When did the cyclops exist?
Pertaining to the cyclopes in Greek mythology (such as
Polyphemus), they did not actually exist. However, there is
currently a genus of copepods known as the cyclops, named after the
cyclopes from the ancient Greek myths.
There is also a very rare birth defect that can cause humans to
be be born with only one eye in the centre of their forehead caused
by a failure of the forebrain of the embryo to properly subdivide.
It is possible that children born with this condition influenced
the belief in a "cyclops" as a separate creature as the ancient
Greeks would not have been able to understand the underlying
medical causes of this abnormality.
Please see the related links.