SPECULATION REY: "I'm no one." Odysseus said the same thing to the Cyclops Polyphemus in the ODYSSEY

Rey: "I'm no one."

A seemingly insignificant phrase? Actually, it's very significant because it's a direct reference to Homer's Odyssey (Book IX). Odysseus says exactly the same phrase to escape death at the hands of the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus used the phrase "I'm no one" as a clever deception that was the key for him and his crew to escape the evil Cyclops. I'm not asserting that Rey is saying this to get out of a situation...that Maz is the Cyclops. Not at all. I'm not making a direct situational correlation, but I do want to raise this as a metaphorical correlation that could inform us of how the filmmakers view Daisy Ridley's character and, potentially, what adventures are in store for her.

I believe the filmmakers deliberately chose that line for this trailer to introduce Rey

"I'm no one" is not merely a casual line of dialogue to indicate how humble or disconnected Rey is, although she might be those things, too. It's actually quite significant that we're introduced to Daisy Ridley's character by this first line of dialogue. She's not just "no one." Rey is definitely someone, and that someone is very, very special ... How special? On the order of magnitude of the hero Odysseus, the main figure of Homer's Iliad and its sequel, The Odyssey. That special.

So What is the Significance of the Cyclopes in SW:TFA? Just Look...

Take a closer look at Kylo Ren’s mask. One eye. Look at Phasma, the TIE pilots and all flavors of new Stormtroopers. The eye lenses are connected. In the original trilogy, the eye lenses were separated. This was a deliberate design change. Also:

• We already know from other concept art that a cave is significant
• In mythology, the three Cyclopes forged one of the mightiest of weapons of Zeus: the thunderbolt.
• Read my post from Sept 21 titled "SW:TFA Inspired by Myths in Ovid's Metamorphoses—Kylo Ren as the Raven, Poe Dameron as the Peacock, Leia as Juno, Caves and Cyclops." I posted the same speculative theory here at the Cantina. I'd like to point out that this correlation of Rey's dialogue in the trailer was pointed out to me yesterday by user "classicalthunder" (World Literature teacher) who let me know on the original Star Wars Reddit post I made on Mythology. Teachers are awesome!

Brief Summary of the Story of Odysseus and the Cyclops (Cantina Notes Version, haha):

Odysseus and his crew wander into a cave. The Cyclops Polyphemus then traps them in the cave by rolling a gigantic stone in front of the entrance behind them. The Cyclops then enters into conversation with them. Suddenly angered, the monstrous, one-eyed giant grabs two of the men as if they were rag dolls, slams them and crushes their brains, which are graphically dashed upon the cave rock. The Cyclops then tears the men to pieces and eats them.

The remaining men are terrified. The Cyclops asks Odysseus his name; he can see he's their leader. Odysseus lies and tells the giant his name is "Οὖτις," translated from ancient Greek literally as "No one" or "Nobody" or "No man." For this piece of information, the Cyclops promises to eat this "Nobody" last, affording Odysseus time to prepare a wooden stake (a sharpened staff?) and a plan to escape from the Cyclops' cave. The Cyclops takes his time, gets drunk then falls to sleep. Odysseus uses the stake to stab the giant in the solo eye as he slept, blinding him. The Cyclops Polyphemus screams in agony and for aid from the other Cyclopes, shouting that "No one" has caused his pain. The other Cyclops believe Polyphemus is drunk, delusional, and wracked with anxiety. They suggest he pray to relinquish the pain. Odysseus' ruse worked.

In pain and frustration without help of his comrade Cyclopes, the Cyclops Polyphemus schemed to murder Odysseus and the rest of his men. To do this, the Cyclops rolled away the stone at the entrance and guarded the exit, grabbing a huge stone, with which the giant would crush any man who attempted to run out. Odysseus knew the Cyclops will expect men to run out when the sheep attempt to leave the cave to go to pasture. But instead of running, Odysseus and his men each hang from the belly of a sheep and hidden by sheep on either side so the Cyclops could not detect their footsteps. Odysseus and his men escape the cave and leave a blinded Cyclops wandering aimlessly on the island for the men who so hurt him.

As Odysseus and his crew embark from the shore and are at a safe distance, Odysseus taunts the Cyclops in anger:

"‘Cyclops,’ said I, ‘you should have taken better measure of your man before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, do you intend by violence to eat up your visitors in your own cave? You might have known that your derangement would find you out, and now Zeus and the other gods have punished you.’
​

The Cyclops became even more furious and tore off the top of the mountain, flinging it at the ship but narrowly missing. The crew rowed for their very lives. Odysseus jeered at the Cyclops once more:

"Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Odysseus, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.’"
​

At this, the Cyclops groaned and said:

"Alas, alas, then the old prophecy about me is coming true. There was a seer [mantis] here, at one time, a man both brave and of great stature, Telemos son of Eurymos, who was an excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and said I should lose my sight by the hand of Odysseus. I have been all along expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength, whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come here, then, Odysseus, that I may make you presents to show my hospitality, and urge Poseidon to help you forward on your journey - for Poseidon and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me, which no one else neither god nor man can do."
​

Odysseus replied:

"I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more than Poseidon to cure that eye of yours."


​

 

Absolutely. She is certainly searching for her identity. But guess what, Odysseus also said it. And did you read what I wrote in the first paragraph? "I'm not asserting that Rey is saying this to get out of a situation...that Maz is the Cyclops. Not at all. I'm not making a direct situational correlation, but I do want to raise this as a metaphorical correlation that could inform us of how the filmmakers view Daisy Ridley's character and, potentially, what adventures are in store for her."

 

Good. And I love spoiled blue milk.

 

I'm not saying you have to read the Odyssey, dude. Please read the post again. Now that you've read it, you now have the information within you. I admire your skepticism, sure, but you're not seeing the big picture. It's Homer's Odyssey. It's Odysseus (aka Ulysses), one of the greatest heroes in all of literature. And that's Rey. She just said something a great hero said. Before you saw this post, you had no idea her dialogue meant something because it had reference to classical mythology. Now you do. It's actually up to you to prove it's in other films to attempt to dilute the impact of this revelation. I'd actually be interested to see what other epic films that EXACT LINE OF DIALOGUE is in. Cheers.

 

Thanks for your input Assy McGee.

 

Who was your Ancient Greek Lit professor? I am suddenly curious.

 

Picnics at the Acropolis. Very cool. The same Vladeta Janković on Wikipedia? Belgrade...that's Novak Djokovic territory. World #1.

 

I can't help but agree. She's torn. Although we've seen emotions in her, we've also seen mad skills. We've also seen blank slate of character and you can't help but think what else does she have up her sleeve? But also what other emotional baggage does she have? Perhaps this is all crafted as a method to draw us in to her vulnerability. But to the filmmaker's credit, in the teasers and trailer they've depicted both Rey and Finn with an equanimity in strength, prowess and the dramatic emotional lows we've seen, so that the female's "crying" isn't any more sensational than the male's "panic." They're both painted as quite vulnerable, courageous and human in their own ways. They'll succeed if they can demonstrate the character is pulled and pushed from outside and in but that there's an area where the character exercises his or her will to choose and not be acted upon. Acted upon as in manipulated or captured...we know both will happen to Rey...but the triumph in her character will be using her intuition and resourcefulness to come out on top. That will be awesome to see whether or not she turns to the dark side and joins the Knights of Ren.