A Mythic Journey to Polyphemus, Tepegöz and Grendal

Abstract

Human shaped, huge sized, sometimes one eyed, three or seven headed giants /monsters are unique folkloric, mythic elements of oral and written cultures and traditions through Greek, Latin, East and West civilizations. From Polyphemus of Homer's classical Odyssey to Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, Turkish Tepegöz (One Eyed-Giant) of the Book of Dede Korkut (Dede Qorqut), Sinbad of Arabic Thousand and One Nights, Fénelon's Telemachus, Joyce's modern Ulysses, even to J.R.R. Tolkien's Norse figures in the Hobbit of our age several mythic adaptations have taken place in Western and Eastern literatures from around the world. Polyphemus, Tepegöz and Beowulf remind of well-known mythic legends built on relationships of heroes and giants of the legends such as Telemachus, Arimaspoi, Kabandha, Psoglav, Jian or one eyed-man eating Cyclops in Sinbad the Sailor etc., In this term, in this study, a comparison of gigantic and heroic figures making a mythic journey to Odyssey, The Story of Basat, Killer of the One-Eyed-Giant (Tepegöz) and Beowulf will be presented to the attentions from a perspective of comparative literature and evaluated their similarities and differences by comparative examples. Here the aim will be to know both the others' and our own works closer, and recognize their impacts and interactions on each other's and also discover their places in the world literature.