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| | Cyclops are the three sons of Uranus and Gaia - giants with a single eye in the middle of the forehead (name means round-eyed) are strong and wild. Their names: Brontes ("thunderer"), Steropes ("flasher"), and Arges ("brightener") denote the connection with elemental forces of the nature. Cyclops belong to most ancient generation of gods: they were thrown by Uranus into Tartarus, but Zeus freed them and took advantage of their power, strength and skills in war against Titans, and Cyclops provided Zeus with thunderbolts, lightening and brightness. Possessing such formidable weapon gave Zeus permanent epithet- the Thunder-bearer. Zeus armed with thunderbolts, Poseidon with a trident and Hades with a helmet from Cyclops, defeated Titans. By drawing lots, they became rulers of the world.
Apollo killed Cyclops in revenge of their help in forging a thunderbolt for Zeus to strike Asclepius (god of doctors, son of Apollo). For this, he was sent by his father as a herdsman to the king Admetus of Thessaly, where Asclepius multiplied herds, together with Heracles saved life of Alcestis, king’s wife.
Vergil’s Cyclops were adjutants of Hephaestus and were supposedly dwelling in lower depths of Mt Aetna where they forged, chariot of Mars, aegis of Pallas and armor of Oeneus. Homer's Cyclops are proud, wicked and not so strong minded and folk. They live in deep caves of Sicily and neither know laws nor sow, have no profession, eating only whatsoever earth gives them.
The one wealth they have is – cattle. In a famous episode of Homer's Odyssey, the hero Odysseus, blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and a Nymph (Thoosa), daughter of sea god Phorcys.
Terrible and bloodthirsty giant with one eye - Polyphemus-herdsman lives in a cave. Here, he has a fire place, milks goats, makes cheese and eats raw meat. IXth chant in Homer’s Odyssey dedicated to adventures of Odyssey in Polyphemus’s cave. While in inebrated condition, cyclops was blinded by Odyssey and escapes his companion’s fate of eaten by cyclops. When blinded by spit from fire, Polyphemus shouted in pain to the other Cyclops on the island that "Nobody" was trying to kill him. So no one came to his rescue. As Odysseus sailed away from the island, he shouted to Polyphemus that it was Odysseus who had blinded him. Cyclops remembered oracle’s prediction and enraged by this and threw huge boulders at the ship.
In Hellenistic literature Theocritus, Polyphemus is depicted in amusing way. Here, he is a peaceful herdsman. Maidens laugh at his ugliness, in vain he was romance with Galatea, the nymph and he feels sad about unachievable love. Ovid narrates myth about unhappy love of Polyphemus to Galatea and his terrible revenge meted out to her beloved, Acis. |
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Scientists suggest that one of the possible origins of the Cyclops legend is connected to people finding the skulls of the extinct dwarf elephants. Their skulls are twice the size of human skulls, and have a large (nasal) cavity in the middle, which looked like a single eye-socket cavity.
