Editing Odyssey (section)

=== Influences ===
[[File:Humbaba_deamon-AO_9034-IMG_0655-black.jpg|left|thumb|Terracotta plaque of the Mesopotamian ogre [[Humbaba]], believed to be a possible inspiration for the figure of Polyphemus]]
Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|p=403}} [[Martin Litchfield West|Martin West]] notes substantial parallels between the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' and the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|pp=402–417}} Both Odysseus and [[Gilgamesh]] are known for traveling to the ends of the earth and on their journeys go to the land of the dead.{{sfn|West|1997|p=405}} On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to him by [[Circe]], who is located at the edges of the world and is associated through imagery with the sun.{{sfn|West|1997|p=406}} Like Odysseus, Gilgamesh gets directions on how to reach the land of the dead from a divine helper: the goddess [[Siduri]], who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the ends of the earth, whose home is also associated with the sun. Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath Mt. [[Mashu]], the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky.{{sfn|West|1997|p=410}} West argues that the similarity of Odysseus' and Gilgamesh's journeys to the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|p=417}}

In 1914, [[Paleontology|paleontologist]] [[Othenio Abel]] surmised the origins of the Cyclops to be the result of ancient Greeks finding an elephant skull.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} The enormous nasal passage in the middle of the forehead could have looked like the eye socket of a giant, to those who had never seen a living elephant.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} Classical scholars, on the other hand, have long known that the story of the Cyclops was originally a [[Fairy tale|folk tale]], which existed independently of the ''Odyssey'' and which became part of it at a later date. Similar stories are found in cultures across Europe and the Middle East.{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=127–131}} According to this explanation, the Cyclops was originally simply a giant or ogre, much like [[Humbaba]] in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=127–131}} Graham Anderson suggests that the addition about it having only one eye was invented to explain how the creature was so easily blinded.{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=124–125}}