Problem: In Homer's Odyssey, after Odysseus blinds Polyphemus, the Cyclops, and escapes, he taunts him by saying, "Hey, you, Cyclops! Idiot! / The crew trapped in your cave did not belong / to some poor weakling. Well, you had it coming! / You had no shame at eating your own guests! / So Zeus and the other gods have paid you back," (Book 9, lines 475-479). Polyphemus's response, once he learns of Odysseus's identity, is a prayer to Poseidon:
'Listen, Earth-Shaker, Blue-Haired Lord Poseidon:
acknowledge me your son, and be my father.
Grant that Odysseus, the city-sacker,
will never go back home. Or if it is
fated that he will see his family,
then let him get there late and with no honor,
in pain and lacking ships, and having caused
the death of all his men, and let him find
more trouble in his own house.' (Book 9, lines 528-536)
What does this exchange show about how the ancient Greeks viewed the gods?