What prevents Odysseus from killing the sleeping Cyclops?
Odysseus understood that it would be impossible for him and his team to move the large boulder that stands in their way of leaving the cave on their own.
The main character and his fellow sailors in the Odyssey book discovered an island where they chose to stop after a tiring journey. They soon came across a sizable cave, the home of the enormous Cyclops, son of Poseidon.
The crew was unwilling to wait outside to meet the cave owner because they didn’t know him. This was due to a custom of hospitality that the ancient Greeks named Xenia. Anybody should be happy to welcome a stranger into their home, it said. The men entered the cave after deducing this about the cyclops.
The cyclops, like many other animals from Greek mythology, had little regard for social norms. He therefore made the decision to kill and consume the bunch of people who invited themselves into his home and consumed his food. He only murdered a portion of the crew before turning in. There was yet time for Odysseus to kill the behemoth. But the wise commander chose to blind the beast and let his power free the rest of the soldiers.
The angry Cyclops stalked the sounds of human speech. He eventually hit the boulder blocking the sole exit from the cave as a result of them. Odysseus was able to free everyone from the cave by blinding the monster.
In such scenarios, it would if they had killed the Cyclops when he was sleeping, it would have been their grave.
