Odyssey 7.204 · Book 7, lines 204–206
Kin to the Cyclopes and the Giants
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εἰ δʼ ἄρα τις καὶ μοῦνος ἰὼν ξύμβληται ὁδίτης, οὔ τι κατακρύπτουσιν, ἐπεί σφισιν ἐγγύθεν εἰμέν, ὥς περ Κύκλωπές τε καὶ ἄγρια φῦλα Γιγάντων.
And if some lone wayfarer going his way even meets them, they do not conceal themselves at all, since we are near of kin to them, even as the Cyclopes and the wild tribes of the Giants.
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The setting
Alcinous closes his speech by explaining the Phaeacians' unique closeness to the gods: even to a lone traveller the gods appear undisguised, for the Phaeacians are their near kin — as are the Cyclopes and the Giants.
A note on this passage
The boast reaches its claim: the gods make no secret of themselves to the Phaeacians, even to a solitary wayfarer, because the two are near of kin. To prove the kinship Alcinous names his relatives — the Cyclopes and the wild tribes of the Giants.
The undercurrent is the shadow in the pedigree. The company Alcinous claims is not flattering to a reader who knows the poem: the Cyclopes are lawless cannibals, the Giants a race the gods struck down. The gentle, hospitable Phaeacians trace themselves to the same monstrous stock Odysseus barely escaped — a reminder that this fairy-tale harbour sits on the far, dangerous rim of the world.
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