Question

read the excerpt from the odyssey. my heart beat high now at the chance of action and drawing the sharp sword from my hip i went along his flank to stab him where the midriff holds the liver. i had touched the spot when sudden fear stayed me: if i killed him we perished there as well, for we could never move his ponderous doorway slab aside. so we were left to groan and wait for morning. what prevents odysseus from killing the sleeping cyclops? he thinks he can reason with the cyclops in the morning. he wants to make the cyclops his ally and friend. he knows that they cannot move the boulder blocking the doorway. he feels sorry for the cyclops who lives all by himself.

Explanation:

In the excerpt from The Odyssey, Odysseus realizes that if he kills the Cyclops while it's sleeping, they will be trapped in the cave because they cannot move the boulder blocking the doorway.

Answer:

He knows that they cannot move the boulder blocking the doorway