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988
Appendix E
APPENDIX E.
THE KYKLOPS IN FOLK-TALES.
Tales resembling that of Polyphemos have, during the last seventy years,
been collected and discussed by a whole series of eminent folklorists. W. Grimm
(1857)1, C. Nyrop (1881)2, G. Krek (1887)3, L. Laistner (1889)4, G. Pohvka
(1898, 1918)5, N. G. Polites (1904)0, P. Sebillot (1904)7, W. R. Halliday (1916)8,
F. Settegast (1917)9, and Sir J. G. Frazer (1921)10 have all said their say, most
of them making valuable contributions to the subject. But the palm must be
awarded to O. Hackman (1904)11, who in an exemplary monograph has not
merely summarised two hundred and twenty-one variants, but has also added
a lucid and logical study of their contents.
Hackman arranges the tales in three groups—A, B, and C. Group A
(124 variants) commonly involves two episodes and frequently adds a third :
i The blinding of the giant, which is contrived
either (a) during his sleep by means of a red-hot stake, iron spit, knife,
sword, etc. plunged into his one eye,
or (/3) as a pretended cure for his defective sight by means of molten tin,
lead, oil, pitch, boiling water, etc. poured into his eye.
The former alternative, (a), prevails in southern and western Europe;
the latter, (/3), in northern and eastern Europe. It is probable that (/3) was
not a modification of (a), but had a separate and independent origin12.
1 W. Grimm 'Die Sage von Polyphem ' in the Abh. d. berl. Akad. iSjy Phil.-hist.
Classe pp. 1—30 { = Kleinere Schriften Giitersloh 1887 iv. 428—462). W. W. Merry in
Appendix ii ' On some various forms of the legend of the blinded Cyclops' to his edition
of the Odyssey Oxford 1886 i.2 550—554 summarises nine tales after J. F. Lauer
Hovierische Studien Berlin 1851 p. 319 ff. and W. Grimm loc. cit.
2 C. Nyrop ' Sagnet om Odysseus og Polyphem ' in the Nordisk Tidskrift for Filologi
188r v. 216—255.
3 G. Krek Einleitung in die slavische Litteratnrgeschichte'- Graz 1887 pp. 665—759.
4 L. Laistner ' Polyphem ' in his Das Rdtsel der Sphinx Berlin 1889 ii. 1 —168.
5 G. Pohvka ' Nachtrage zur Polyphemsage' in the Archiv f. Rel. 1898 i. 305—336,
378, J. Bolte—G. Polivka Anmerkungen zu den Khider- u. Hausmarchen der Briider
Grimm Leipzig 1918 iii. 374—378.
6 N. G. Polites UapaSoaeis Athens 1904 ii. 1338—1342 (n. on no. 624).
7 P. Sebillot Le Folk-lore de Fra?tce Paris 1904 i. 434 f.
8 W. R. Halliday in R. M. Dawkins Modern Greek in Asia Minor Cambridge 1916
p. 217.
9 F. Settegast Das Polyphe7iimdrchen in altfranzdsischen Gedichten, eine folkloristisch-
literargeschichtliche Untersuchung Leipzig 1917 pp. 1—167. Review by J. Bolte in the
Zeitschrift des Vereins fur Volkskunde 1917 xxvii. 275 f.
10 Sir J. G. Frazer in Appendix xiii ' Ulysses and Polyphemus' to his edition of
Apollodoros London 1921 ii. 404—455 gives an admirable selection of thirty-six variants—
quite enough, as he remarks, ' to illustrate the wide diffusion of the tale and the general
similarity of the versions.'
11 O. Hackman Die Polyphemsage in der Volksiiberlieferung Helsingfors 1904 pp. 1—
241. Review by J. Bolte in the Zeitschrift des Vereins fitr Volkskunde 1905 xv. 460 f.
Review by A. van Gennep ' La Legende de Polypheme' reprinted in his Religions, Mosurs
et Legendes Paris 1908 i. 155—164.
12 O. Hackman op. cit. p. 166 f.
Appendix E
APPENDIX E.
THE KYKLOPS IN FOLK-TALES.
Tales resembling that of Polyphemos have, during the last seventy years,
been collected and discussed by a whole series of eminent folklorists. W. Grimm
(1857)1, C. Nyrop (1881)2, G. Krek (1887)3, L. Laistner (1889)4, G. Pohvka
(1898, 1918)5, N. G. Polites (1904)0, P. Sebillot (1904)7, W. R. Halliday (1916)8,
F. Settegast (1917)9, and Sir J. G. Frazer (1921)10 have all said their say, most
of them making valuable contributions to the subject. But the palm must be
awarded to O. Hackman (1904)11, who in an exemplary monograph has not
merely summarised two hundred and twenty-one variants, but has also added
a lucid and logical study of their contents.
Hackman arranges the tales in three groups—A, B, and C. Group A
(124 variants) commonly involves two episodes and frequently adds a third :
i The blinding of the giant, which is contrived
either (a) during his sleep by means of a red-hot stake, iron spit, knife,
sword, etc. plunged into his one eye,
or (/3) as a pretended cure for his defective sight by means of molten tin,
lead, oil, pitch, boiling water, etc. poured into his eye.
The former alternative, (a), prevails in southern and western Europe;
the latter, (/3), in northern and eastern Europe. It is probable that (/3) was
not a modification of (a), but had a separate and independent origin12.
1 W. Grimm 'Die Sage von Polyphem ' in the Abh. d. berl. Akad. iSjy Phil.-hist.
Classe pp. 1—30 { = Kleinere Schriften Giitersloh 1887 iv. 428—462). W. W. Merry in
Appendix ii ' On some various forms of the legend of the blinded Cyclops' to his edition
of the Odyssey Oxford 1886 i.2 550—554 summarises nine tales after J. F. Lauer
Hovierische Studien Berlin 1851 p. 319 ff. and W. Grimm loc. cit.
2 C. Nyrop ' Sagnet om Odysseus og Polyphem ' in the Nordisk Tidskrift for Filologi
188r v. 216—255.
3 G. Krek Einleitung in die slavische Litteratnrgeschichte'- Graz 1887 pp. 665—759.
4 L. Laistner ' Polyphem ' in his Das Rdtsel der Sphinx Berlin 1889 ii. 1 —168.
5 G. Pohvka ' Nachtrage zur Polyphemsage' in the Archiv f. Rel. 1898 i. 305—336,
378, J. Bolte—G. Polivka Anmerkungen zu den Khider- u. Hausmarchen der Briider
Grimm Leipzig 1918 iii. 374—378.
6 N. G. Polites UapaSoaeis Athens 1904 ii. 1338—1342 (n. on no. 624).
7 P. Sebillot Le Folk-lore de Fra?tce Paris 1904 i. 434 f.
8 W. R. Halliday in R. M. Dawkins Modern Greek in Asia Minor Cambridge 1916
p. 217.
9 F. Settegast Das Polyphe7iimdrchen in altfranzdsischen Gedichten, eine folkloristisch-
literargeschichtliche Untersuchung Leipzig 1917 pp. 1—167. Review by J. Bolte in the
Zeitschrift des Vereins fur Volkskunde 1917 xxvii. 275 f.
10 Sir J. G. Frazer in Appendix xiii ' Ulysses and Polyphemus' to his edition of
Apollodoros London 1921 ii. 404—455 gives an admirable selection of thirty-six variants—
quite enough, as he remarks, ' to illustrate the wide diffusion of the tale and the general
similarity of the versions.'
11 O. Hackman Die Polyphemsage in der Volksiiberlieferung Helsingfors 1904 pp. 1—
241. Review by J. Bolte in the Zeitschrift des Vereins fitr Volkskunde 1905 xv. 460 f.
Review by A. van Gennep ' La Legende de Polypheme' reprinted in his Religions, Mosurs
et Legendes Paris 1908 i. 155—164.
12 O. Hackman op. cit. p. 166 f.