Cyclops. (Art by Kolokas)
| “ | How will you defeat it with only one
spear?" asked young Althemone. The Champion raised her weapon. "It has but one eye. |
„ |
| ~ The Theriad |
The Cyclopes are a primordial race of giants from Greek mythology, each with a single eye in the middle of their foreheads. The name is widely thought to mean "circle-eyed". They were believed by many to be man-eating monsters.
Overview[]
These giants originated from three cyclopes who were also brothers and known as the elder cyclopes. The three brothers were Brontes, Steropes and Arges, and their names meant thunderer, lightning and bright respectively. This cyclopes were the primordial sons of Ouranos and Gaia, making them brothers to the Titans and therefore related to the Olympians.
History[]
Background[]
At the time of the birth of these Cyclopes, their father Ouranos held supreme power over the Earth but feared that he might lose this position, especially after witnessing the strength of the newborn Cyclopes. Ouranos proceeded to imprison his own sons within Tartarus which caused great pain to Gaia. His next children, the Hekatonkheires, would follow the Cyclopes into imprisonment for the same reason, especially since they were even stronger than their brothers.
When their younger siblings the Titans rebelled against Ouranos, the liberated Cyclopes and Hecatonchires supported Cronus in his coup d'etat to overthrow their father. They proved to be a deciding factor in the battle directly responsible for the Titans' victory; but because of their showcasing of power, Cronus came to fear the Cyclopes as well and imprisoned them in Tartarus instead of letting them keep their newfound freedom.
Titanomachy[]
The giants remained there, guarded by the dragon Campe, until they and the Hecatoncheires, were freed once and for all by their nephews; Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. In gratitude, they aided the three brothers and fashioned Zeus' thunderbolts, Poseidon's trident and Hades' helmet of invisibility. To create Zeus' thunderbolt, the cyclopes traversed to the "yawning void" where they came across the storm of storms before managing to encase one of its lightning bolts in a bronze scroll. Upon attaining this bolt, Arges added the brightness, Brontes added the thunder, and Steropes the lightning before placing it inside a bronze cylinder. The cyclopes then aided Zeus in his battle against the Titans and with their help, Zeus finally deposed Cronus, just as Cronus did to his own father Ouranos. The thunderbolt later became Zeus' trademark weapon and symbol.
Blacksmiths of Hephaestus[]
After the war against the Titans, Zeus recognized the aid that the Cyclopes had given him, they were invited to live upon Mount Olympus. According to Hesiod, the Cyclopes were strong, stubborn, and "abrupt of emotion", to the point that they became synonymous with brute strength and power. These traits made them excellent blacksmiths for the Olympians and the favored apprentices of Hephaestus, who taught them within his great forge.
There the Cyclopes crafted many great weapons, trinkets, and armor for the Olympians. In time they also built the gates of Mount Olympus and the great cyclopean fortifications at Tiryns and Mycenae in the Peloponnese. According to the hymn, the noises proceeding from the heart of volcanoes were attributed to the underground forges were the Cyclopes worked.
Description[]
Society[]
Over the ages cyclopes have spread far and wide across the lands of the earth, some living in more primal and brutish ways than others. Cyclopes such as these tended to capture entire herds of animals and keep them imprisoned in caves in a crude, primitive form of farming that allowed the cyclopes to eat the creatures at their leisure. Intelligent creatures were not spared by these cyclopes, and unless they could find a way to entertain or outsmart the monster, these humans too would be devoured all the same. The most famous of these Cyclops was Polyphemus, who was defeated by the hero Odysseus.
Cyclopean Eye[]
While most creatures use binocular vision to gain depth perception, cyclops only have one eye. To compensate for this molecular vision, Cyclops will be seen nodding their heads as they go along, as if they were grooving to internal music. Their heads will constantly shift and rotate, swaying from side to side in a manner similar to snakes. While many of these motions may be thought of as strange, they actually enable the cyclops to change the position of the eye and so they can build a 3d model of the world around them, which they are able to recall with photographic accuracy.
