Polyphemus, the one‑eyed Cyclops son of Poseidon, first appears in Homer’s Odyssey as a savage, man‑eating giant who traps Odysseus and his men in a cave until they blind him and escape beneath his sheep. Ancient dramatists like Euripides rework the episode with comic and philosophical twists, while later poets transform Polyphemus into a pastoral lover pining for the sea nymph Galatea, sometimes a clumsy suitor, sometimes a gifted musician. Roman, Hellenistic, and later European artists and composers return to his story, depicting both his violence and his vulnerability, until Polyphemus becomes a versatile symbol embedded in folklore, fine art, and even species names.