Editing Cyclopes (section)

==Kinds==
Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished: the Hesiodic, the Homeric and the wall-builders.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]. Apparently, such a three-fold distinction was already made as early as the fifth-century BC, by the historian [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]], see Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 pp. 35&ndash;36], [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 p. 55]; [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA188 fr. 88 Fowler] [= ''[[FGrHist]]'' 4 fr. 88]; a scholiast to [[Aelius Aristides]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=6N1EAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA408 52.10 Dindorf p. 408] describes a similar three-fold distinction, see Storey, [https://www.loebclassics.com/abstract/nicophon-testimonia_fragments/2011/pb_LCL514.401.xml p. 401].</ref> In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', the Cyclopes are the three brothers: Brontes, Steropes, and [[Arges (Cyclops)|Arges]], sons of [[Uranus (god)|Uranus]] and [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], who made for [[Zeus]] his characteristic weapon, the [[thunderbolt]]. In [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', the Cyclopes are an uncivilized group of shepherds, one of whom, [[Polyphemus]], the son of [[Poseidon]], is encountered by [[Odysseus]]. Cyclopes were also said to have been the builders of the [[Cyclopean masonry|Cyclopean walls]] of [[Mycenae]] and [[Tiryns]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53]; Bremmer, p. 140.</ref> A scholiast, quoting the fifth-century BC historian [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]], tells us that, in addition to the Hesiodic Cyclopes (whom the scholiast describes as "the gods themselves"), and the Homeric Cyclopes, there was a third group of Cyclopes: the builders of the walls of [[Mycenae]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 pp. 35&ndash;36], [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 p. 55]; [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA188 fr. 88 Fowler] [= ''[[FGrHist]]'' 4 fr. 88]. According to Hellanicus, the Cyclopes were named after Cyclops the son of Uranus.</ref>

===Hesiodic Cyclopes===
[[File:Forge of the Cyclopes LACMA M.88.91.96.jpg|thumb|"The Forge of the Cyclopes", a Dutch 16th-century print after a painting by [[Titian]]]]

[[Hesiod]], in the ''[[Theogony]]'' (c. 700 BC), described three Cyclopes: Brontes, Steropes, and Arges, who were the sons of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] (Sky) and [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] (Earth), and the brothers of the [[Titans (mythology)|Titans]] and [[Hundred-Handers]], and who had a single eye set in the middle of their foreheads.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA32 p. 32]; Gantz, p. 10; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:139-172 139–146]; cf. [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.2 1.1.2]. These Hesiodic Cyclopes are sometimes called the "Uranian" (or "Ouranian") Cyclopes after their father Uranus (Ouranos), see Caldwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GyIKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 p. 36 on lines 139&ndash;146]; Grimal s.v. Cyclopes p. 119.</ref> They made for Zeus his all-powerful thunderbolt, and in so doing, the Cyclopes played a key role in the Greek succession myth, which told how the Titan [[Cronus]] overthrew his father Uranus, and how in turn Zeus overthrew Cronus and his fellow Titans, and how Zeus was eventually established as the final and permanent ruler of the cosmos.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA65 pp. 65&ndash;69]; Hansen, pp. 66&ndash;67, 293&ndash;294; West 1966, pp. 18&ndash;19; Dowden, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GrGAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 35&ndash;36].</ref> The names that Hesiod gives them: Arges (Bright), Brontes (Thunder), and Steropes (Lightning), reflect their fundamental role as thunderbolt makers.<ref>Most 2018a, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.15.xml p. 15]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]. According to West 1966, p. 207 on line 140, the three names represent different aspects of the same thing: a lightning bolt, i.e. that which is heard: Brontes, from ''βροντή'' ("thunder", see ''[[LSJ]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dbronth%2F s.v. βροντ-ή]), that which is seen: Steropes, from ''στεροπή'' ("flash of lightning", see ''[[LSJ]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dsteroph%2F s.v. στεροπ-ή]) and that which strikes: Arges, a "formulaic epithet of ''κεραυνός''" ("thunderbolt", see ''[[LSJ]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dkerauno%2Fs s.v. κεραυνός]).</ref> As early as the late seventh-century BC, the Cyclopes could be used by the [[Sparta]]n poet [[Tyrtaeus]] to epitomize extraordinary size and strength.<ref>West 1966, p. 207 on line 139; Bremmer, p. 140; [[Tyrtaeus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/tyrtaeus-fragments/1999/pb_LCL258.57.xml 12.2&ndash;3]: "...&nbsp;not even if / he had the size and strength of the Cyclopes".</ref>

According to the accounts of Hesiod and the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], the Cyclopes had been imprisoned by their father Uranus.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.15.xml 154&ndash;158], says that Uranus "put them all away out of sight in a hiding place in Earth and did not let them come up into the light", while according to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.2 1.1.2], Uranus "bound and cast [them] into Tartarus", the two places perhaps being the same (see West 1966, p. 338 on line 618, and Caldwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GyIKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 p. 37 on lines 154–160]).</ref> Zeus later freed the Cyclopes, and they repaid him by giving him the thunderbolt.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.43.xml 501&ndash;506].</ref> The Cyclopes provided for Hesiod, and other theogony-writers, a convenient source of heavenly weaponry, since the smith-god [[Hephaestus]]&mdash;who would eventually take over that role&mdash;had not yet been born.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]: the Cyclopes "would supply the obvious answer any theogony-writer would pose: who made the weapons in the early wars, before even Hephaistos was born?"; see also West 1966, p. 207 on line 139, who, after mentioning that "for Hesiod [the Cyclopes] are simply one-eyed craftsmen who made Zeus' thunder", notes parenthetically by way of explanation, "Hephaestus had not yet been born".</ref> According to Apollodorus, the Cyclopes also provided [[Poseidon]] with his [[Trident of Poseidon|trident]] and [[Hades]] with his [[cap of invisibility]],<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA69 p. 69]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.1 1.2.1]. The hat given to Hades in Apollodorus is presumably the same "cap of Hades" mentioned in the [[Iliad]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.835-5.863 5.844&ndash;845], that Athena wore so that "mighty Ares should not see her", see Gantz, p. 71.</ref> and the gods used these weapons to defeat the [[Titans (mythology)|Titans]].

Although the primordial Cyclopes of the ''Theogony'' were presumably immortal (as were their brothers the Titans), the sixth-century BC Hesiodic ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'', has them being killed by [[Apollo]].<ref>Hard, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 66], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA151 151] Gantz, pp. 13, 92; Hesiod [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.131.xml fr. 57 Most] [= fr. 52 MW], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.131.xml fr. 58 Most] [= frr. 54a + 57 MW], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.133.xml fr. 59 Most] [= frr. 54c, b MW]. For further discussion of the story around Apollo's killing the Cyclopes, see Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 pp. 74&ndash;79]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA151 pp. 151&ndash;152].</ref> Later sources tell us why: Apollo's son [[Asclepius]] had been killed by Zeus' thunderbolt, and Apollo killed the Cyclopes, the makers of the thunderbolt, in revenge.<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Alcestis (play)|Alcestis]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-alcestis/1994/pb_LCL012.155.xml 5&ndash;7]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.10.4 3.10.4]; [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#71 4.71.3]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 49, which adds that Apollo, because he could not attack his father directly, chose to exact his revenge on the Cyclopes "instead".</ref> According to a scholiast on Euripides' ''Alcestis'', the fifth-century BC mythographer [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] supplied the same motive, but said that Apollo, rather than killing the Cyclopes, killed their ''sons'' (one of whom he named Aortes) instead.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA151 p. 151]; Bremmer, p. 139; Gantz, p. 13; [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA298 fr. 35 Fowler] [= ''[[FGrHist]]'' 3 fr. 35]; [[James George Frazer|Frazer's]] note 2 to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.10.4 3.10.4]. Fowler, notes that Pherecydes having Apollo kill&mdash;not the Cyclopes themselves&mdash;but their mortal offspring, solves the "difficulty" in killing the immortal Cyclopes of the ''Theogony'', as well as ensuring the continued supply of Zeus' thunderbolts.</ref> No other source mentions any offspring of the Cyclopes.<ref>Gantz, p. 13.</ref> A Pindar fragment suggests that Zeus himself killed the Cyclopes to prevent them from making thunderbolts for anyone else.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]; Gantz, p. 13.</ref>

The Cyclopes' prowess as craftsmen is stressed by Hesiod who says "strength and force and contrivances were in their works."<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.15.xml 146].</ref> Being such skilled craftsmen of great size and strength, later poets, beginning with the third-century BC poet [[Callimachus]], imagine these Cyclopes, the primordial makers of Zeus' thunderbolt, becoming the assistants of the smith-god [[Hephaestus]], at his forge in Sicily, underneath Mount Etna, or perhaps the nearby [[Aeolian Islands]].<ref>Hard, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 66], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA166 p. 166]; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; Bremmer, p. 139; Grimal, p. 119 s.v. Cyclopes.</ref> In his ''Hymn to Artemis'', Callimachus has the Cyclopes on the Aeolian island of [[Lipari]], working "at the anvils of Hephaestus", make the bows and arrows used by [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]].<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn III to Artemis'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/60/mode/2up 8-10].</ref> The first-century BC [[Latin]] poet [[Virgil]], in his epic ''[[Aeneid]]'', has the Cyclopes: "Brontes and Steropes and bare-limbed Pyracmon"<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/virgil-aeneid/1916/pb_LCL064.91.xml 8.425].</ref> toil under the direction of Vulcan (Hephaestus), in caves underneath Mount Etna and the [[Aeolian islands]].<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/virgil-aeneid/1916/pb_LCL064.89.xml 8.416&ndash;422].</ref> Virgil describes the Cyclopes, in Vulcan's smithy forging iron, making a thunderbolt, a chariot for [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], and [[Athena|Pallas]]'s [[Aegis]], with Vulcan interrupting their work to command the Cyclopes to fashion arms for [[Aeneas]].<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/virgil-aeneid/1916/pb_LCL064.91.xml 8.424&ndash;443].</ref> The later Latin poet [[Ovid]] also has the Hesiodic Cyclopes, Brontes and Steropes (along with a third Cyclops named Acmonides), work at forges in Sicilian caves.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/208/mode/2up 4.287&ndash;288], [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/222/mode/2up 4.473].</ref>

According to a [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] astral myth, the Cyclopes were the builders of the first altar. The myth was a [[catasterism]], which explained how the constellation the Altar (Ara) came to be in the heavens. According to the myth, the Cyclopes built an altar upon which Zeus and the other gods swore alliance before their war with the Titans. After their victory, "the gods placed the altar in the sky in commemoration", and thus began the practice, according to the myth, of men swearing oaths upon altars "as a guarantee of their good faith".<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]; Bremmer, p. 140; [[Eratosthenes]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=7IMSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 39]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[De astronomica|Astronomica]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=7IMSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 2.39].</ref>

According to the second-century geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], there was a sanctuary called the "altar of the Cyclopes" on the [[Isthmus of Corinth]] at a place sacred to Poseidon, where sacrifices were offered to the Cyclopes.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.2.1 2.2.1].</ref> There is no evidence for any other [[Cult (religious practice)|cult]] associated with the Cyclopes.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]; West 1966, p. 207 on line 139.</ref> According to a version of the story in the ''Iliad'' scholia (found nowhere else), when Zeus swallowed [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], she was pregnant with [[Athena]] by the Cyclops Brontes.<ref>Gantz, p. 51; Yasumura, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7cXUAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 p. 89]; scholia bT to ''Iliad'' 8.39.</ref>

Although described by Hesiod as "having very violent hearts" (''ὑπέρβιον ἦτορ ἔχοντας''),<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.15.xml 139].</ref> and while their extraordinary size and strength would have made them capable of great violence, there is no indication of the Hesiodic Cyclopes having behaved in any other way than as dutiful servants of the gods.<ref>Fowler 2103, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54].</ref>

[[Walter Burkert]] suggests that groups or societies of lesser gods, like the Hesiodic Cyclopes, "mirror real [[Cult (religious practice)|cult]] associations (''thiasoi'') ... It may be surmised that [[Metalsmith|smith]] [[guild]]s lie behind [[Cabeiri]], [[Dactyl (mythology)|Idaian Dactyloi]], [[Telchines]], and Cyclopes."<ref name="auto3">Burkert 1991, p. 173.</ref>

===Homeric Cyclopes===
[[File:Polyphemus Eleusis 2630.jpg|thumb|[[Odysseus]] and his crew are blinding [[Polyphemus]]. Detail of a Proto-Attic [[amphora]], ''circa'' 650 BC. [[Eleusis]], Archaeological Museum, Inv. 2630.]]
In an episode of [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'' (c. 700 BC), the hero [[Odysseus]] encounters the Cyclops [[Polyphemus]], the son of [[Poseidon]], a one-eyed man-eating giant who lives with his fellow Cyclopes in a distant land.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D9%3Acard%3D82 9.82&ndash;566].</ref> The relationship between these Cyclopes and Hesiod's Cyclopes is unclear.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 p. 55]: "It has long been a puzzle what Polyphemus and his fellow Kyklopes have to do with the smiths of the Titanomachy"; Heubeck and Hoekstra, p. 20 on lines 106–15: "The exact relationship between these Hesiodic and the Homeric Cyclopes has not yet been established, despite many attempts"; Tripp, s.v. Cyclopes, p. 181: "The relationship between these semidivine figures and the uncivilized shepherds encountered by Odysseus is not clear."</ref> Homer described a very different group of Cyclopes, than the skilled and subservient craftsman of Hesiod.<ref>According to Gantz, p. 12, "the Kyclopes [of Hesiod] could scarcely be more different from those encountered by Odysseus in Book 9 of the ''Odyssey''". Gantz, p. 13, further points out that even the feature of a single eye is only explicitly attributed by Homer to Polyphemus. According to Mondi, pp. 17–18: "Why is there such a discrepancy between the nature of the Homeric Cyclopes and the nature of those found in Hesiod's ''Theogony''? Ancient commentators were so exercised by this problem that they supposed there to be more than one type of Cyclops, and we must agree that, on the surface at least, these two groups could hardly have less in common." Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 p. 55], regarding the "puzzle" of the dissimilarity of Homer's Cyclopes to other Cyclopes says: "We should probably recognize the free invention of an epic poet."</ref> Homer's Cyclopes live in the "world of men" rather than among the gods, as they presumably do in the ''Theogony''.<ref>West 1966, p. 207 on line 139.</ref> The Homeric Cyclopes are presented as uncivilized shepherds, who live in caves, savages with no regard for Zeus. They have no knowledge of agriculture, ships or craft. They live apart and lack any laws.<ref>Gantz, pp. 12&ndash;13, 703; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66].</ref>

The fifth-century BC playwright [[Euripides]] also told the story of Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemus in his [[satyr play]] ''[[Cyclops (play)|Cyclops]]''. Euripides' Cyclopes, like Homer's, are uncultured cave-dwelling shepherds. They have no agriculture, no wine, and live on milk, cheese and the meat of sheep. They live solitary lives, and have no government. They are inhospitable to strangers, slaughtering and eating all who come to their land.<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Cyclops (play)|Cyclops]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-cyclops/1994/pb_LCL012.71.xml 114&ndash;128].</ref> While Homer does not say if the other Cyclopes are like Polyphemus in their appearance and parentage, Euripides makes it explicit, calling the Cyclopes "Poseidon's one-eyed sons".<ref name="auto4">[[Euripides]], ''[[Cyclops (play)|Cyclops]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-cyclops/1994/pb_LCL012.63.xml 20&ndash;22].</ref> And while Homer is vague as to their location, Euripides locates the land of the Cyclopes on the island of [[Sicily]] near [[Mount Etna]].<ref name="auto">[[Euripides]], ''[[Cyclops (play)|Cyclops]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-cyclops/1994/pb_LCL012.71.xml 114].</ref>

Like Euripides, Virgil has the Cyclopes of Polyphemus live on Sicily near Etna. For Virgil apparently, these Homeric Cyclopes are members of the same race of Cyclopes as Hesiod's Brontes and Steropes, who live nearby.<ref name="auto2">Tripp, s.v. Cyclopes, p. 181.</ref>

===Cyclopean wall-builders===
[[File:MicenePortaLeoniMura.jpg|thumb|[[Cyclopean masonry|'Cyclopean' walls]] at Mycenae.]]
Cyclopes were also said to have been the builders of the so-called [[Cyclopean masonry|'Cyclopean' walls]] of [[Mycenae]], [[Tiryns]], and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]; Caldwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GyIKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 p. 36 on lines 139&ndash;146]; Bremmer, p. 140; Mondi, p. 18; for Mycenae, see [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA281 fr. 12 Fowler] [= ''[[FGrHist]]'' 3 fr. 12]; [[Euripides]], ''[[Electra (Euripides play)|Electra]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-electra/1998/pb_LCL009.279.xml 1159], ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-heracles/1998/pb_LCL009.401.xml 943&ndash;946], ''[[Iphigenia in Aulis]]'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-iphigenia-aulis/2003/pb_LCL495.181.xml 152], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-iphigenia-aulis/2003/pb_LCL495.331.xml 1500&ndash;1501], ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-iphigenia_taurians/1999/pb_LCL010.241.xml 845&ndash;846]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.16.5 2.16.5], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.25.5 7.25.5&ndash;6]; for Tiryns, see [[Bacchylides]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0199.tlg001.perseus-eng1:11 11.77]; [[Strabo]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.6.11 8.6.11]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.2.1 2.2.1]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.16.5 2.16.5], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.25.8 2.25.8], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.25.5 7.25.5&ndash;6]; for Argos, see [[Euripides]], ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-heracles/1998/pb_LCL009.311.xml 15], ''[[The Trojan Women|Trojan Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-trojan_women/1999/pb_LCL010.119.xml 1087&ndash;1088]; for other ancient sources see Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53 n. 206].</ref> Although they can be seen as being distinct, the Cyclopean wall-builders share several features with the Hesiodic Cyclopes: both groups are craftsmen of supernatural skill, possessing enormous strength, who lived in primordial times.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53].</ref> These builder Cyclopes were apparently used to explain the construction of the stupendous walls at Mycenae and Tiryns, composed of massive stones that seemed too large and heavy to have been moved by ordinary men.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA66 p. 66]; Tripp, s.v. Cyclopes, p. 181; Grimal, s.v. Cyclopes p. 119.</ref>

These master builders were famous in antiquity from at least the fifth century BC onwards.<ref>Bremmer, p. 140.</ref> The poet [[Pindar]] has [[Heracles]] driving the cattle of [[Geryon]] through the "Cyclopean portal" of the Tirynian king Eurystheus.<ref>[[Pindar]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pindar-fragments/1997/pb_LCL485.401.xml fr. 169a7]; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53 n. 206]; Bremmer, p. 140 n. 21. [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.8 2.5.8] would seem to locate [[Eurystheus]]' "portal" in Mycenae, see Race, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pindar-fragments/1997/pb_LCL485.403.xml p. 403 n. 13]. See also [[Strabo]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.6.2 8.6.2], which says that "Next after Nauplia one comes to the caverns and the labyrinths built in them, which are called Cyclopeian".</ref> The mythographer [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] says that [[Perseus]] brought the Cyclopes with him from [[Seriphos]] to [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], presumably to build the walls of Mycenae.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 p. 36]; Gantz, p. 310; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA243 p. 243]; [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA281 fr. 12 Fowler] [= ''[[FGrHist]]'' 3 fr. 12].</ref> [[Proetus (son of Abas)|Proetus]], the mythical king of ancient [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], was said to have brought a group of seven Cyclopes from [[Lycia]] to build the walls of Tiryns.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA237 p. 237]; [[Strabo]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.6.11 8.6.11]. Compare with [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.2.1 2.2.1] which also connects these Cyclopes with Lycia, see Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 p. 36 n. 121].</ref>

The late fifth and early fourth-century BC comic poet [[Nicophon]] wrote a play called either ''Cheirogastores'' or ''Encheirogastores'' (''Hands-to-Mouth''), which is thought to have been about these Cyclopean wall-builders.<ref>Storey, pp. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nicophon-testimonia_fragments/2011/pb_LCL514.397.xml 397], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nicophon-testimonia_fragments/2011/pb_LCL514.401.xml 401].</ref> Ancient lexicographers explained the title as meaning "those who feed themselves by manual labour", and, according to [[Eustathius of Thessalonica]], the word was used to describe the Cyclopean wall-builders, while "hands-to-mouth" was one of the three kinds of Cyclopes distinguished by scholia to [[Aelius Aristides]].<ref>Storey, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nicophon-testimonia_fragments/2011/pb_LCL514.401.xml p. 401]; Scholia to [[Aelius Aristides]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=6N1EAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA408 52.10 Dindorf p. 408].</ref> Similarly,  possibly deriving from Nicophon's comedy, the first-century Greek geographer [[Strabo]] says these Cyclopes were called "Bellyhands" (''gasterocheiras'') because they earned their food by working with their hands.<ref>[[Strabo]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.6.11 8.6.11]; Roller, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cFZoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA472 p. 472 note on Strabo 8.6.11. '''Tiryns''']. According to Bremmer, p. 140, "Cyclopes were disparagingly named 'Bellyhands{{'"}}, because "the Greek upper-classes looked down upon those who had to work for a living".</ref>

The first-century natural philosopher [[Pliny the Elder]], in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'', reported a tradition, attributed to [[Aristotle]], that the Cyclopes were the inventors of masonry towers.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/abstract/pliny_elder-natural_history/1938/pb_LCL352.639.xml 7.195].</ref> In the same work Pliny also mentions the Cyclopes, as being among those credited with being the first to work with iron,<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/abstract/pliny_elder-natural_history/1938/pb_LCL352.639.xml 7.198].</ref> as well as bronze.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/abstract/pliny_elder-natural_history/1938/pb_LCL352.639.xml 7.197].</ref> In addition to walls, other monuments were attributed to the Cyclopes. For example, [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] says that at [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] there was "a head of Medusa made of stone, which is said to be another of the works of the Cyclopes".<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.20.7 2.20.7].</ref>