The phrase that best shows how cunning Odysseus was must be the following: “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy.” The idea is that the main character of the play conflicts with Cyclops. Odysseus tricks his enemy with a false name. He ends up the smart one, stealing the cattle as well.
Detailed answer:
The Odyssey is an example of a classic epic poem. An ancient Greek poet Homer claimed to have been blind, wrote it in 24 books. The narrative is not chronological, but it tells us a bunch of stories based on Greek mythology.
So, there is a conflict with Polyphemus, the Cyclops. He meets Odysseus when the hero is on his way back home from the Trojan War. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his squad. He looks forward to eating the hero. By now, you should already know that Odysseus calls himself Nohbdy out of the cleverness Homer wants to show us. In other words, something resembling nobody. Odysseus seeks to escape this uncomfortable situation and finds no better solution than blinding Polyphemus. The Cyclops calls for his brothers, who cannot get what’s going on. All they hear is that nobody did this. So they end up doing nothing. Later on, Odysseus escapes and steals Polyphemus’ cattle – even his favorite ram. As if blinding the Cyclops wasn’t enough.
When leaving the land, Odysseus tells Polyphemus his real name. That is the point where we also learn that the hero isn’t just smart, but he’s funny too. It turns out, the trick triggers Poseidon, the God of the sea and also the father of Polyphemus, to look for revenge. The dramatic episode moves the whole plot and deepens the character of Odysseus.