Editing Polyphemus (section)

===Possible origins===
Folktales similar to that of Homer's Polyphemus are a widespread phenomenon throughout the ancient world.{{sfn|Heubeck|Hoekstra|1990|loc=p.19&nbsp;on lines 105–556}} In 1857, [[Wilhelm Grimm]] collected versions in [[Serbian (language)|Serbian]], [[Romanian (language)|Romanian]], [[Estonian (language)|Estonian]], [[Finnish (language)|Finnish]], [[Russian (language)|Russian]], [[German (language)|German]], and others; versions in [[Basque (language)|Basque]], [[Sámi people|Sámi]], [[Lithuanian (language)|Lithuanian]], [[Gascon (language)|Gascon]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], and [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] are also known.{{sfn|Pausanias|1898|loc= [https://archive.org/details/pausaniassdescri05pausuoft/page/344 p. 344 on 22.7]}} More than two hundred different versions have been identified,{{sfn|Heubeck|Hoekstra|1990|loc=p.19&nbsp;on lines 105–556}} from around twenty five nations, covering a geographic region extending from Iceland, Ireland, England, Portugal and Africa to Arabia, Turkey, Russia, and Korea.{{sfn|Glenn|1971|p=134}}{{refn|group=nb|For examples of the story from the [[Caucasus]], see "Legends About Shepherds, Including Cyclops Legends".{{sfn|Hunt|2012|pp=201–229|loc=Chapter VII}}}} The consensus of current modern scholarship is that these "Polyphemus legends" preserve traditions predating Homer.{{sfn|Fowler|2013|p=55|ps=: "The one-eyed cannibalistic monster from whom the clever hero escapes is an extremely widespread folktale which Homer or a predecessor has worked into the ''Odyssey''"}}{{sfn|Heubeck|Hoekstra|1990|loc=p.19&nbsp;on lines 105–556 "Analysis of the folk-tale material shows that the poet was using two originally unconnected stories, the first about a hero blinding a man-eating giant. Consistent features of this story are the hero's use of an animal, usually a sheep, or at least an animal skin, to effect an escape and the giant's attempt to bring the hero back with the help of a magical object. The second story concerns a hero outwitting a monster by giving a false name, usually 'I myself'. The fusion of these two stories is surely the work of the poet himself."}}{{sfn|Mondi|1983|p=17}}{{sfn|Glenn|1978|p=141}}{{sfn|Glenn|1971|pp=135–136}}<ref name="d'Huy">{{cite web |last1=d'Huy |first1=Julien |title=Julien d'Huy – Polyphemus (Aa. Th. 1137) – NMC |url=http://nouvellemythologiecomparee.hautetfort.com/archive/2013/01/20/julien-d-huy-polyphemus-aa-th-1137.html |website=Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée |access-date=11 March 2020 |language=fr |date=20 January 2013}}</ref>

An example of such a story is one from [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], in the [[Caucasus]], which describes several brothers held prisoner by a giant one-eyed shepherd called "One-eye". After all but two of the brothers are roasted on a spit and eaten, the remaining two take the spit, heat it red hot, and stab it into the giant's eye. As One-eye let his flock out of their pen, he felt each sheep as it passed between his legs, but the two brothers were able to escape by covering themselves with a sheepskin.{{sfn|Hunt|2012|pp=218–222}}