The Cyclopes (singular: Cyclops) are found both in Homer's Odyssey and Hesiod's Theogony. In both accounts, they are a race of giants, with a single eye in the middle of their foreheads. In Theogony, the Cyclopes are children of Uranus and siblings of the Titans, the generation of gods who were overthrown by the Olympians. Polyphemus, the Cyclops we encounter in Homer's Odyssey, is the son of the sea god Poseidon (brother to Zeus) and the nymph Thoosa.
Odysseus lands on an island inhabited by the Cyclopes. While all the other Cyclopes live together in a community, Polyphemus lives alone in a cave. He is a shepherd who tends a flock of sheep and apparently cares for them well. As well as being a giant and possessing great physical strength, he is also a cannibal who eats some of Odysseus' sailors.
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