Cyclops - mythology

Many myths testify to what the Cyclops looked like, but not to how many there were and what their origin was. In the oldest tradition, the Cyclops are defiant one-eyed giants who live in the far west, on the tops of high mountains, separately, in spacious caves, where they rule over women and children at will. They do not know the laws, they do not plow or sow the fields, but they still sprout wheat and bear vines. These enemies of gods and people possess enormous power and a terrible voice, have only one eye each and consider themselves stronger than Zeus. They devour people because they are afraid of being robbed of their flocks. Cyclops are opponents of all progress, they do not know seafaring, and their only occupation is grazing herds and making cheese. The most famous of these cyclops is Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon and Fork's daughter Toosa. Odysseus blinded him, which is why he drew the eternal hatred of the god of the sea on himself.

Polyphemus possessed great power. Stupid and insensitive, he was not afraid of the gods and lived alone in a cave near Mount Etna in Sicily. That one-eyed cannibal spent all his time with flocks of goats and sheep. When Odysseus arrived in the land of the Cyclops, Polyphemus imprisoned the hero and his twelve companions in his cave. They soon found themselves in mortal danger, because Polyphemus immediately devoured two of them. Odysseus got drunk and blinded Polyphemus with a red-hot stick, and then, thanks to his cunning, he came out of the cave with his friends. The ingenious Odysseus tied his comrades and himself under large rams and so, hidden in their fleece, they escaped from the cave.

Later tradition knows of three Cyclops - Bront, Sterop, and Argy - the sons of Uranus and Gaia; they were born after titanium, and before hekatonheir. These terrible giants were captured underground by their father, from where Zeus freed them when he started the fight against Crohn's. As a sign of gratitude, Bront, Sterop and Argej, whose names signify thunder and lightning, gave Zeus lightning and thunder. Some say that the Cyclops were freed by the Titans, that Crohn threw them back into Tartarus, and that they remained there until Zeus killed the monster Campus, who was guarding them. After they were released, the Cyclops gave Zeus lightning and thunder, Hades - an invisible hat, and Poseidon - a trident. Later, Apollo killed the Cyclops because he held them responsible for the death of his son Asclepius, when Zeus killed him with lightning. Apollo then killed the Cyclops, the creator of lightning, to avenge Zeus for his son's death.

In the younger tradition, the Cyclops are the oldest inhabitants of the islands of Sicily or the Aeolian Islands, where, in volcanic craters, deep underground, they have workshops in which, by Hephaestus' order, they make weapons for the gods. Etna is most often mentioned as their seat.

The Cyclops are also mentioned as the builders of the giant ramparts of Mycenae, Argos and Tiryns. It is said that these cyclops were translated by Pret from Lycia to the Peloponnese and that he first entrusted them with the construction of the ramparts in Tiryns. Then they built the ramparts of Mycenae, and then Perseus brought them to Argos.

In fine arts, starting from the 7th century AD, the encounter of Odysseus and his friends with the Cyclops Polyphemus is often depicted, and most often - the motif of Polyphemus 'blindness or Odysseus' escape.

Literature:

• Dragoslav Srejović - Aleksandrina Cermanović-Kuzmanović, Recnik grčke i rimske mitologije, drugo izdanje, Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, 1987