The story of the Cyclops is a very action-filled and interesting one in itself; with blood and gore as well as clever plans and trickery, and Homer manages to tell it so that you can truly enjoy and get into it.
He uses various techniques to entice you to read on and to make the book seem more interesting and thrilling just as modern writers do.
One of these is dropping subtle hints throughout the story as to what is going to happen next, although not telling you instantly so to give it away. An example of this is the long paragraph in which he describes the delicious mellow wine, how strong it is, and also how much is left over - which is important for the next part of the story where Odysseus’ plans to get the Cyclops drunk before ramming him in the eye.
He also makes a point to say that the Cyclops has no wine in his diet, only cheeses and milk from the goats (possibly eating the goats as well), so he would probably get drunk quicker and easier and would like the taste more.
Another way he gives the story that extra bit of edge which makes it one of the most exciting in The Odyssey, is by using excellent, and sometimes gory and graphic imagery. Some examples of his use of this are “their brains ran out on the ground”, “great wall of quarried oaks” and “The ships were in a thick fog, and overhead not a gleam of light came through from the moon”. These give you a vivid sense of what the characters are seeing and really set the scene for the story in a powerful way.
Homer also uses a lot of similes, not always in obvious ways, but enough to give you even further insight into the myth so you can compare the unreal things to more familiar things and understand just how bewildering these aspects of the story are.
“It was a mighty slab; twenty-two four-wheeled wagons could not shift such a massive stone from the entrance, such was the monstrous size of the rock with which he closed the cave” is a nice subtle simile, but you can really picture how...