What does the Cyclops symbolize?

" 'We Cyclopses care nothing for Zeus with his aegis, nor for the rest of the blessed gods, since we are much stronger than they.' "

Book IX: 275-277

"...he [the Cyclops] jumped up, and reaching out towards my men, seized a couple and dashed their heads against the floor..."

Book IX: 287-289

        If you observe the two excerpts above and compare them to those relating to

Odysseus' greed, you will notice a similarity:  Both Odysseus and the Cyclops are

greedy and both lack humanity.  For Odysseus, humanity was lost during the ten

years of war when he had to kill without thinking and had to rely on basic instincts

to survive.  So, in a way, when Odysseus went into the cave, he was not facing

some mythological creature, but rather, he was facing himself:  a lawless,

humanless, greedy beast. Also, the Cyclops' single large eye is symbolic of

Odysseus' one-track mind whose focus, at times, seems to be based soley on his

greed.