"Men of Achaea we are and bound now from Troy!
Driven far off course by the warring winds,
over the vast gulf of the sea – battling home
on a strange tack, a route that’s off the map,
and so we’ve come to you…
so it must please King Zeus’s plotting heart."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 291-296. Odysseus explains to Polyphemus how fate and Zeus had a hand in driving their ship off course to the land of the Cyclops. As it’s not their fault they are there, Odysseus hopes to win the Cyclops’ sympathy. He also mentions Zeus because respect for the gods is an important part of Greek culture. Odysseus hopes that Polyphemus shares this respect. Just before this passage we are told how Odysseus is terrified when he is confronted by Polyphemus: "The hearts inside us shook, terrified by his rumbling voice and monstrous hulk. Nevertheless I found the nerve to answer, firmly." We see how Odysseus is a quick thinker and his cunning kicks in when faced with a difficult situation.