Cyclopes

=Cyclops of the Ancient Greeks= by Steve Nixon -__SIGH__-klops - Generation I - Blacksmiths for the Olympian gods - Freed by Zeus after overthrowing Cronus - Killed by Apollo - Generation II - Sheep herders from the island of sicily - Polyphemus captured Odysseus - Polyphemus blinded by Odysseus

//Generation I// The first generation of Cyclops were descendants of Gaia and Uranus, two Olympian gods. They were the three brothers Brontes, which means "thunderer", Steropes, which means "flasher", and Arges which means "brightener". All three were clever blacksmiths, smelting goods for the gods who created them. They crafted the thunderbolts of Zeus, Poseidon’s trident, and the helmet of darkness that perseus wore on his quest to decapitate medusa. However, they were imprisoned for most of their lives, until Zeus freed them in order to overthrow the titans and take rule of the world. Zeus was so thankful for their lightning bolts that he granted them freedom and allowed them to live as blacksmiths to the gods. The three brothers were slain by Apollo after Zeus struck down one of Apollo’s sons for bringing a man back from the dead. As the makers of the lightning bolt that killed his son, Apollo killed all three and buried them in the active volcano Mt. Etna, which smokes to this day because their ghosts still operate forges under the mountain.

//Generation II// The second appearance of the Cyclops in the Greek myths was during Homers epic //Iliad,// as a ragtag group of monsters, one of which captures the hero Odysseus when he roles a stone over the mouth of his cave to protect his sheep. These Cyclopes have apparently lost the skill of metalworking, as they live by herding sheep on the island of Sicily. After discovering humans in his cave, Polyphemus indulges himself by eating many of Odysseus’s men. The second night, Odysseus convinces the beast that his name is "nobody", inebriates him with wine. When the beast has fallen asleep, Odysseus pokes the Cyclops in the eye with a red hot poker, blinding Polyphemus who wakes up claiming that "Nobody is trying to kill me, nobody is hurting me", so none of his companions come to help. When Polyphemus rolls the stone away from the mouth of the cave to allow his sheep to graze, Odysseus and his remaining men cling to the bellies of the sheep, as the blinded Polyphemus is checking for the men walking out standing up by feeling the backs of the sheep. When he and his men have boarded their ship and begun to sail away, Odysseus shouts back to the Cyclops what his name actually is, enraging the beast and provoking him into throwing massive boulders at the ship. When this fails, Polyphemus calls upon his father, Poseidon, god of the sea, to wreck Odysseus’s ship with a monster storm. Polyphemus was also in love with a sea-nymph named Galatea. However, Galatea was more interested in a young Sheppard named Acis, and Polyphemus killed him out of jealousy.



//Origins and Connections to Today// Many people believe that the Cyclopes’ connection to blacksmithing has something to do with the fact that many blacksmiths from the Greek and roman periods wore an eye patch over one eye, which protected at least one from being damaged by sparks inherent to the profession. The idea of the eye being located in the center of the forehead may have also come from the finding of [|dwarf elephant] skulls on the island Sicily, where they were said to live. The dwarf elephant had a large cavity in its skull in the middle of the forehead, where it appears that an eye could fit. Works consulted