“Stay here, my brave fellows,” said I, “all the rest of you, while I go with my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if they are uncivilized savages, or a hospitable and humane race.”
~ The Odyssey - Book IX (Samuel Butler Translation. p230)
In Book 9 of The Odyssey, Ulysses recounts the story of his and his companions’ encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus. They enter Cyclops’ cave and see crates of milk and cheese. His crew says they should rob the supply and run away, but Ulysses decides to light a fire, eat some cheese and wait for the Cyclops. He comes later in the day, and does his routine things like milking the goats, curdling, etc. He sees Ulysses and the crew when he lights the fire. He is cordial initially but becomes hostile when they mention Zeus, eats a couple of the companions, and traps the rest in the cave. Though Polyphemus is much stronger than him, Ulysses uses his cunningness to blind him and escape from the place.
For some reason, I was reminded of colonialism after I read the story. Not just colonialism but instances where a group of humans defeat and take someone else’s property with treachery and cunningness. The Cyclops was living his life naively with his sheep, but after the arrival of strangers, his way of life was shattered. From Ulysses’ perspective, the Cyclops was a monster and deserved his fate. But to his sheep and his friends, he was not.