They are sorted by age in pens with rails shoulder-high on a tall man. Each animal is huge. The largest ram comes up to Odysseus’s chest and is broad as a table across the shoulders. The Cyclops cares for them with surprising tenderness, petting their backs as they file out each morning, whispering to them. [SPOILER: Once Polyphemus is blind, the rams are the only way out. Each man crawls beneath one, hands buried in the wool, face pressed to the warm belly, feet off the stone. The blind hands come down and feel only fleece and bone. Odysseus takes the largest ram last. The Cyclops holds that one a long time, both palms pressing through the wool above him, taking his time, almost mourning his favourite, while Odysseus’s grip on the fleece slips. Then the ram steps forward and he is free. The flock that fed the Cyclops carries his prisoners out into the morning.]
Polyphemus's Flock
Great rams and ewes the size of horses. Penned in the cave by night, driven out at dawn. The escape rides under their bellies.