12 questions · Mythology
The Cyclopes are giant beings of Greek mythology with a single great eye in the middle of the forehead. There are two kinds: skilful smiths and wild, man-eating shepherd-giants. The smith Cyclopes forged the mightiest weapons of the gods in the workshop of Hephaestus: among them Zeus's thunderbolt. To them the Olympians owe their victory over the Titans. The most famous wild Cyclops is Polyphemus, who trapped Odysseus and his companions in his cave. Odysseus blinded him with a glowing stake and called himself „Nobody“: one of the cleverest ruses in the whole saga. The oldest Cyclopes (Brontes, Steropes and Arges) were sons of gods and master smiths; later their workshop was relocated beneath Mount Etna. Odysseus met their savage cousins: he escaped the blinded Polyphemus as “Nobody”, and the giant later lamented his lovesickness to the nymph Galatea. The Greeks called the gigantic walls of Mycenae “cyclopean” and behind the one-eyed skull image may lie fossil elephant skulls. What starts as plain knowledge quickly becomes one aha moment after another.
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a single eye on the forehead
Cyclopes are giants with a single great eye in the middle of the forehead.
💡 Did you know? Some suspect that finds of elephant skulls (with a large nasal opening) inspired the myth.
Zeus's thunderbolts and other marvels
In Hesiod the Cyclopes forged the mightiest weapons of the gods; later poets made them assistants of Hephaestus.
💡 Did you know? Zeus's thunderbolts, Poseidon's trident and Hades's helm of invisibility came from their forge.
Polyphemus
The man-eating Cyclops Polyphemus trapped Odysseus and his men in his cave.
💡 Did you know? Odysseus called himself „Nobody“: so Polyphemus later cried that „Nobody“ had blinded him.
hidden beneath the sheep
Odysseus tied himself and his men beneath the bellies of the sheep that the blind Polyphemus let out.
💡 Did you know? Because Polyphemus was a son of Poseidon, the sea god pursued Odysseus for years afterward.
smiths and wild shepherd-giants
There are the skilful smith Cyclopes and the wild shepherd-giants like Polyphemus.
💡 Did you know? The smith Cyclopes helped the gods defeat the Titans.
from the Greek
The Cyclopes belong to the oldest layer of Greek myth, children of the primal deities.
💡 Did you know? Fossil elephant skulls with a large nasal opening may have inspired the image of the one-eyed giant.
Brontes, Steropes and Arges
Thunderer, Lightner and Brightener: sons of Uranus and Gaia.
💡 Did you know? Cronus had kept them imprisoned in Tartarus.
gigantic stone walls
Such as the citadel walls of Mycenae and Tiryns.
💡 Did you know? Only Cyclopes, it was believed, could heave such blocks.
Nobody
“Nobody has blinded me!”, the giant cried to the others.
💡 Did you know? Probably the most famous ruse of the Odyssey.
Galatea
Theocritus's mocking pastoral poems tell of it.
💡 Did you know? Handel made an opera of it: “Acis and Galatea”.
elephant skulls
The large nasal opening looks like a single eye socket.
💡 Did you know? Dwarf elephant skulls were found on Sicily and Crete.
beneath Mount Etna
As assistants of the smith god Hephaestus.
💡 Did you know? Glow and tremors were taken as signs of their workshop.
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