At this point Odysseus meets the cyclops and [depending on the version you have/are reading/read] describes him as a brute and a hairy mass and what not. The cyclopes are lawless and do not believe in the Gods that the Greeks believe in [despite Polyphemus being Poisiden's son o.o] and these are characteristics seen as monsterous or barbaric in those times. So basically, it is further showing what is heroic and what was scum in that time. Get it?