Parents: Poseidon and Thoosa

Story: Polyphemus was a giant Cyclops who lived alone in a cave on an island, tending his flocks of sheep. When Odysseus and his men landed on the island during their voyage home from Troy, Polyphemus trapped them inside his cave and began eating them two at a time. Odysseus devised a cunning plan — he offered the Cyclops strong wine and told him his name was "Nobody." When Polyphemus fell into a drunken sleep, Odysseus and his men drove a sharpened stake into his single eye. When the blinded Polyphemus cried for help, he shouted "Nobody is hurting me!" and the other Cyclopes ignored him, allowing Odysseus and his surviving men to escape by clinging to the bellies of the sheep.

The Curse: As Odysseus sailed away from the island, his pride got the better of him. He shouted back to the blinded Polyphemus, taunting him and revealing his true name — "I am Odysseus of Ithaca!" This was a fatal mistake. Polyphemus prayed to his father Poseidon, begging him to curse Odysseus so that he would never reach home — or if he did, that he would arrive late, alone, on a stranger's ship, and find nothing but trouble waiting for him. Poseidon heard his son's prayer, and every word of the curse came true. It was this moment of arrogance that turned the god of the sea against Odysseus and condemned him to ten years of suffering on the waves.

Symbol: Single eye, boulder, sheep.

Represents: Brute strength, isolation, and the cost of arrogance.