#shorts #myths #legends #cyclops #Greek
Ancient Greeks thought Cyclops were real because they found elephant skulls
Y’all remember the Cyclops from the Odyssey? Giant, one-eyed humanoids who were often cannibalistic and highly dangerous? Well, it turns out that they may have never existed.
Scientists think that the Cyclops legend may have been started by ancient Greeks who found the fossilized skulls of Deinotherium giganteum, a giant elephant that lived 2 million years ago.
With its downward-pointing tusks and long lower jaw, Deinotherium giganteum’s skull did look a bit like a giant, one-eyed head. And when you’re trying to explain a strange fossil, it’s not a big leap to say that it’s the remains of a mythical creature.
So there you have it, folks. The Cyclops was just a big, dead elephant.
Bonus fact: The legend of the cyclops was probably also encouraged by living animals throughout history. As Snopes explains, “rumors about strange creatures like cyclops or human-animal hybrids, can be traced back to one sad but common occurrence: an animal with a birth defect.”
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