Book 9 in short: Lotus-eaters and the Cyclops

Odysseus tells the Phaeacians his name and begins the story of his journey. After the fall of Troy he raided the Cicones and lost men to their counter-attack. A storm drove the ships to the land of the Lotus-eaters, whose fruit made men forget their homes, and Odysseus had to drag his crew back to the ships.

On the island of the Cyclopes he and twelve men were trapped in the cave of Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon, who ate several of them. Odysseus told the giant that his name was Noman, blinded him with a heated stake when he was drunk, and escaped with the men beneath the giant's sheep. As he sailed away he shouted his real name, and Polyphemus prayed to Poseidon that Odysseus should never reach home, or reach it late and alone.