CYCLOPES (Kyklopes) - One-Eyed Sicilian Giants of Greek Mythology Cyclops Polyphemus, Greco-Roman mosaic C4th A.D., Villa Romana del Casale THE YOUNGER KYKLOPES (Cyclopes) were a tribe of primitive, one-eyed giants who dwelt in caves and herded flocks of sheep on the island of Hypereia (which was later identified by the Greeks with Sicily). The Hypereian Kyklopes were closely related to the Gigantes and Phaiakians (Phaeacians) both of which were born from the blood of the castrated Ouranos (Uranus) spilt upon the earth. The first of these giants, in both strength and stature, was Polyphemos . Unlike the rest of the tribe he was a son of the god Poseidon. The three elder Kyklopes (Cyclopes) were a different breed altogether. These ancient beings fought with Zeus in the Titan-War and forged the weapons of the gods. Nevertheless they were also sometimes located on the island of Sicily.

FAMILY OF THE CYCLOPES Probably GAIA & the blood of OURANOS * * In the Odyssey Homer says they were closely related to the Gigantes and the Phaiakes (Phaeacians ) both of which were born of Gaia (the Earth) when she was impregnated by the blood of the castrated Ouranos (the Sky). ENCYCLOPEDIA CYCLO′PES (Kuklôpes), that is, creatures with round or circular eyes. In the Homeric poems the Cyclopes are a gigantic, insolent, and lawless race of shepherds, who lived in the south-western part of Sicily, and devoured human beings. They neglected agriculture, and the fruits of the field were reaped by them without labour. They had no laws or political institutions, and each lived with his wives and children in a cave of a mountain, and ruled over them with arbitrary power. (Hom. Od. vi. 5, ix. 106, &c., 190, &c., 240, &c., x.

200.) Homer does not distinctly state that all of the Cyclopes were one-eyed, but Polyphemus, the principal among them, is described as having only one eye on his forehead. (Od. i. 69, ix. 383, &c.) The Homeric Cyclopes are no longer the servants of Zeus, but they disregard him. (Od. ix. 275; comp. Virg. Aen. vi. 636 ; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 53.) Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES Homer, Odyssey 7. 200 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "[King Alkinoos (Alcinous) of the Phaiekes (Phaeacians) addresses his people :] ‘In the past they [the gods] have always appeared undisguised among us at our offering of noble hecatombs; they have feasted beside us, they have sat at the same table.

And if one of us comes upon them as he travels alone, then too they have never as yet made concealment, because we are close of kin (egguthen) to themselves, just like those of the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) race or the savage people (phyla) of the Gigantes (Giants).’" [N.B. It is not clear exactly why Homer describes these three races as "close of kin." Later classical writers, however, explain this passage by saying that the Gigante, Phaeacian--and presumably Kyklops--tribes were born of the Earth when she was impregnated by the blood of the castrated sky-god Ouranos. Cf. Apollonius Rhodius 4.982 on the sickle of Kronos (Cronus) .] Homer, Odyssey 6. 3 ff : "The Phaiakes (Phaiacians); these were a people that in times past had inhabited spacious Hypereia near the masterful Kyklopes (Cyclopes) race, who were stronger than they and plundered them continually.

So king Nausithous the Phaiakes transplanted his people from Hypereia and settled them in Skheria (Scheria)." Homer, Odyssey 9. 110 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "[Odysseus describes his encounter with the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) :] We came to the land of the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) race, arrogant lawless beings who leave their livelihoods to the deathless gods and never use their own hands to sow or plough; yet with no sowing and no ploughing, the crops all grow for them--wheat and barley and grapes that yield wine from ample clusters, swelled by the showers of Zeus. They have no assemblies to debate in, they have no ancestral ordinances; they live in arching caves on the tops of high hills, and the head of each family heeds no other, but makes his own ordinances for wife and children. Outside the harbour of the country, neither very near it nor very far from it, there is a small well-wooded isle . . .

it remains unploughed and unsown perpetually, empty of men, only a home for bleating goats. For the Kyklopes nation possess no red-prowed ships; they have no ship-wrights in their country to build sound vessels to serve their needs, to visit foreign towns and townsfolk as men elsewhere do in their voyages." Homer, Odyssey 9.187 - 542 : "[Odysseus describes his encounter with the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) :] Then we began to turn our glances to the land of the Kyklopes tribe nearby; we could see smoke and hear voices and the bleating of sheep and goats . . . When we reached the stretch of land I spoke of--it was not far away--there on the shore beside the sea we saw a high cave overarched with bay-trees; in this flocks of sheep and goats were housed at night, and round its mouth had been made a courtyard with high walls of quarried stone and with tall pines and towering oaks.

Here was the sleeping-place of a giant who used to pasture his flocks far afield, alone; it was not his way to visit the others of his tribe; he kept aloof, and his mind was set on unrighteousness. A monstrous ogre, unlike a man who had ever tasted bread, he resembled rather some shaggy peak in a mountain-range, standing out clear, away from the rest. Most of my men I ordered to stay by the ship and guard it, but I chose out twelve, the bravest, and sallied forth . . . I had forebodings that the stranger who might face us now would wear brute strength like a garment round him, a savage whose heart had little knowledge of just laws or of ordinances. We came to the cavern soon enough, but we did not find him there himself; he was out on his pasture-land, tending his fat sheep and goats. We went in and looked round at everything. There were flat baskets laden with cheeses; there were pens filled with lambs and kids, though these were divided among themselves--here the firstlings, then the later-born, and the youngest of all apart again.

Then, too, there were well-made dairy-vessels, large and small pails, swimming with whey . . . I was eager to see the cavern's master and hoped he would offer me the gifts of a guest, though as things fell out, it was no kind host that my comrades were to meet. Then we lit a fire, and laying hands on some of the cheeses we first offered the gods their portion, then ate our own and sat in the cavern waiting for the owner. At length he returned, guiding his flocks and carrying with him a stout bundle of dry firewood to burn at supper. This, with a crash, he threw down inside, and we in dismay shrank hastily back into a corner. Next, he drove part of his flocks inside--the milking ewes and milking goats--but left the rams and he-goats outside in the fenced yard. Then to fill the doorway he heaved up a huge heavy stone; two-and-twenty good four-wheeled wagons could not shift such a boulder from the ground, but the Kyklops (Cyclops) did, and fitted it in its place--a massive towering piece of rock.

Then he sat down and began to milk the ewes and the bleating goats, all in due order, and he put the young ones to their mothers. Half the milk he now curdled, gathered the curd and laid it in plaited baskets. The other half he left standing in the vessels, meaning to take and drink it at his supper. Having quickly despatched these tasks of his, he rekindled the fire and spied ourselves. He asked us : ‘Strangers, who are you? What land did you sail from, over the watery paths? Are you bound on some trading errand, or are you random adventurers, roving the seas as pirates do, hazarding life and limb and bringing havoc on men of another stock?’ So he spoke, and our hearts all sank; his thundering voice and his monstrous presence cowed us. But I plucked up courage enough to answer : ‘We are Akhaians (Achaeans); we sailed from Troy and were bound for home . . . We have reached your presence, have come to your knees in supplication, to receive, we hope, your friendly favour, to receive perhaps some such present as custom expects from host to guest.

Sir, I beg you to reverence the gods. We are suppliants, and Zeus himself is the champion of suppliants and of guests; god of guests is a name of his; guests are august, and Zeus goes with them.’ So I spoke. He answered at once and ruthlessly : ‘Stranger, you must be a fool or have come from far afield if you tell me to fear the gods or beware of them. We of the Kyklopes race care nothing for Zeus and for his aegis; we care for none of the gods in heaven, being much stronger ourselves than they are. Dread of the enmity of Zeus would never move me to spare either you or the comrades with you, if I had no mind to it myself. But tell me a thing I wish to know. When you came here, where did you moor your ship? Was it at some far point of the shore or was it near here?’ So he spoke to me, feeling his way, but I knew the world and guessed what he was about. So I countered him with crafty words : ‘My ship was shattered by Poseidon . .

.’ To these words of mine the savage creature made no response he only sprang up, and stretching his hands towards my companions clutched two at once and battered them on the floor like puppies; their brains gushed out and soaked the ground. Then tearing them limb form limb he made his supper of them. He began to eat like a mountain lion, leaving nothing, devouring flesh and entrails and bones and marrow, while we in our tears and helplessness looked on at these monstrous doings and held up imploring hands to Zeus. But when the Kyklops (Cyclops) had filled his great belly with the human flesh that he had devoured and the raw milk he washed it down with he laid himself on the cavern floor with his limbs stretched out among his beasts. Then with courage rising I thought at first to go up to him, to draw the keen sword from my side and stab him in the chest, feeling with my hand for the spot where the midriff enfolds the liver; but second thoughts held me back, because we too should have perished irremediable; never could we with all our hands have pushed away from the lofty doorway the massy stone he had planted there.

So with sighs and groans we awaited ethereal Dawn. Dawn comes early, with rosy fingers. When she appeared, the Kyklops rekindled the fire, milked his beasts in accustomed order and put the young ones to their mothers. Having quickly despatched these tasks of his, he clutched another two of my comrades and made his breakfast of them. This over, he drove his flocks out of the cave again, easily moving the massy stone and then putting it back once more as one might put the lid back on a quiver. Whistling loud, he led off his flock to the mountain-side; so I was left there to brood mischief, wondering if I might take vengeance on him and if Athene might grant me glory. After all my thinking, the plan that seemed best was this. Next to the sheep-pen the Kyklops had left a great cudgel of undried olive-wood, wrenched from the tree to carry with him when it was seasoned. As we looked at it, it seemed huge enough to be the mast of some great dark merchant-ship with its twenty oars . . . so long and so thick it loomed before us.

I stood over this, and myself and cut off six feet of it; then I laid it in front of my companions and told them to make it smooth; smooth they made it, and again I stood over it and sharpened it to a point, then took it at once and put it in the fierce fire to harden. Then I laid it in a place of safety; there was dung in layers all down the great cave, and I hid the stake under this. I asked the men to cast lots for joining me--who would help me to lift the stake and plunge it into the giant's eye as soon as slumber stole upon him? The men that the lots fell upon were the very ones I should have chosen--four of them, and I made a fifth. Towards nightfall the Kyklops came home again, bringing his fleecy flocks with him. He drove all the beasts into the cave forthwith, leaving none outside in the fenced courtyard--had he some foreboding, or was it a god who directed him?

He lifted the massy door-stone and put it in place again; he sat down and began to milk the sheep and the bleating goats, all in accustomed order, and he put the young ones to their mothers. Having quickly despatched these tasks of his, he clutched another two of my comrades and made his meal of them. And at that I came close to the Kyklops and spoke to him, while in my hands I held up an ivy-bowl brimmed with dark wine : ‘Kyklops, look! You have had your fill of man's flesh. Now drain this bowl and judge what wine our ship had in it. I was bringing it for yourself as a libation, hoping you would take pity on me and would help to send me home. But your wild folly is past all bounds. Merciless one, who of all men in all the world will choose to visit you after this? In what you have done you defy whatever is good and right.’ Such were my words. He took my present and drank it off and was mightily pleased with wine so fragrant.

Then he asked for a second bowlful of it : ‘Give me more in your courtesy and tell me your name here and now--I wish to offer you as my guest a special favour that will delight you. Earth is bounteous, and for my people too it brings forth grapes that thrive on the rain of Zeus and that make good wine, but this is distilled from nectar and ambrosia.’ So he spoke, and again I offered the glowing wine; three times I walked up to him with it; three times he witlessly drank it off. When the wine had coiled its way round his understanding, I spoke to him in meek-sounding words : ‘Kyklops, you ask what name I boast of. I will tell you, and then you must grant me as your guest the favour that you have promised me.

My name is Noman; Noman is what my mother and father call me; so likewise do all my friends.’ To these words of mine the savage creature made quick response : ‘Noman that one shall come last among those I eat; his friends I will eat first; this is to be my favour to you.’ With these words he sank down on the floor, then lay on his back with his heavy neck drooping sideways, till sleep the all-conquering overcame him; wine and gobbets of human flesh gushed from his throat as he belched them forth in drunken stupor. Then I drove our stake down into the heap of embers to get red-hot; meanwhile I spoke words of courage to all my comrades, so that none of them should lose heart and shrink from the task. But when the stake, green though it was, was about to catch fire and glowed frighteningly, I drew it towards me out of the fire, while the others took their stand around me. Some god breathed high courage into us. My men took over the keen-pointed olive stake and thrust it into the giant's eye; I myself leaned heavily over from above and twirled the stake round . . .

We grasped the stake with its fiery tip and whirled it round in the giant's eye. The blood came gushing out round the red-hot wood; the heat singed eyebrow and eyelid, the eyeball was burned out and the roots of the eye hissed in the fire . . . His eye hissed now with the olive-stake penetrating it. He gave a great hideous roar; the cave re-echoed, and in terror we rushed away. He pulled the blood-stained stake from his eye and with frantic arms tossed it away from him. Then he shouted loud to he Kyklopes kinsmen who lived around him in their caverns among the windy hill-tops. Hearing his cries they hastened towards him from every quarter, stood round his cavern and asked him what ailed him : ‘Polyphemos, what dire affliction has come upon you to make you profane the night with clamour and rob us of our slumbers? Is some human creature driving away your flocks in defiance of you?

Is someone threatening death to yourself by craft of by violence?’ From inside the cave the giant answered : ‘Friends, it is Noman's craft and no violence that is threatening death to me.’ Swiftly their words were borne back to him : ‘If no man is doing you violence--if you are alone--then this is a malady sent by almighty Zeus from which there is no escape; you had best say a prayer to your father, Lord Poseidon.’ With these words they left him again, while my own heart laughed within me to think how the name I gave and my ready with had snared him. Racked with anguish, lamenting loudly, the Kyklops groped for the great stone and pushed it from the door-way, then in the doorway he seated himself with outstretched hands, hoping to seize on some of us passing into the open among the sheep--so witless did he take me to be . . . There were big handsome rams there, well-fed, thick-fleeced and with dark wool. Making no noise, I began fastening them together with plaited withies, the same that the lawless monstrous ogre slept on.

I took the rams three by three; each middle one carried a man, while the other two walked either side and safeguarded my companions; so there were three beats to each man. As for myself--there was one ram that was finest of all the flock; I seized his back, I curled myself up under his shaggy belly, and there I clung in the rich soft wool, face upwards, desperately holding on and on. In this dismal fashion we waited now for ethereal Dawn. Dawn comes early, with rosy fingers. When she appeared, the rams began running out to pasture, while the unmilked ewes around the pens kept bleating with udders full to bursting. Their master, consumed with hideous pains, felt along the backs of all the rams as they stood still in front of him. The witless giant never found out that men were tied under the fleecy creatures' bellies. Last of them all came my own ram on his way out, burdened both with his own thick wool and with me the schemer.

Polyphemos felt him over too and began to talk to him : ‘You that I love best, why are you last of all the flock to come out through the cavern's mouth? Never till now have you come behind the rest: before them all you have marched with stately strides ahead to crop the delicate meadow-flowers, before them all you have reached the rippling streams, before them all you have shown your will to return homewards in the evening; yet now you come last. You are grieving, surely, over your master's eye, which malicious Noman quite put out, with his evil friends, after overmastering my wits with wine; but I swear he has still not escaped destruction. If only your thoughts were like my own, if only you had the gift of words to tell me where he is hiding from my fury! Then he would be hurled to the ground and his brains dashed hither and thither across the cave; then my heart would find some relief from the tribulations he has brought me, unmanly Noman!’ So speaking, he let the ram go free outside.

As for ourselves, once we had passed a little way beyond cave and courtyard, I first loosed my own hold beneath the ram, then I untied my comrades also. We herded the many sheep in haste--fat plump creatures with long shanks--and drove them on till we reached our vessel . . . But when we were no further away [out at sea] than a man's voice, I called to the Kyklopes and taunted him : ‘Kyklops, your prisoner after all was to prove not quite defenceless--the man whose friends you devoured so brutally in your cave. No, your sins were to find you out. You felt no shame to devour your guests in your own home; hence the requital from Zeus and the other gods.’ Rage rose up in him at my words. He wrenched away the top of a towering crag and hurled it in front of our dark-prowed ship. The sea surged up as the rock fell into it; the swell from beyond came washing back at once and the wave carried the ship landwards and drove it towards the strand.

But I myself seized a long pole and pushed the ship out and away again, moving my head and signing to my companions urgently to pull at their oars and escape destruction; so they threw themselves forward and rowed hard. But when we were twice as far out on the water as before, I made ready to hail the Kyklops again, though my friends around me, this side and that, used all persuasion to restrain me : ‘Headstrong man, why need you provoke this savage further? The stone he threw out to sea just now dashed the ship back to the shore again, and we thought we were dead men already. Had he heard any sound, any words from us, he would have hurled yet another jagged rock and shattered our heads and the boat's timbers, so vast his reach is.’ So they spoke, but my heart was proud and would not be gain-said; I called out again with rage still rankling : ‘Kyklops, if anyone among mortal men should ask who put out your eye in this ugly fashion, say that the one who blinded you was Odysseus the city-sacker, son of Laertes and dweller in Ithaka (Ithaca).’ So I spoke.

He groaned aloud as he answered me : ‘Ah, it comes home to me at last, that oracle uttered long ago. We once had a prophet in our country, a truly great man called Telemos son of Eurymos, skilled in divining, living among the Kyklopes race as an aged seer. He told me all this as a thing that would later come to pass--that I was to lose my sight at the hands of one Odysseus. But I always thought that the man who came would be tall and handsome, visibly clothed with heroic strength; instead, it has been a puny and strengthless and despicable man who had taken my sight away from me after overpowering me with wine. But come, Odysseus, return to me; let me set before you the presents that befit a guest, and appeal to the mighty Earthshaker to speed you upon your way, because I am his son, and he declares himself my father.

And he alone will heal me, if so he pleases--no other will, of the blessed gods or of mortal men.’ So he spoke, but I answered thus : ‘Would that I were assured as firmly that I could rob you of life and being and send you down to Hades' house as I am assured that no one shall heal that eye of yours, not the Earthshaker himself.’ So I spoke, and forthwith he prayed to Lord Poseidon, stretching out his hands to the starry sky : ‘Poseidon the raven-haired, Earth-Enfolder: if indeed I am your son, if indeed you declare yourself my father, grant that Odysseys the city-sacker may never return home again; or if he is fated to see his kith and kin and so reach his high-roofed house and his own country, let him come late and come in misery, after the loss of all his comrades, and carried upon an alien ship; and in his own house let him find mischief.’ This was his prayer, and the raven-haired god heeded it.

Then the Kyklops lifted up a stone (it was much larger than the first); he whirled it and flung it, putting vast strength into the throw; the stone came down a little astern of the dark-prowed vessel, just short of the tip of the steering-oar. The sea surged up as the stone fell into it, but the wave carried the ship forward and drove it on to the shore beyond." Homer, Odyssey 1. 68 ff : "Poseidon the Earth-Sustainer is stubborn still in his anger against Odysseus because of his blinding of Polyphemos, the Kyklops (Cyclops) whose power is greatest among the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) race and whose ancestry is more than human; his mother was the nymph Thoosa, child of Phorkys (Phorcys) the lord of the barren sea, and she lay with Poseidon within her arching caverns. Ever since that blinding Poseidon has been against Odysseus." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca E7. 3 - 9 (trans.

Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "He [Odysseus] then sailed for the land of the Kyklopes (Cyclopes), and put to shore. He left the other ships at the neighbouring island, took one in to the land of the Kyklopes, and went ashore with twelve companions. Not far from the sea was a cave, which he entered with a flask of wine given him by Maron. It was the cave of a son of Poseidon and a nymphe named Thoosa, an enormous man-eating wild man named Polyphemos, who had one eye in his forehead. When they had made a fire and sacrificed some kids, they sat down to dine; but the Kyklops (Cyclops) came, and, after driving his flock inside, he barred the entrance with a great rock. When he saw the men, he ate some. Odysseus gave him some of Maron's wine to drink. He drank and demanded more, and after drinking that, asked Odysseus his name.

When Odysseus said that he was called Nobody, the Kyklops promised that he would eat Nobody last, after the others: this was his act of friendship in return for the wine. The wine them put him to sleep. Odysseus found a club lying in the cave, which with the help of four comrades he sharpened to a point; he then heated it in the fire and blinded the Kyklops. Polyphemos cried out for help to the neighbouring Kyklopes, who came and asked who was injuring him. When he replied ‘Nobody!’ they assumed he meant no one was hurting him, so they went away again. As the flock went out as usual to forage for food, he opened the cave and stood at the entrance with his arms spread out, and he groped at the sheep with his hands. But Odysseys bound three rams together . . . Hiding himself under the belly of the largest one, he rode out with the flock. Then he untied his comrades from the sheep, drove the flock to the ship, and as they were sailing off he shouted to the Kyklops that it was Odysseus who had escaped through his fingers.

The Kyklops had received a prophecy from a seer that he would be blinded by Odysseus, and when he now heard the name, he tore loose rocks which he hurled into the sea, just missing the ship. And from that time forward Poseidon was angry at Odysseus." Plato, Laws 680b (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) : "Everybody, I believe, gives the name of ‘headship’ [clan leadership] to the [most primitive form of] government . . . And, of course, Homer mentions its existence in connection with the household system of the Kyklopes (Cyclopes), where he says--No halls of council and no laws are theirs, ‘But within hollow caves on mountain heights aloft they dwell, each making his own law. For wife and child; of others reck they naught.’ . . . And now he appears to be confirming your statement admirably, when in his legendary account he ascribes the primitive habits of the Kyklopes to their savagery." Strabo, Geography 13. 1. 25 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C.

to C1st A.D.) : "Plato . . . sets forth as an example of the first stage of civilization the life of the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) [i.e. as described by Homer], who lived on uncultivated fruits and occupied the mountain tops, living in caves : ‘but all these things,’ he says, ‘grow unsown and unploughed’ for them ‘And they have no assemblies for council, nor appointed laws, but they dwell on the tops of high mountains in hollow caves, and each is lawgiver to his children and his wives.’" Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 28. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "In the Odyssey he [Homer] relates how the Laistrygones (Laestrygones) [were] . . .

not in the likeness of men but of Gigantes, and he makes also the king of the Phaiakes (Phaeacians) say that the Phaiakes are near to the gods like the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) and the race of Gigantes (Giants)." Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 2. 18 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) : "[Ostensibly a description of an ancient Greek painting at Neapolis (Naples) :] Kyklops (Cyclops). These men harvesting the fields and gathering the grapes, my boy, neither ploughed the land nor planted the vines; but of its own accord the earth sends forth these its fruits for them; they are in truth Kyklopes (Cyclopes), for whom, I know not why, the poets will that the earth shall produce its fruits spontaneously. And the earth has also made a shepherd-folk of them by feeding the blocks, whose milk they regard as both drink and meat. They know neither assembly nor council nor yet houses, but they inhabit the clefts of the mountain.

Not to mention the others, Polyphemos son of Poseidon, the fiercest of them, lives here; he has a single eyebrow extending above his single eye and a broad nose astride his upper lip, and he feeds upon men after the manner of savage lions." Ovid, Metamorphoses 14. 2 (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "The Cyclopes' fields [of Sicily] that never knew the use of plough or harrow, nor owed any debt to teams of oxen." Ovid, Metamorphoses 15. 90 : "With all the bounteous riches that the earth, Earth best of mothers, yields, can nothing please but savage relish munching piteous wounds, a Cyclops' banquet?" Pliny the Elder, Natural History 3. 89 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) : "[Near Catania in Sicily :] Then come the three Rocks of the Cyclopes, the Harbour of Ulysses [Odysseus]." Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7.

9 : "Some Scythian tribes, and in fact a good many, feed on human bodies--a statement that perhaps may seem incredible if we do not reflect that races of this portentous character have existed in the central region of the world [i.e. in Italy], named Cyclopes and Laestrygones." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 4. 104 (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "The wild Cyclopes in Aetna's (Etna's) caverns watch the straits during stormy nights, should any vessel driven by fierce south winds draw nigh, bringing thee, Polyphemus, grim fodder and wretched victims for thy feasting, so look they forth and speed every way to drag captive bodies to their king.

Them doth the cruel monarch himself on the rocky verge of a sacrificial ridge, that looms above mid-sea, take and hurl down in offering to his father Neptunus [Poseidon]; but should the men be of finer build, then he bids them take arms and meet him with the gauntlets; that for the hapless men is the fairest doom of death." Suidas s.v. Kyklopes (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.) : "Kyklopes (Cycopes) : Wild men . . . It [Kyklopeion, Cyclopean] also signifies a mountain." SOURCES Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C. Plato, Laws - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C. Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D. Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D. n Example from Greek mythology The Cyclops is a one eyed - MATH - 1100 n Example from Greek mythology: The Cyclops is a one-eyed giant from Greek mythology who lives in a cave.

Odysseus blinds the Cyclops in order to escape. [What was the Cyclops’ name? Polyphemus] This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document n Example from Greek mythology: The Cyclops is a one-eyed giant who lives in a cave. Odysseus blinds the Cyclops in order to escape. [What was the Cyclops’ name? Polyphemus] n Every morning the blind giant lets his sheep out to pasture, and every evening he brings them into the cave. n Example from Greek mythology: The Cyclops is a one-eyed giant who lives in a cave. Odysseus blinds the Cyclops in order to escape. [What was the Cyclops’ name? Polyphemus] n Every morning the blind giant lets his sheep out to pasture, and every evening he brings them into the cave. n How can he tell whether any sheep are missing? This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document n Cyclops simply puts a pebble in his pocket for each sheep that leaves, n Cyclops simply puts a pebble in his pocket for each sheep that leaves, and removes a pebble for each sheep that returns.

This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. n Cyclops simply puts a pebble in his pocket for each sheep that leaves, and removes a pebble for each sheep that returns. n He is matching the set of pebbles in his pocket with the set of sheep. n What does it mean to count? This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document n What does it mean to count? n “1,2,3,4,. ..” n What does it mean to count? n “1,2,3,4,. ..” But what are we doing when we say these words? This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document n When we count “1,2,3,4,. ..” we are matching the objects in the set we are counting with a very special set of words. n When we count “1,2,3,4,. ..” we are matching the objects in the set we are counting with a very special set of words. These words have no meaning in and of themselves. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version.

n When we count “1,2,3,4,. ..” we are matching the objects in the set we are counting with a very special set of words. These words have no meaning in and of themselves. They take on meaning by repeated use. n A very simple example: This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document n A very simple example: How many whole numbers are there between 1 and 15 (including 1 and 15)? A very simple example: How many whole numbers are there between 1 and 15 (including 1 and 15)? The question seems silly: This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. Cyclopes, one eyed creatures in Greek Mythology The Fame of the Cyclopes In general, the Cyclopes had the fame of being great workmen and were assisting Greek god Hephaestus in constructing the lightnings of Zeus under the volcano of Aetna in Italy . The Cyclopes were also constructing thick walls, known as "Cyclopean Walls".

The Liberation of the Cyclopes Because of their dreadful features, the Cyclopes were initially locked in Tartarus, the depths of the Underworld, by their father Uranus, who was afraid that they were threatening his power. However, soon Cronus and the Titans released the Cyclopes, to help them beat Uranus, just to imprison the Cyclopes in the Underworld again when they gained power. Finally, Zeus and the Olympians released the Cyclopes one more time, and with their help they fought against the Titans in the Titanomachy. The Cyclopes thanked Zeus by giving him thunder and lightning as a gift. Giants | Theoi Greek Mythology A COMPLETE LIST OF GIANTS FROM GREEK MYTHOLOGY AGRIUS (Agrios) A man-eating Thracian giant who was half man and half bear. ALCYONEUS (Alkyoneus) The king of the Thracian giants who was slain by Heracles. ALOADAE (Aloidai) Twin giants who attempted to storm heaven by piling mountains one upon the other. ALPOS A Sicilian giant who was slain by the god Dionysus. ANAX A Lydian Giant.

ANTAEUS (Antaios) A gigantic Libyan king who wrestled to death all visitors to his realm until he was slain by Heracles. ANTIPHATES The king of the man-eating giants known as Laestrygones which were encountered by Odysseus on his travels. ANTIPHATES, WIFE & DAUGHTER OF These two were female giants, a rarity in Greek myth. The daughter was described as being "tall and powerful," and the wife, sitting on her throne, as "tall like a mountain peak." ARGES One of the three elder Cyclopes. ARGOS PANOPTES A hundred-eyed giant who was set by Hera to guard the maiden Io but was slain by Hermes. ARISTAEUS (Aristaios) One of the Thracian Gigantes who was transformed into a dung beetle when he fled the battle with the gods. ASTERIUS (Asterios) A Lydian giant. AZEUS (Azeios) An Arcadian giant who fought in the War of the Titans. He was an ancestor of the Arcadian kings. BRIAREUS One of the three hundred-handed Hecatoncheires.

BRONTES One of the three elder Cyclopes who forged the lightning bolts of Zeus. CACUS (Kakos) A fire-breathing Latin giant slain by Heracles. CHARBYDIS (Kharybdis) A monstrous daughter of Poseidon who was chained to the sea floor by the gods where her inhalations formed a deadly whirlpool. CHRYSAOR (Khrysaor) A giant born from the neck of the beheaded Gorgon Medusa. COTTUS (Kottos) One of the three hundred-handed Hecatoncheires. CYCLOPES ELDER (Kyklopes) Three one-eyed giants assisted Zeus in the Titan War by crafting weapons for the gods including the lightning bolts for Zeus, a trident for Poseidon and an invisible helm for Hades. CYCLOPES YOUNGER (Kyklopes) A tribe of one-eyed cannibalistic giants who shepherded flocks of sheep on the island of Sicily. CYMOPOLEIA (Kymopoleia) A gigantic daughter of Poseidon who wed the hundred-handed giant Briareus. DAMASEN A Mysian giant who destroyed a dragon that was ravaging the country.

DAMYSUS (Damysos) The swiftest of the Thracian Gigantes who made war on the gods. ECHIDNADES (Ekhidnades) A serpent-footed giant and ally of the Titans who was slain by Ares when he attacked the fortress of the gods. ELATREUS The giant son of one of the elder Cyclopes who was slain by Apollo. ENCELADUS (Enkelados) One of the Thracian Gigantes who made war on the gods. He was buried by the goddess Athena beneath Mount Etna. EPHIALTES One of the twin giants named Aloadae who attempted to storm heaven. EURYALUS (Euryalos) One of the sons of the three elder Cyclopes slain by Apollo. EURYMEDON The king of the giants who led his people to ruin. GEGENEES A tribe of six armed giants encountered and slain by the Argonauts in Mysia. GERYON (Geryones) A three-bodied giant who dwelt on the sunset isle at the ends of the earth. He was slain by Heracles when the hero arrived to fetch the giant's cattle as one of his twelve labours.

GIGANTES HECA A hundred Thracian giants born of Gaea the Earth when she was impregnated by the blood of the castrated Uranus. The Gigantes waged war on the gods and attempted to storm heaven, but were slain in battle. GYES One of the three hundred-handed Hecatoncheires. HALIMEDES A gigantic son of one of three elder Cyclopes who was slain by Apollo to avenge the death of his son Asclepius. HECATONCHEIRES (Hekatonkheires) Three immortal giants with a hundred arms and fifty heads, who assisted Zeus in the War of the Titans. They were afterwards appointed as guards for the gates of Tartarus. HOPLODAMUS (Hoplodamos) A warrior giant who came to the aid of Rhea after Cronus learned of her duplicity in the hiding of the infant god Zeus. HYLLUS (Hyllos) A Lydian Giant. HYPERBOREAN GIANTS Three giant sons of Boreas, the North Wind, who were the chief priests of the mythical Hyperborean tribe.

LAESTRYGONES (Laistrygones) A tribe of cannibalistic giants encountered by Odysseus on his travels. They dwelt in a remote land where the sun never set. LEON One of the Thracian Gigantes who made war on the gods. He was slain by Heracles who stripped him of his leonine skin. MYLINUS (Mylinos) A Cretan giant slain by the god Zeus. OEOLYCA (Oiolyka) A gigantic daughter of the Hecatoncheir Briareus. OLYMPUS (Olympos) A Cretan giant who mentored Zeus. OREUS A man-eating Thracian giant who was half-man and half-bear. ORION A gigantic hunter with the ability to walk on water. He was slain by Gaea or Artemis for some offence and placed amongst the stars as a constellation. OTUS (Otos) One of the twin giants named Aloadae. PERIBOEA (Periboia) A daughter of the king of the giants. She was probably a giantess.

POLYBOTES One of the Thracian giants who was buried beneath an island by Poseidon in their war against the gods. POLYPHEMUS (Polyphemos) A cannibalistic Cyclops who was blinded by the hero Odysseus. PORPHYRION The mightiest of the Thracian Gigantes who attempted to rape Hera in the war but was destroyed by Heracles and Zeus with arrows and lightning bolts. RHODIAN GIGANTES A race of Giants native to the island of Rhodes. STEROPES One of the three elder Cyclopes who forged the lightning bolts of Zeus. SYCEUS (Sykeus) One of the Thracian Gigantes who made war on the gods. He fled the battle and was transformed by his mother Gaea into a fig tree. TALOS A giant molded out of bronze and set to patrol the island of Crete. He was slain by the witch Medea when he tried to prevent the Argonauts from landing on the island. TITYUS (Tityos) A lawless giant slain by Apollo and Artemis when he attempted to violate their mother Leto.

He was afterwards chained in the Dungeons of the Damned where a vulture fed on his ever-regenerating liver. TRACHIUS (Trakhios) A gigantic son of one of the elder Cyclopes slain by the god Apollo. TYPHOEUS A monstrous, fire-breathing giant with serpentine legs and a hundred bestial heads. When he stormed heaven the gods fled in a body to Egypt and hid themselves in the guise of animals. Zeus alone stood firm but was defeated and stripped of his sinews. Later in a rematch the god was victorious and buried Typhoeus beneath the volcanic Mount Etna. TYPHON Another name for Typhoeus. MYTHOLOGY IN POST-CLASSICAL ART Capturing a scene from book 9 of Homer's Odyssey , this painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) depicts Odysseus fleeing the rock-hurling Cyclops Polyphemus . Cyclopes Cyclopes See More Cyclopes Pictures > The Cyclopes (singular: Cyclops) were gigantic, one-eyed monsters .

Probably the most famous of them is Polyphemus , the Cyclops that was blinded by Odysseus . The Cyclopes were generally considered the sons of Titans Uranus and Gaea , but according to Homer, Polyphemus was the son of Poseidon , and the other Cyclopes were his brothers. Based on their description, they were a wild race of gigantic growth, similar in nature to the earth-born Giants , and had a single eye in the middle of their foreheads. They led a lawless life, possessing neither social manners nor fear for the gods, and were the workmen of Hephaestus , whose workshop was supposed to be in the heart of the volcanic mountain Etna. In this case, one may identify another striking instance of the manner in which the Greeks personified the powers of nature, which they saw in active operation around them. They observed the fire, rocks, and ash pouring from Etna and other volcanic mountains with awe and astonishment, and, with their vivacious imagination, found an explanation to the mystery; the god of Fire must be busy at work with his men in the depths of the earth, and the mighty flames coming from the depths of the earth must be a result of this.

The chief representative of the Cyclops was the man-eating monster Polyphemus , described by Homer as having been blinded and outwitted by Odysseus . This monster fell in love with a beautiful nymph called Galatea; but, as may be supposed, his actions were not graceful nor acceptable to the fair maiden, who rejected them in favour of a youth named Acis; Polyphemus , enraged and with his usual barbarity, killed his rival by throwing upon him a gigantic rock. The blood of the murdered Acis, gushing out of the rock, formed a stream which still bears his name. Hesiod mentioned only three Cyclopes (not considering them a race or tribe): Arges (thunderbolt), Steropes (lightning), and Brontes (thunder), obviously storm gods. They were also the first smiths. When Cronus came to power, he imprisoned them in Tartarus . They were later released by Zeus and fought for him against the Titans . As a reward for their release, the Cyclopes gave Zeus his weapons of lighting and thunder. They continued as his workers at Mount Olympus forging his thunderbolts.

Arges was killed by Hermes while he guarded Io for Hera ; Apollo killed at least one of them as vengeance for the death of his son Aesculapius by Zeus . Cyclopes Is also called Cyclops. Cyclops - Mythological Creature Profile Cyclops C Gods and Goddesses Cyclops A cyclops of Greek mythology, with one eye in the centre of his forehead. Hulton Archive / Stringer/ Hulton Archive/ Getty Images By N.S. Gill Updated August 23, 2016. The Cyclops were represented as strong, one-eyed giants in Greek mythology . Their name is also spelled Cyclopes, and, as usual with Greek words, the letter K may be used in place of the C. According to the Greek epic poet Hesiod , the Cyclops were the sons of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia /Ge (Earth). Hesiod names the Cyclops Argos, Steropes, and Brontes. The Titans and Hecatonchires (or Hundred-handers), both known for their size, may have been other offspring of Uranus and Gaia. Even though Uranus was their father, he lacked paternal instincts.

Instead, he had the nasty habit of keeping all his children imprisoned -- inside their mother, Gaia, who wasn't very happy about it. When the Titan Cronus decided to help his mother by overthrowing his father, Uranus, the Cyclops helped. But they were no better off with Cronus than Uranus. Instead of rewarding them for their assistance, Cronus imprisoned them in Tartarus [see: The Greek Underworld ]. Zeus who, in turn, overthrew his own father (Cronus), set the Cyclops free. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know Since they were metal workers and blacksmiths, they repaid Zeus with a thank you gift of thunder and lightning. The Cyclops also gifted the gods Poseidon with a trident and Hades with the Helmet of Darkness. Their time in fortune's favor was limited, though. Apollo slew the Cyclops after they struck his son or were blamed for striking his son Asclepius with lightning. Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2.

15 : "Eratoshtenes says about the [constellation] Arrow, that with this Apollo killed the Cyclopes who forged the thunderbolt by which Aesculapius died. Apollo had buried this arrow in the Hyperborean mountain, but when Jupiter [Zeus] pardoned his son, it was borne by the wind and brought to Apollo along with the grain which at that time was growing. Many point out that for this reason it is among the constellations." Ut Eratosthenes autem de Sagitta demonstrat, hac Apollo Cyclopas interfecit, qui fulmen Iovi fecerunt, quo Aesculapium interfectum complures dixerunt. Hanc autem sagittam in Hyperboreo monte Apollinem defodisse. Cum autem Iuppiter ignoverit filio, ipsam sagittam vento ad Apollinem perlatam cum frugibus, quae eo tempore nascebantur. Hanc igitur ob causam inter sidera demonstrant. Besides Hesiod, the other major Greek epic poet and transmitter of Greek mythology was the story teller we call Homer .

Homer's Cyclops are different from Hesiod's, starting with their origin, since they are the sons of Poseidon ; however, they share with Hesiod's Cyclops immensity, strength, and the single eye. The giant Polyphemus , whom Odysseus encounters in his ten-year return sea voyage from Troy, is a cyclops. Here are some passages from Theoi with less well-known information about the various Cyclops: Tiryns' Walls, by the Cyclops Strabo, Geography 8. 6. 11 : "Now it seems that Tiryns [in the Argolis] was used as a base of operations by Proitos, and was walled by him through the aid of the Kyklopes, who were seven in number, and were called Gasterokheirai (Bellyhands) because they got their food from their handicraft, and they came by invitation from Lykia. And perhaps the caverns near Nauplia [in Argolis] and the works therein are named after them." Towers Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7. 195 (trans.

Rackham) : "[On inventions :] Towers [were invented] by the Cyclopes according to Aristotle." In Dionysus' War Against India Nonnus, Dionysiaca 14. 52 ff (trans. Rouse) : "[Rhea summoned the rustic gods and spirits to join the army of Dionysos for his campaign against the Indian nation :] Battalions of Kyklopes came like a flood. In battle, these with weaponless hands cast hills for their stony spears, and their shields were cliffs; a peak from some mountain-ravine was their crested helmet, Sikeloi (Sicilian) sparks were their fiery arrows [i.e. sparks from Mount Etna]. They went into battle holding burning brands and blazing with light form the forge they knew so well--Brontes and Steropes, Euryalos and Elatreus, Arges and Trakhios and proud Halimedes." Pronunciation: /saɪ.klaps/ Also Known As: one-eyed giants Alternate Spellings: singular: kyklops, kuklops. plural: cyclopes, kyklopes, kuklopes.

Common Misspellings: syclops Examples: When the volcano at Mt. Aetna smokes, it is, mythologically speaking, the result of the cyclops working at their forge. Go to Other Ancient / Classical History Glossary pages beginning with the letter

Question: In Greek mythology, what is the name for a one-eyed giant?
Answer: Cyclops