What Prevents Odysseus From Killing The Sleeping Cyclops?

In Homer’s The Odyssey, a cyclops is a giant with a single eye in the center of his forehead who lives on an island and keeps sheep as his livestock. When Odysseus and his men arrive on the island after returning from the Trojan War, they become trapped in the cyclops’ cave. The cyclops eats two of Odysseus’ men and imprisons the rest before falling asleep. While he is sleeping, Odysseus devises a plan to escape by getting the cyclops drunk. After consuming large quantities of wine, he falls asleep and Odysseus and his men blind him with a sharpened stake. Odysseus and his men take advantage of the Cyclopes’ enormous weakness for wine and food, which they consume voraciously. The men hide inside a cave on the island. The Cyclopes remove a boulder that blocks the entrance to their cave, but before entering, they cry out to their neighbors for help. The other Cyclopes who live nearby come to remove the boulder. While they are distracted, Odysseus and his men escape from the cave. They leave the island safely.