"TELL ME, O MUSE, of that ingenious hero who travelled far
and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy." So
begins The Odyssey.
You are Odysseus, wily master of landways and seaways, king
of the island state of Ithaca, husband of Penelope and father of
your son Telemachus who has never met you.
10 long years ago, you sailed with twelve ships to fight in
the long Trojan Wars on the sands before the walls of the City of
Troy. And finally it was you, O wily Odysseus, who masterminded the
fall of Troy with the clever ruse of the Gift of the Trojan Horse
and led the final assault!
Now you set sail for Ithaca. But the Greek gods and goddesses
have other plans for you, and before you return to the arms of
Penelope, you must survive many more adventures.
O clever Odysseus, will you ever return to your kingdom?
Only the Fates know for sure.
And the Fates are not telling!
Cyclops Polythemus
After leaving behind the broken City of Troy, your fleet
comes to the land of the Cicones where your men persuade you to
raid a village. Your men also persuade you to remain on the beaches
where you are vulnerable to a counterattack by the Cicones who
return in force. It is all you can do to return to the ships and
put back to sea.
A storm then blows you off course, driving you across the sea
where you next come to the land of the Lotus Eaters where you have
need to rescue some of your men from the narcotic effects of the
lotus plant that they eat.
And then O brave Odysseus, you come to the island of the
giant one-eyed cyclopes. The cyclops Polythemus, son of the mighty
sea god Poseidon himself, traps you and several of your crew in his
cave where he sleeps each night with his flock of sheep. The
cyclops seals the mouth of the cave against your escape with a
giant boulder whenever he leaves or sleeps. You are doomed to be
eaten by the giant cyclops unless you can escape.
One night you offer strong brandy to Polythemus who drinks the
brandy and falls into a deep sleep.
O wily Odysseus, whatever is your plan to escape this bitter
doom?
This cache contains one of the clues needed to find the puzzle
cache Tales of Odysseus: The Return of the King. The clue is
at the back of the logbook. This cache follows The Trojan
Horse and precedes Aeolus, Keeper of the Winds.
The story of the encounter with the giant cyclops Polythemus is
told in Book IX of the The Odyssey.
Enjoy! And happy caching!
O wily 50sumtin!
And now, the tale's end ...
O wily Odysseus, as the giant cyclops Polythemus slept his
deep brandy-induced sleep, you and your men went into the depths of
the cave where you had hidden a tree trunk that you had sharpened
to a spear. And taking that giant spear, you and your men drove it
into the cyclop's only eye, blinding him forever. And later you
would take advantage of his blindness and escape his cave by
clinging to the underbellies of his sheep as the blinded Polythemus
let his sheep out of his cave to allow them to graze the nearby
fields of green grass.
Cache owner's note:
For some months I have toyed with the idea of placing a series
of caches along the scenic Pacific coast north of Santa Cruz, each
of which would be in a scenic location near the ocean and would
also contain a clue for an overall connecting puzzle cache. And
while walking the coast at Wilder Ranch one day and taking in the
breath-taking scenic views, the Muses inspired me to make the
connecting theme for the series the adventures of Odysseus as told
in The Odyssey, as so much if not all of his homeward voyage
adventures occurred along coastal settings.
As of April 15, 2007, all of the caches associated with the
Tales of Odysseus series (including the puzzle cache) have
been placed.
I hope that you will find the series entertaining and enjoyable,
but if not at least scenic.
This particular cache will treat you to scenic views of Davenport
Landing Beach from lands recently deeded to the California State
Parks. While there are cliffs nearby, the cache is sufficiently
away from them as to pose little danger while seeking in good
visibility. Still, I do not recommend seeking this cache during
periods of dense coastal fog.
You may park at the beach parking for Davenport Landing Beach
and make your way up to the cache. Seek the trailhead that heads up
and heads north from parking.
Cache: Follow the bluff trail out to El Jarro Point. As you
approach the point there is a well-defined geotrail that leaves the
fields to the edge of the point. Look at the junction of this
geotrail and the main trail that follows the bluff.