Wonder Woman and the Monsters of Myth

Wonder Woman and the Monsters of Myth — page 3
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