CHAPTER 1 Angry Giants CYCLOPS In Greek mythology the goddess Gaia gave birth to the Cyclops siblings These one-eyed giants were larger than the tallest oak trees They labored as blacksmiths and supplied weapons to the gods Some of the weapons included thunderbolts for Zeus a trident for Poseidon and a helmet of invisibility for Hades The Cyclops known as Polyphemus once fell in love with the sea-nymph Galatea But she was in love with a young shepherd named Acis instead In a jealous rage Polyphemus crushed Acis with a boulder and killed him After the Cyclops fled to a faraway cave Galatea transformed Acis into a flowing river so that he could always be near her The Greek poet Homer described the Cyclopes as savage creatures that lived within caves on an island When the great warrior Odysseus sailed his fleet of ships too close to the Cyclopes island Polyphemus ate six of Odysseus sailors To fight back Odysseus plunged a sharpened stick into the giant’s one eye blinding him forever Wonder Woman first battled Polyphemus when he escaped from the underworld of dead souls known as Hades Polyphemus and his two brothers had been banished to Hades lowest level the pits of Tartarus While trapped in that horrible place Polyphemus ate his siblings Wonder Woman defeated Polyphemus when he invaded the Amazon’s home island of Themyscira She banished him once again to the depths of Tartarus banish to send away forever
WHY ONE EYE The legend of Cyclopes having only one eye may be based on the work habits of ancient blacksmiths They often wore an eye patch over one eye to prevent injury from flying sparks If a spark blinded the unprotected eye the blacksmith would still have one good eye to work with FACT More than 400 species of freshwater one-eyed crustaceans are known as Cyclopes Unlike the mythological Cyclopes they are tiny Some are smaller t han 1 100 of an inch long COTTUS In addition to giving birth to the Cyclops siblings the Greek goddess Gaia also gave birth to the Hecatoncheires These three giant beasts were named Cottus Briareus and Gyges Each of them had 50 heads and 100 arms and they
were all incredibly stupid Despite their lack of intelligence they were feared because of their terrible tempers and superhuman strength Some said that Cottus toppled a mountain by throwing heavy boulders at it Uranus the father of Cottus was so disgusted by his children that he banished them to the pits of Tartarus There they stayed for more than 2,000 years
