Cyclops: One-Eyed Giants in Greek Mythology

Meet with us the Cyclops. Mythological figures present in the Greek culture and others. Discover their legends and powers.

Who are the Cyclops?

The Cyclops were gigantic, one-eyed beings of enormous strength. Originally, there were three of them: Arges, Stéropes and Brontes; skilled blacksmiths, they were the sons of Uranus and Gaia and the brothers of the Hecatoncheires and the Titans. They were imprisoned by Cronus but freed by his son Zeus, for whom they forged their famous thunderbolt as a sign of gratitude.

Later, however, the poets spoke of a different type of Cyclops, a race of one-eyed, violent, one-eyed, one-eyed shepherds who lived in the caves of the island of Sicily. The most famous among them was Polyphemus, the Cyclops who fell in love with Galatea and was eventually blinded by Odysseus.

What does Cyclops mean?

The word “Cyclops” can be literally translated as“round-eyed“, but many authors believe it derives from a much older word that originally meant“sheep thief“. Both etymologies describe Cyclops suspiciously well and, in fact, it is entirely possible that the very name Cyclops has influenced and, slowly but surely, distorted its original representation.

Two types of Cyclops

Although they seem to have shared their most distinctive traits with each other, there appear to have been two very different types of Cyclops in ancient Greek mythology. Hesiod’s Cyclops are three gigantic, divine blacksmiths, sons of Uranus and Gaea, residents of Olympus; Homer’s are a race of huge, violent shepherds related to Poseidon and inhabiting the world of humans.

Cyclops of Hesiod

Hesiod mentions only three Cyclopes: Arges, Stéropes and Brontes (Vivid). The sons of Uranus and Gaea, they are some of the first gods to have arisen, born shortly after the Titans, and just before the Hecatoncheires, both their brothers.

Cyclops of Homer

Homer’s Cyclops were a race of fierce and unintelligent shepherds who lived on the island of Sicily, at least from what we can gather from the “Odyssey” and later works inspired by it. The most famous among them, Polyphemus, was the son of Poseidon and the nymph Thoosa, and had a famous encounter with Odysseus.

Based on most descriptions, the divine Cyclops were gigantic and immensely strong beings with a single eye in the middle of their foreheads. They had a knack for metallurgy and craftsmanship and ended up as the workers of Hephaestus, whose workshop was supposed to be in the heart of the volcanic mountain of Etna.

Cronus and the Cyclops

Prompted by his mother Gaia, the youngest of the Titans, Cronus, castrated and overthrew his father Uranus, establishing himself as the supreme ruler of all the gods. Fearing the power of his brothers, he imprisoned both the Cyclopes and the Hecatonics in Tartarus, causing the dragon Champion to protect them for all eternity. Terrified also of his children, Cronus tried to devour each of them as soon as they were born.

Zeus, the Cyclops and the Titanomachy

Eventually, however, the Cyclops and the Hecatonchires were freed from Tartarus by the only one of the sons of Cronus who was not eaten by him at birth. Zeus did this on the advice of Gaia, who had informed him that he could not depose Cronus without her help. True to Gaea’s words, the Cyclops played a crucial role during the Titanomachy.

That is, not only did they side with Zeus in his war against the Titans, but they also forged Zeus’ mighty thunderbolt, along with a trident for Poseidon and an invisibility helmet for Hades. With the help of these weapons, Zeus and his party emerged triumphant from the Titanomachy, banishing the Titans to Tartarus once and for all.

The works of the Cyclops

Now that Zeus had become the ruler of the world, the Cyclops could devote themselves fully to their talents and to their chosen line of work. They took up residence in the forges of the divine artificer Hephaestus (under the volcanic Mount Etna in Sicily) and, under his direction, continued to forge the thunderbolts of Zeus, as well as making parts of some of the equipment of other gods (the armor of Athena, the chariot of Ares).

The Cyclops were also believed to have built numerous monumental works throughout Greece and Italy. Some of the most famous buildings attributed to them are the immense walls of Tiryns and the Lion’s Gate at Mycenae.

Representation

Although also one-eyed and as gigantic as Hesiod’s Cyclops, Homer’s Cyclops were neither blacksmiths nor obedient. Generally portrayed as violent cannibals, they led an unruly life, having neither social manners nor fear for the gods. “They have neither laws nor assemblies of the people,” Homer writes, “but live in caves on the tops of high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they have no regard for their neighbors.”

The main representative of Homer’s Cyclops was the man-eating monster Polyphemus, described by Homer as blind and outwitted by Odysseus. Later authors make him a possible lover of the nymph Galatea.

Polyphemus and Galatea

Long before being blinded by Odysseus, Polyphemus had fallen in love with a beautiful nymph named Galatea. However, as one might guess, his actions were neither gracious nor acceptable to the fair maiden, who rejected them in favor of a young man named Acis, the handsome son of Faunus and the river nymph Simaethis. Polyphemus, enraged and with his usual barbarism, killed his rival by throwing a gigantic rock at him. The blood of the slain Acis, flowing from the rock, formed a stream that bears his name to this day.

Polyphemus and Odysseus

Upon landing on the island of the Cyclops, Odysseus and his sailors found themselves trapped in Polyphemus’ cave. The Cyclops ate six of Odysseus’ men, and he had no choice but to devise a quick escape plan. So, one night, he intoxicated Polyphemus and pierced his eye with a wooden stake; the next morning, he told his men to hide under the stomachs of Polyphemus’ sheep, and thus managed to smuggle them out of the cave. It was because of this act that Poseidon, Polyphemus’ father, held a grudge against Odysseus for a decade, keeping him away from Ithaca and his beloved wife, Penelope.

The death of the Cyclops

It seems that the original three Cyclops suffered an untimely death at the hands of the Olympians. First Arges was killed by Hermes while protecting Io from the lust of Zeus; then, Apollo killed both Strops and Brontes in an act of revenge for the death of his beloved son, Asclepius. In reality, the Cyclops had nothing to do with his death, other than to forge the thunderbolt that Zeus hurled in Asclepius’ direction. But, obviously, Apollo was unable to take revenge on Zeus, so that Stéropes and Brontes had to suffer his wrath instead of Zeus.

Sources

Hesiod’s Cyclops are first described in the “Theogony”, where their role in the Titanomachy is also briefly recounted. Homer’s Cyclops and the encounter between Polyphemus and Odysseus is told in full in the ninth book of the “Odyssey”. In the “Aeneid,” Virgil beautifully describes the workshop of the Cyclops, and Euripides has written an entire comedy about the rebellious Cyclops, the only complete satyr play that has come down to us.