Why did they blind Cyclops?

Odysseus and his men blinded Cyclops, named Polyphemus, as a strategy to escape from his cave. After being trapped and losing some of his men to the giant, Odysseus devised a plan to get Polyphemus drunk and then drove a sharpened stake into his eye while he slept. Blinding the Cyclops allowed Odysseus and his remaining men to slip away undetected as Polyphemus, now blind, could not see them escape. This act also served to provoke the wrath of Poseidon, Polyphemus's father, which complicated Odysseus's journey home.