Chapter 11

The gigantic Cyclopes were originally Ophitae, who worshipped the symbolical serpent. They have been represented by the poets, as persons of an enormous [535]stature, rude and savage in their demeanour, and differing from the rest of mankind in countenance. They are described as having only one large eye; which is said to have been placed, contrary to the usual situation of that organ, in the middle of their foreheads. Their place of residence was upon mount AEtna, and in the adjacent district at the foot of that [536]mountain, which was the original region styled Trinacia. This is the common account, as it has been transmitted by the Poets, as well as by the principal mythologists of Greece: and in this we have been taught to acquiesce. But the real history is not so obvious and superficial. There are accounts of them to be obtained, that differ much from the representations which are commonly exhibited. The Poets have given a mixed description: and in lieu of the Deity of the place have introduced these strange personages, the ideas of whose size were borrowed from sacred edifices, where the Deity was worshipped. They were Petra, or temples of Coelus; of the same nature and form as the tower of Orion, which was at no great distance from them. Some of them had the name of [537]Charon, and Tarchon: and they were esteemed Pelorian, from the God Alorus, the same as Coelus and Python. The Grecians confounded the people, who raised these buildings, with the structures themselves. Strabo places them near [538]AEtna, and Leontina: and supposes, that they once ruled over that part of the island. And it is certain that a people styled Cyclopians did possess that [539]province. Polyphemus is imagined to have been the chief of this people: and Euripides describes the place of his residence as towards the foot of the mountain: [540][Greek: Oikeis hup' Aitnei tei purostaktoi Petrai]. They are represented as a people savage, and lawless, and delighting in human flesh. Hence it is prophesied by Cassandra, as a curse upon Ulysses, that he would one day be forced to seek for refuge in a Cyclopian [541]mansion. And when he arrives under the roof of Polyphemus, and makes inquiry about his host, and particularly upon what he fed; he is told, that the Cyclops above all things esteemed the flesh of strangers. [542]Chance never throws any body upon this coast, says Silenus, but he is made a meal of; and it is looked upon as a delicious repast. This character of the Cyclopians arose from the cruel custom of sacrificing strangers, whom fortune brought upon their coast. This was practised in many parts of the world, but especially here, and upon the coast of the Lamii in Italy; and among all the Scythic nations upon the Euxine sea: into all which regions it was introduced from Egypt and Canaan.

But we must not consider the Cyclopians in this partial light: nor look for them only in the island of Sicily, to which they have been by the Poets confined. Memorials of them are to be found in many parts of Greece, where they were recorded as far superior to the natives in science and ingenuity. The Grecians, by not distinguishing between the Deity, and the people, who were called by his titles, have brought great confusion upon this history. The Cyclopians were denominated from [Greek: Kuklops], Cyclops, the same as Coelus. According to Parmeno Byzantinus, he was the God [543]Nilus of Egypt, who was the same as [544]Zeus, and Osiris. The history both of the Deity, and of the people, became in time obsolete: and it has been rendered more obscure by the mixed manner in which it has been represented by the Poets.

It is generally agreed by writers upon the subject, that the Cyclopians were of a size superior to the common race of mankind. Among the many tribes of the Amonians, which went abroad, were to be found people, who were styled [545]Anakim, and were descended from the sons of Anac: so that this history, though carried to a great excess, was probably founded in truth. They were particularly famous for architecture; which they introduced into Greece, as we are told by [546]Herodotus: and in all parts, whither they came, they erected noble structures, which were remarkable for their height and beauty: and were often dedicated to the chief Deity, the Sun, under the name of Elorus, and P'elorus. People were so struck with their grandeur, that they called every thing great and stupendous, Pelorian. And when they described the Cyclopians as a lofty towering race, they came at last to borrow their ideas of this people from the towers, to which they alluded. They supposed them in height to reach to the clouds; and in bulk to equal the promontories, on which they were founded. Homer says of Polyphemus,

[547][Greek: Kai gar thaum' etetukto pelorion, oude eoikei] [Greek: Andri ge sitophagoi, alla rhioi huleenti.]

Virgil says of the same person,

[548]Ipse arduus, altaque pulsat sidera.

As these buildings were oftentimes light-houses, and had in their upper story one round casement, Argolici clypei, aut Phoebeae lampadis instar, by which they afforded light in the night-season; the Greeks made this a characteristic of the people. They supposed this aperture to have been an eye, which was fiery, and glaring, and placed in the middle of their foreheads. Hence Callimachus describes them as a monstrous race:

[549][Greek: aina Pelora,] [Greek: Preosin Osseioisin eoikota; pasi d' hup' ophrun] [Greek: Phaea mounoglena sakei isa tetraboeioi.]

The Grecians have so confounded the Cyclopian Deity with his votaries, that it is difficult to speak precisely of either. They sometimes mention him as a single person; the same as Nilus of Egypt, who was esteemed the father of the Gods. At other times they introduce a plurality, whom they still represent as of the highest antiquity, and make the brethren of Cronus: [550][Greek: Kuklopes--hoi adelphoi esan tou Kronou, tou patros tou Dios.] Proclus in Photius informs us, that, according to the antient mythology of the Auctores Cyclici, the giants with an hundred hands, and the Cyclopes, were the first born of the [551]Earth and Coelus. But in these histories every degree of relation has been founded upon idle surmises: and is uniformly to be set aside. The Cyclopian Deity was [552]Ouranus, and the Cyclopians were his priests and votaries: some of whom had divine honours paid to them, and were esteemed as Gods. Upon the Isthmus of Corinth was an antient temple; which seems to have been little more than a [Greek: taphos] or high altar, where offerings were made to the Cyclopian [553]Deities. People of this family settled upon the southern coast of Sicily at Camarina; which some have supposed to have been the Hupereia of Homer, where the Pheacians once resided.

[554][Greek: Hoi prin men pot' enaion en euruchoroi Hupereiai,] [Greek: Anchou Kuklopon andron huperenoreonton.]

But there is no reason to think, that the city Hupereia was in Sicily; or that the Pheacians came from that country. The notion arose from a common mistake. All the Greek and Roman Poets, and even Strabo, with other respectable writers, have taken it for granted, that the Cyclopians of Homer were near AEtna in Sicily. Others except to their being near AEtna; and insist, that they were in the vicinity of Eryx upon the opposite part of the island. But Homer does not once mention the island during his whole account of the Cyclopes: nor does Ulysses arrive in Sicily, till after many subsequent adventures. That there were Cyclopians near AEtna is certain: but those mentioned by Homer were of another country, and are represented as natives of the continent though his account is very indeterminate and obscure. There were probably people of this family in many parts of Sicily, especially about the city Camarina. They seem to have been of the Anakim race, and worshippers of the Sun. Hence they were styled Camarin, and their chief city Camarina, which was so called from a city of the same name in [555]Chaldea, the Ur of the Scriptures. Polyphemus is mentioned as a musician and a shepherd; but of a savage and brutal disposition: which character arose from the cruel rites practised by the Cyclopians. According to [556]Bacchylides it was said, that Galatus, Illyrius, and Celtus were the sons of Polyphemus. By this was certainly signified, that the Galatae, Illyrii, and Celtae, were of Cyclopian original, and of the Anakim race; all equally Amonians. Lycophron mentions the cave of this personage, by which was meant an antient temple; and he calls it [557][Greek: monoglenou stegas Charonos]: _the habitation of Charon, a personage with one eye_. But here, as I have often observed, the place is mistaken for a person; the temple for the Deity. Charon was the very place; the antient temple of the Sun. It was therefore styled Char-On from the God, who was there worshipped; and after the Egyptian custom an eye was engraved over its portal. These temples were sometimes called Charis, [558][Greek: Charis]; which is a compound of Char-Is, and signifies a prutaneion, or place sacred to Hephastus. As the rites of fire were once almost universally practised, there were many places of this name, especially in [559]Parthia, Babylonia, and Phrygia. The Grecians rendered Char-Is by [Greek: Charis], a term in their own language, which signified grace and elegance. And nothing witnesses their attachment to antient terms more than their continually introducing them, though they were strangers to their true meaning. The Arimaspians were Hyperborean Cyclopians; and had temples named Charis, or Charisia, in the top of which were preserved a perpetual fire. They were of the same family as those of [560]Sicily, and had the same rites; and particularly worshipped the Ophite Deity under the name of [561]Opis. Aristeas Proconnesius wrote their history; and among other things mentioned that they had but one eye, which was placed in their graceful forehead.

[562][Greek: Ophthalmon d' hen' hekastos echei charienti metopoi.]

How could the front of a Cyclopian, one of the most hideous monsters that ever poetic fancy framed, be styled graceful? The whole is a mistake of terms: and what this writer had misapplied, related to Charis, a tower; and the eye was the casement in the top of the edifice, where a light, and fire were kept up. What confirmed the mistake was the representation of an eye, which, as I have mentioned, was often engraved over the entrance of these temples. The chief Deity of Egypt was frequently represented under the symbol of an eye, [563]and a sceptre. I have observed, that Orion was supposed to have had three fathers, merely because a tower, sacred to him in Sicily, and called Tor-Pator, was altered to [Greek: Tripator]; which change seemed to countenance such an opinion. The Cyclopians were of the same region in that island; and their towers had undoubtedly the same name: for the Cyclopians were styled [564][Greek: Tritopateres], and were supposed to have been three in number. Some such mistake was made about the towers styled Charis: whence the Grecians formed their notion of the Graces. As Charis was a tower sacred to fire; some of the Poets have supposed a nymph of that name, who was beloved by Vulcan. Homer speaks of her as his wife: [565][Greek: Charis--Kale, hen opuie periklutos Amphiguneis.] But Nonnus makes her his mistress; and says, that he turned her out of doors for her jealousy.

[566][Greek: Ek de domon edioke Charin zelemona numphen.]

The Graces were said to be related to the Sun who was in reality the same as Vulcan. The Sun among the people of the east was called Hares, and with a guttural, Chares: and his temple was styled Tor-Chares. But as Tor-Pator was changed to Tripator; so Tor-Chares was rendered Trichares, which the Greeks expressed [Greek: Tricharis]; and from thence formed a notion of three Graces. Cicero says, that they were the daughters of night, and Erebus: but Antimachus, more agreeably to this etymology, maintained, that they were the offspring of the Sun and light; [567][Greek: Aigles kai Heliou thugateras.] These seeming contradictions are not difficult to be reconciled.

The Amonians, wherever they settled, were celebrated for their superiority in science; and particularly for their skill in building. Of this family were Trophonius, and his brother Agamedes, who are represented as very great in the profession. They were truly wonderful, says [568]Pausanias, for the temples, which they erected to the Gods; and for the stately edifices, which they built for men. They were the architects, who contrived the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the treasury constructed to Urius. They were, I make no doubt, some of those, who were styled Cyclopians; as the people under this appellation were far the most eminent in this way. When the Sibyl in Virgil shews AEneas the place of torment in the shades below, and leads him through many melancholy recesses, we find that the whole was separated from the regions of bliss by a wall built by the Cyclopians. The Sibyl accordingly at their exit tells him,

[569]Cyclopum educta caminis Moenia conspicio.

From hence we find that they were the reputed builders of the infernal mansions; which notion arose from the real buildings, which they erected. For all the ideas of the antients about the infernal regions, and the torments of hell, were taken from the temples in each country; and from the rites and inquisition practised in them. But the Cyclopians were not merely imaginary operators. They founded several cities in Greece; and constructed many temples to the Gods, which were of old in high repute. They were so much esteemed for their skill, that, as the Scholiast upon Statius observes, every thing great and noble was looked upon as Cyclopian: [570]quicquid magnitudine sua nobile est, Cyclopum manu dicitur fabricatum. Nor was this a fiction, as may be surmised; for they were in great measure the real architects. And if, in the room of those portentous beings the Cyclopes, [Greek: Kuklopes], we substitute a colony of people called Cyclopians, we shall find the whole to be true, which is attributed to them; and a new field of history will be opened, that was before unknown. They were, undoubtedly, a part of the people styled Academians, who resided in Attica; where they founded the Academia, and Ceramicus, and introduced human sacrifices. Hence we are informed, that the Athenians, in the time of a plague, sacrificed three virgin daughters of Hyacinthus at the tomb Geraestus, the [571]Cyclops. But Geraestus was not a person, but a place. [Greek: Geraistos] is a small variation for Ker-Astus; and signifies the temple of Astus the God of fire. It was certainly the antient name of the place where these sacrifices were exhibited: and the Taphos was a Cyclopian altar, upon which they were performed. The Cyclopians are said to have built the antient city Mycene, which Hercules in Seneca threatens to ruin.

----[572]quid moror? majus mihi Bellum Mycenis restat, ut Cyclopea Eversa manibus moenia nostris concidant.

Nonnus speaks of the city in the same light:

[573][Greek: Stemmati teichioenti perizosthenta Mukene,] [Greek: Kuklopon kanonessi.]

The gate of the city, and the chief tower were particularly ascribed to them: [574][Greek: Kuklopon de kai tauta erga einai legousin.] _These too are represented as the work of the Cyclopians_. They likewise built Argos; which is mentioned by Thyestes in Seneca as a wonderful performance.

[575]Cyclopum sacras Turres, labore majus humano decus.

All these poetical histories were founded in original truths. Some of them built Hermione, one of the most antient cities in Greece. The tradition was, that it was built by [576]Hermion the son of Europs, or Europis, a descendant of Phoroneus, and Niobe; and was inhabited by Dorians, who came from Argos: in which history is more than at first appears. The city stood near a stagnant lake, and a deep cavern; where was supposed to be the most compendious passage to the shades below: [577][Greek: ten eis hadou katabasin suntomon.] The lake was called the pool of Acherusia; near to which and the yawning cavern the Cyclopians chose to take up their habitation. They are said to have built [578]Tiryns; the walls of which were esteemed no less a wonder than the [579]pyramids of Egypt. They must have resided at Nauplia in Argolis; a place in situation not unlike Hermione above-mentioned. Near this city were caverns in the earth, and subterraneous passages, consisting of [580]labyrinths cut in the rock, like the syringes in Upper Egypt, and the maze at the lake Maeris: and these too were reputed the work of Cyclopians. Pausanias thinks very truly, that the Nauplians were from Egypt. [581][Greek: Esan de hoi Nauplieis, emoi dokein, Aiguptioi ta palaiotera.] _The Nauplians seem to me to have been a colony from Egypt in the more early times_. He supposes that they were some of those emigrants, who came over with Danaues. The nature of the works, which the Cyclopians executed, and the lake, which they named Acherusia, shew plainly the part of the world from whence they came. The next city to Nauplia was Troezen, where Orus was said to have once reigned, from whom the country was called Oraia: but Pausanias very justly thinks, that it was an Egyptian history; and that the region was denominated from [582]Orus of Egypt, whose worship undoubtedly had been here introduced. So that every circumstance witnesses the country, from whence the Cyclopians came. Hence when [583]Euripides speaks of the walls of antient Mycene, as built by the Cyclopians after the Phenician rule and method: the Phenicians alluded to were the [Greek: Phoinikes] of Egypt, to which country they are primarily to be referred. Those who built Tiryns are represented as seven in number; and the whole is described by Strabo in the following manner. [584][Greek: Tirunthi hormeterioi chresasthai dokei Proitos, kai teichisai dia Kuklopon; hous hepta men einai, kaleisthai de Gasterocheiras, trephomenous ek tes technes.] _Proetus seems to have been the first who made use of Tiryns as an harbour; which place he walled round by the assistance of the Cyclopians. They were seven in number, styled Gastrocheirs; and lived by their labour._ Hesychius in some degree reverses this strange name, and says, that they were called [Greek: Encheirogasteres]. The Grecians continually mistook places for persons, as I have shewn. These seven Cyclopes were, I make no doubt, seven Cyclopian towers built by the people, of whom I have been treating. Some of them stood towards the harbour to afford light to ships, when they approached in the night. They were sacred to Aster, or [585]Astarte; and styled Astro-caer, and Caer-Aster; out of which the Greeks formed [Greek: Gastrocheir], and [Greek: Encheirogaster]; a strange medley made up of hands, and bellies. Strabo in particular having converted these building's into so many masons, adds, [586][Greek: Gasterocheiras, trephomenous ek tes technes]. _They were honest bellyhanded men, industrious people, who got their livelihood by their art_. These towers were erected likewise for Purait, or Puratheia, where the rites of fire were performed: but Purait, or Puraitus, the Greeks changed to [Greek: Proitos]; and gave out that the towers were built for [587]Proetus, whom they made a king of that country.

I imagine, that not only the common idea of the Cyclopians was taken from towers and edifices; but that the term [Greek: Kuklops], and [Greek: Kuklopis], Cuclops, and Cuclopis, signified a building or temple; and from thence the people had their name. They were of the same family as the Cadmians, and Phoenices; and as the Hivites, or Ophites who came from Egypt, and settled near Libanus and Baal Hermon, upon the confines of Canaan. They worshipped the Sun under the symbol of a serpent: hence they were styled in different parts, where they in time settled, Europians, Oropians, Anopians, Inopians, Asopians, Elopians; all which names relate to the worship of the Pytho Ops, or Opis. What may be the precise etymology of the term [Greek: Kuklops], Cuclops, I cannot presume to determine. Cuclops, as a personage, was said to have been the son of [588]Ouranus and the earth: which Ouranus among the Amonians was often styled Coel, or Coelus; and was worshipped under the forementioned emblem of a serpent. Hence the temple of the Deity may have been originally called Cu-Coel-Ops, Domus Coeli Pythonis; and the priests and people Cucelopians. But whatever may have been the purport of the name, the history of these personages is sufficiently determinate.

There was a place in Thrace called [589]Cuclops, where some of the Cyclopian race had settled; for many of the Amonians came hither. Hence Thrace seems at one time to have been the seat of science: and the Athenians acknowledged, that they borrowed largely from them. The natives were very famous; particularly the Pierians for their music, the Peonians for pharmacy, and the Edonians for their rites and worship. Those, who went under the name of Cyclopes, probably introduced architecture; for which art they seem to have been every where noted. There was a fountain in these parts, of which Aristotle takes notice, as of a wonderful nature. [590][Greek: En de Kuklopsi tois Thraxi krenidion estin, hudor echon, ho tei men opsei katharon, kai diaphanes, kai tois allois homoion; hotan de piei ti zoon ex autou, parachrema diaphtheiretai.] _In the region of the Cyclopians of Thrace is a fountain, clear to the eye, and pure, and in no wise differing from common water: of which, however, if an animal drinks, it is immediately poisoned_. There is another account given by Theopompus; who speaks of the people by the name of the Chropes, which is a contraction for Charopes. He says, that even going into the water was fatal. [591][Greek: Theopompos historei krenen en Chropsi tes Thrakes, ex hes tous lousamenous parachrema metallassein.] _Theopompus mentions a fountain among the Charopes of Thrace, in which, if a person attempts to bathe, he immediately loses his life._ I have taken notice of this history, because we find, that the persons who are called [592]Cuclopes by one writer, are styled Char-opes by another, and very justly: for the terms are nearly of the same purport. The Charopes were denominated from a temple, and place called Char-Ops, or Char-Opis, locus Dei Pythonis: and the Cyclopes were, as I have before supposed, denominated from Cu-Coel-Ops, or Cu-Coel-Opis, the temple of the same Deity. They were both equally named from the Ophite God, the great object of their adoration, and from the temple where he was worshipped.

The head of Medusa in Argolis is said to have been the work of the [593]Cyclopians. This seems to have been an antient hieroglyphical representation upon the temple of Caphisus. It was usual with the Egyptians, and other Amonians, to describe, upon the Architrave of their temples, some emblem of the Deity, who there presided. This representation was often an eagle, or vulture; a wolf, or a lion; also an heart, or an eye. The last, as I have shewn, was common to the temples of [594]Osiris, and was intended to signify the superintendency of Providence, from whom nothing was hid. Among others the serpent was esteemed a most salutary emblem: and they made use of it to signify superior skill and knowledge. A beautiful female countenance, surrounded with an assemblage of serpents, was made to denote divine wisdom, which they styled Meed, and Meet, the [Greek: Metis] of the Greeks. Under this characteristic they represented an heavenly personage, and joined her with Eros, or divine love: and by these two they supposed that the present mundane system was produced. Orpheus speaks of this Deity in the masculine gender:

[595][Greek: Kai Metis, protos genetor, kai Eros poluterpes.]