History Theatre / Cyclops

* HateSink: To most modern readers, Silenus comes off as even ''more'' unsympathetic than the Cyclops. To lie and betray the strangers you just made a deal with because you're afraid for own hide is one thing. But then to push to have them killed and get their tongues ripped out of spite? Just nasty.

* NoIndoorVoice: The Satyr Chorus has to be told several times to shut up and [[WhatAnIdiot quit loudly singing about their plan to blind the Cyclops]].

* WhatAnIdiot: After the Cyclops gets done eating two of Odysseus' men, Odysseus suddenly becomes extremely kind and polite to him and offers him a special gift. Suspicious much? It doesn't stop the Cyclops from taking it.

* WhosOnFirst: The "I'm Nobody" trick Odysseus pulls, though this time it's the Satyrs who respond to the Cyclops instead of the other Cyclopes.

* Bowdlerize: What ''can'' be done, anyway; some translations phrase things so that the satyrs ''aren't'' talking about gang-raping Helen.
* DirtyCoward: The chorus of young satyrs embodies this trope pretty well; but they're at least presented in a somewhat positive and redeemable light and show fleeting moments of defiance against their father and even Polyphemus, once he goes blinds. Silenus, on the other hand, is this through and through.
* DirtyOldMan: As a satyr, and an old one at that, this is practically built into Silenus' character.

''Cyclops'' is an Ancient Greek play written and directed by the Athenian playwright Creator/{{Euripides}} in the 5th century B.C. (the exact date it was first produced is unknown, with scholarly estimates range from putting it as one of Euripides earliest surviving plays to being written very late in his career). It is notable for being the only complete SatyrPlay to survive into the modern day, and as such informs and shapes our perception of the genre to a disproportionate level. [[note]] There is some evidence to suggest that, like most of Euripides surviving work, this play is anything but typical of it's genre [[/note]] As a Satyr Play, it replaced the traditional [[GreekChorus chorus]] of old men or young women with a group of satyrs: rowdy, excitable goatmen known for their drunkeness and promiscuity. Satyr Play occupies a strange space between Ancient Comedy and Tragedy, tragic in its themes of heroes and monsters and grandiose mythology, comic in its lighthearted treatment of heroic figures and the cheekiness of its uncontrollable chorus.

[[caption-width-right:301: [[Theatre/{{OedipusRex}} Ouch]]]]

[[caption-width-right:301: [[Theatre/{{OedipusRex}} Why is it always the eyes?]]]]

''Cyclops'' is an Ancient Greek play written and directed by the Athenian playwright Creator/{{Euripides}} in the 5th century B.C. (the exact date it was first produced is unknown, with scholarly estimates range from putting it as one of Euripides earliest surviving plays to being written very late in his career). It is notable for being the only complete SatyrPlay to survive into the modern day, and as such informs and shapes our perception of the genre to a disproportionate level. [[note]] There is some evidence to suggest that, like most of Euripides surviving work, this play is anything but typical of it's genre [[/note]] As a Satyr Play, it replaced the traditional [[GreekChorus chorus]] of old men or young women with a group of satyrs: rowdy, excitable horsemen known for their drunkeness and promiscuity. Satyr Play occupies a strange space between Ancient Comedy and Tragedy, tragic in its themes of heroes and monsters and grandiose mythology, comic in its lighthearted treatment of heroic figures and the cheekiness of its uncontrollable chorus.

''Cyclops'' is an Ancient Greek play written and directed by the Athenian playwright Creator/{{Euripides}} in the 5th century B.C. (the exact date it was first produced is unknown, with scholarly estimates range from putting it as one of Euripides earliest surviving plays to being written very late in his career). It is notable for being the only complete Satyr Play to survive into the modern day, and as such informs and shapes our perception of the genre to a disproportionate level. [[note]] There is some evidence to suggest that, like most of Euripides surviving work, this play is anything but typical of it's genre [[/note]] As a Satyr Play, it replaced the traditional [[GreekChorus chorus]] of old men or young women with a group of satyrs: rowdy, excitable horsemen known for their drunkeness and promiscuity. Satyr Play occupies a strange space between Ancient Comedy and Tragedy, tragic in its themes of heroes and monsters and grandiose mythology, comic in its lighthearted treatment of heroic figures and the cheekiness of its uncontrollable chorus.

This play is a retelling of the well-known encounter between Odysseus and the cyclops Polyphemus as described in Book IX of ''The Odyssey'', with a band of satyrs and their lecherous father Silenus thrown into the story. Besides the aforementioned addition; the play is largely faithful to Homer's version of the story, surprisingly for Euripides. Odysseus and his men land on the island of Sicily on their way home to Ithaca, desperate for food and water. They encounter a group of satyrs taken captive by the dreaded Cyclops Polyphemus, who agree to barter with them for their master's meat and cheese in exchange for Odysseus' magical refilling wineskin. Unfortunately, all hell breaks loose when Polyphemus returns to his cave to find the transaction of his goods underway, and decides to repay the attempted theft by [[DisproportionateRetribution butchering]] [[ImAHumanitarian and eating]] Odysseus and his men. Odysseus quickly improvises an escape plan involving getting the Cyclops drunk and [[EyeScream gouging out his eyes]] to make their escape, but not before his pride gets the better of him in their parting words...

* CycleOfRevenge: With a dash of [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionate retribution]] in this play. Polyphemus catches Odysseus' men trying to "steal" his goods (actually, he did pay for them, just not to their owner), so he decides to kill and eat them all. This prompts Odysseus to get the Cyclops drunk and gouge out his eyes, which prompts the Cyclops to call down a curse on Odysseus and his men to get most of them killed...

-->--'''Euripides''', ''Cyclops'', Lines 125-8 [[note]] '''Odysseus:''' Are [these Cyclopes] hospitable to foreigners? '''Silenus:''' They say that the flesh of foreigners is the tastiest meat '''Odysseus:''' What are you saying? That they greet a man by eating him? '''Silenus:''' No one comes here but the same gets eaten. [[/note]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never hear from Silenus after he gets [[NoodleIncident dragged into the cave by Polyphemus]]. It's anyone's guess what Euripides intended to happen to him.

[[caption-width-right:301: Why is it always the eyes?]]

''Cyclops'' is an Ancient Greek play written and directed by the Athenian playwright Euripides in the 5th century B.C. (the exact date it was first produced is unknown, with scholarly estimates range from putting it as one of Euripides earliest surviving plays to being written very late in his career). It is notable for being the only complete Satyr Play to survive into the modern day, and as such informs and shapes our perception of the genre to a disproportionate level. [[note]] There is some evidence to suggest that, like most of Euripides surviving work, this play is anything but typical of it's genre [[/note]] As a Satyr Play, it replaced the traditional [[GreekChorus chorus]] of old men or young women with a group of satyrs: rowdy, excitable horsemen known for their drunkeness and promiscuity. Satyr Play occupies a strange space between Ancient Comedy and Tragedy, tragic in its themes of heroes and monsters and grandiose mythology, comic in its lighthearted treatment of heroic figures and the cheekiness of its uncontrollable chorus.