Cyclopes

The Cyclopes were legendary giants in Greek and Roman mythology, distinguished by their single eye set in the center of their forehead. Ancient sources describe three distinct groups of these beings, whose name means "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes" in Greek.

Hesiod's Theogony tells of three Cyclops brothers—Brontes, Steropes, and Arges—who crafted Zeus's thunderbolt weapon. A different portrayal appears in Homer's Odyssey, which describes them as primitive shepherds, including the famous Polyphemus who encountered Odysseus. The Cyclopes were also renowned as master builders, credited with constructing the massive "Cyclopean walls" of Mycenae and Tiryns.

Their story continued to evolve in later literature. Euripides' fifth-century BC play Cyclops adapted the Odysseus-Polyphemus encounter, adding satirical elements through a chorus of satyrs. The Roman poet Virgil, like his Greek predecessor Callimachus, merged different traditions by portraying the Hesiodic Cyclopes as assistants to the smith-god Hephaestus.

By the fifth century BC, these one-eyed giants became strongly associated with Sicily and the volcanic Aeolian Islands, linking their mythology to these Mediterranean territories.