"Cyclops Origins " Topic

"Beachcombing has always had a bit of a thing about Cyclops. And who can blame him? After all, the encounter between old Round Eye and that smarty-pants pirate king from Ithica is what most children – genuine or grown – remember about the Odysseus: there is something so Roald Dahlish about the disgusting yet liberating battle of wits undertaken in the Cyclops cave.

But a question that has long nagged irritatingly away is where do Cyclops actually come from? If it is taken for granted that there never were twenty foot one-eyed giants running around the Greek islands – something that even the most enthusiastic cryptozoologist would be unwilling to sustain – then what mythic need did they fulfill or what misunderstanding were they inspired by?

An ingenious solution was offered up a century ago by the Austrian palaeontologist Othenio Abel (obit 1946). Abel suggested that the Cyclops myth was inspired by the discovery of fossilized pygmy elephant skulls. The eyes on such skulls – Beachcombing shamelessly stole the picture of one above – are not particularly prominent, while though the trunk leaves a large ‘nasal cavity' in the middle of the head – the Cyclop's ‘eye'. Even better these skulls were typically found with lots of other fossil bones: naturally the Cyclops' human dinner!…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Yes, I heard about the elephant skull idea. Makes sense if you were a denizen of ancient times. It looks like a skull with one big eye in the middle.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Whatever the origins, there was no doubt that a large amount of alcohol was involved… ;-)

And strange mushrooms.

Dan

Zephyr1… you made me laught… a lot! (big smile)

Amicalement
Armand

That, as they say, is one theory. It requires figuring out how the forest elephants got to Mediterranean islands, but that's minor.

But remember that every once in a while a mammal is born with a skull that didn't fully bifurcate properly during fetal development.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopia

This produces the occasional one-eyed animal or even person. Once suspects a human mother would have been accused of unspeakable things and put to death, but that's beside the point. Even without seeing the forest elephant skull there's plenty to suggest the idea of one-eyed creatures out there somewhere in the unknown.

Most likely, some people saw the skulls and reported it. Other people saw one eyed goats and passed the story along, as you would. Eventually someone pieced it altogether.