Editing Cyclopes (section)

===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>