Etymologizing the Cyclopes

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the first explicit etymology of the Theogony, that of the Cyclopes’ collective name. This etymology is treated in two steps: first, the chapter considers how this etymology fits in the context of the Theogony; thereafter it is examined against the background of the competing traditions regarding the Cyclopes. The ensuing analysis demonstrates that Hesiod not only claims authority for his account but also positions his version of the Cyclopes in relation to other traditions concerning these characters, reflected in the Odyssey, vase painting, and later accounts. At the same time, his choice and presentation of the monsters’ individual names can lay claim to correctness as they largely reproduce the formulaic expression through which Zeus’s weapons are referred to in the Theogony. The names are correct because they correspond with the (poetic) linguistic reality.