Cyclops!

Afternoon, 28 Munychion, 1111BC:

TERRIBLE NEWS! The inhabitants of this island are not friendly at all, they are hideous beasts, without manners or any shred of civilised nature.

We entered one of the caves we had observed from the seashore last night and to our disgust saw one of the beasts known as the Cyclopes. They are massive beasts, the height of five ordinary men and have only one, hideous eye. A number of the men, including myself, wanted to leave immediately and sail as far away as possible but Odysseus foolishly believed he could communicate with the beast.

Admittedly, Odysseus did extract some information from the beast, who called himself Polyphemus. Unfortunately, he could only extract bad things. We learned the Cyclopes do not fear the immortal gods and do not practice any of the humble works of mankind, namely planting, cultivating and meeting for counsel. Rather, they live a life of relative solitude where they don't care for their neighbours and (almost) everything relating to survival is taken care of for them.

The news becomes worse, dear reader. After we found all this out from Polyphemus, he sprang up and smashed two of our companions against the wall, spreading their blood everywhere and ATE THEM! He chopped them up limb by limb and ate them, the two men who were standing next to me as noble Odysseus tried to reason with the uncivilised monster.

I've almost lost all hope. I'm afraid I'll die here. I doubt I'll ever see my family again.

Only one thing can possibly save us now and that it is the intelligence of brilliant Odysseus. I heard he almost talked himself out of serving in the Trojan War, so if anyone can rescue us from this mess, it's Odysseus. Even as I write this in tears, he is leaning against the wall of the cavern, obviously distressed, but still focused. I see a fire burning in his eyes few ordinary men would have, a fire I have not seen since Achilles defeated Hector in Troy.

Please, almighty Zeus, help me to escape this mess alive!