A Cyclops (/ˈsaɪklɒps/ sy-klops; Ancient Greek: Κύκλωψ, Kuklōps; plural Cyclopes /saɪˈkloʊpiːz/ sy-kloh-peez; Ancient Greek: Κύκλωπες, Kuklōpes), in Greek mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead.[1] The name literally means "round-eyed"[2] or "circle-eyed".[3]
Hesiod described three one-eyed Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes and Arges, the sons of Uranus and Gaia, brothers of the Titans, builders and craftsmen,[4] while the epic poet Homer described another group of mortal herdsmen Cyclopes the sons of Poseidon. Other accounts were written by the playwright Euripides, poet Theocritus and Roman epic poet Virgil. In Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus releases three Cyclopes from the dark pit of Tartarus. They provide Zeus' thunderbolt, Hades' helmet of invisibility, and Poseidon's trident, and the gods use these weapons to defeat the Titans.
In a famous episode of Homer's Odyssey, the hero Odysseus encounters the Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and Thoosa (a nereid), who lives with his fellow Cyclopes in a distant country. The connection between the two groups has been debated in antiquity and by modern scholars.[5] It is upon Homer's account that Euripides and Virgil based their accounts of the mythical creatures. Strabo describes another group of seven Lycian Cyclopes, also known as "Bellyhands" because they earned from their handicraft. They had built the walls of Tiryns and perhaps the caverns and the labyrinths near Nauplia, which are called cyclopean.[6]
