by Chrystina Trulove-Reyes

Created on: November 30, 2008   Last Updated: January 05, 2009

The cyclops was a one eyed giant from Greek mythology, and later adapted to Roman myth after the Romans conquered Greece. There are thought to be at least three different types of cyclops, both benevolent and malevolent; most myths describe the cyclops' as being as mean as their countenance. They were also renown for their blacksmithing skills.

The first cyclops' were the children of Uranus and Gaia, who had a total of twelve children. The cyclops' were named Sterops, Brontes, and Arges. Though the cyclops had been imprisoned by Uranus, they learned that their sibling Cronus had taken the throne from the first Sky-God. But he too, imprisoned the cyclops', and even went so far as to imprison his own children by devouring them. The youngest child of Cronus, alone, was able to flee the fate of his siblings with the help of his mother, Rhea. As a baby, Rhea stashed her youngest child, Zeus, in a mountain and disguised a rock as the baby. Cronus ate the rock, never suspecting that it wasn't one of his children, and never looked for Zeus.

Rhea raised Zeus secretly until he was old enough to free his siblings. Then, at the words of an oracle, freed the cyclops' and enlisted their aid in overthrowing Cronus and the Titans. The cyclops created weapons for the gods, including a thunderbolt which Zeus could use to cast lightning at his enemies, a helmet that Hades wore to make himself invisible, and a trident, which acted as the focus of Poseidon's power. Armed with the weapons, the titans were overthrown and then imprisoned in Tartarus.

The second type of cyclops closely resembles the first, at least in the skills department. These cyclops' were also gifted smiths, but instead of being gods themselves, they were subordinates under the guidance of Hephaestus, the smith-god. The cyclops' were in charge of creating weapons and tools for the gods of Olympus, such as the thunderbolts and lightning of Zeus, and the arrows of Athena, Apollo and Demeter. As time moved on, the creatures began to inhabit the mountains of Sicily, then later they became the companions to Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and the most famous of cyclops, and take on a more malevolent role. They became shepherds and breeders of sheep, though were cannibalistic by choice. Polyphemus was the largest, strongest and cruelest of the cyclops.

At one point Polyphemus fell in love with a sea nymph by the name of Galatea, who was in love with a human named Acis. In an effort to please Galatea, Polyphemus cleaned

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