia article:
Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatilityby deliberately revealing his true name as he escapes the injured and extremely peeved Cyclops. A Cyclops who's Dad is Psoeidon. Psoeidon who is the God of the sea that Odysseus is currently sailing on. It's a nice example of the Greek's obsession with slapping down hubris, but it seems mightily out of place for a man lauded as some clever epic hero, both during the Odyssey and the Trojan War.
As for the comedy itself, Euripides is, again, no Aristophanes. The imprisoned shepherd and Satyr Silenus, who rats out Odysseus at the first sign of danger to himself and thus gets half the crew eaten, has a less funny and frankly more horrific comeuppance. Odysseus gets the Cyclops drunk so they can stab him in the soft part, but rather than quickly falling into a drunken slumber, the giant Cyclops grins at Silenus, proclaims him his Ganymede and proceeds to drag him into the cave. Jesus... Silenus, it seems, is saved before the Cyclops does a Zeus on him but its the most uncomfortable 'joke' here.
This isn't my favourite Euripides. There's no compelling moral quandries like in [b: Medea|752900|Medea|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328868366l/752900._SY75_.jpg|2936587], no likeably boisterous Hercules as in [b: Alcestis|1037768|Alcestis|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348408723l/1037768._SY75_.jpg|17055249] and no series of roaringly gruesome, 'what the hell was that?' antics like in the [b: Bacchae|380609|The Bacchae|Euripides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328704140l/380609._SY75_.jpg|1842204]. There's just the argument of why eating people is wrong, which isn't really an intellectual conundrum most of us muse over, at least not until we truly hit the days of Soylent Green, and Odysseus' silver tongue is lost on the Cyclops anyway: an immovable, inhuman character that embodies amorality.
A disappointment and I'm kind of glad I have nothing but Euripides' more meaty tragedies left to read.