Why did Odysseus tell the cyclops his name was Nobody?

Answer 1

Some versions say Odysseus didn't tell the cyclops his name, here is one version.

Odysseus told the cyclops his name was Nobody. He told this to the cyclops named Polyphemus as part of his plan to kill the cyclops who was holding him in the cave, his men. Then, on the morning when Odysseus attacked Polyphemus in his single eye, the cyclops gave a great painful bellow which woke up the neighboring cyclops. They raced to the cave and yelled to Polyphemus "Why did you wake us up so early? How is hurting you?", to which Polyphemus answered "It's Nobody! Nobody is hurting me!"

The other cyclops answered "Well, if nobody is you, then why did you wake us up at this ungodly hour? You should pray to Poseidon, go to sleep, and let the rest of us sleep."

Odysseus was able to kill the cyclops Polyphemus without interference from the other cyclops living nearby due to his trickery of telling the cyclops his name was Nobody. Most versions say however, that Odysseus told Polyphemus his name was nobody, so that when Polyphemus cried out for help, while Odysseus was shoving a stake into his eye, his fellow cyclopes would think that no one was attacking him. But then once Odysseus had escaped Polyphemus and got onto his boat, he cried out 'My name is Odysseus. The great Odysseus has blinded you.' Odysseus probably said this because he was a bit cocky from his victory and he just wanted the cyclops to know who had defeated him. Polyphemus then asked his father Poseidon to curse Odysseus, which Poseidon did do, not allowing Odysseus to reach Ithaca for 10 years.