Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.
My heart beat high now at the chance of action,
and drawing the sharp sword from my hip I went
along his flank to stab him where the midriff
holds the liver. I had touched the spot
when sudden fear stayed me: if I killed him
we perished there as well, for we could never
move his ponderous doorway slab aside.
So we were left to groan and wait for morning.
What prevents Odysseus from killing the sleeping Cyclops?
He thinks he can reason with the Cyclops in the morning.
He wants to make the Cyclops his ally and friend.
He knows that they cannot move the boulder blocking the doorway.
He feels sorry for the Cyclops who lives all by himself.
Answers
The correct answer is option C.
He knows that they cannot move the boulder blocking the doorway.
Cyclops strength prevents Odysseus from killing the sleeping Cyclops.
Cyclops is the only person strong enough to remove the boulder at the entrance of the cave where Odysseus and his men are trapped.
The thought that prevented Odysseus from killing the sleeping Cyclops is that:
He knows that they cannot move the boulder blocking the doorway.
The Cyclopes are giant and huge creatures who were blessed by the Gods for food for their living. They don't want any visitors to come to their place. When Cyclops noticed that Odysseus and his men had arrived at his land, he captured them in his cave and treated them in the most inhospitable manner. He wanted to kill each of them but Odysseus tricked him and saved his men and himself. He didn't kill Cyclopes as he has trapped Odysseus and his men in the cave with a huge boulder which was impossible to roll down without the assistance of Cyclopes.