---
title: Cyclops
description: One-eyed humanoids according to Greek mythology.
author:
  name: Graciela Paula Caldeiro
  url: http://graciela-caldeiro.idoneos.com
canonical: https://mitosyleyendas.idoneos.com/en/bestiario_mitologico/ciclope/
source: en/bestiario_mitologico/ciclope/index.md
---

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<h2 id="ciclope">Cyclops</h2>

The Cyclopes, according to [Greek mythology](https://mitologiagrecorromana.idoneos.com/), were giants with a single eye in the middle of their forehead. They were considered hostile and malevolent in nature. Some of them personified atmospheric phenomena: the storm, thunder, and lightning; while others were builders to whom certain sections of Hellenic palaces were attributed.

According to other sources, the Cyclopes were assistants of Hephaestus, god of fire and patron of metallurgy.

The poet Hesiod tells us that there were three sons of Uranus and Gaia, and that it was they who forged the thunderbolts of Zeus; these Cyclopes die at the hands of Apollo, on account of the death of Asclepius.

According to the Odyssey, the Cyclopes whom Odysseus encounters keep sheep and live in a land that could be identified with Sicily. Upon landing, the Cyclops Polyphemus shuts Odysseus and his men inside a cave and eats several of them. Odysseus tells the giant his name is "Nobody," gets him drunk, and blinds him with a stake that he had sharpened and hardened in the fire. The following day, he and his crew escape hidden beneath the giant's rams as they go out to graze.