Dwarf elephants once lived on Mediterranean islands like Sicily, Malta, Crete and Cyprus. Their skulls have one big hole in the middle, which is really the opening for the trunk, and it looks a lot like a single eye socket. In 1914, palaeontologist Othenio Abel suggested this might be where the one-eyed giants came from.
Truth label: Speculative. A fascinating idea without solid evidence yet.
Go deeper
Why it's appealing
Sicily is where the Cyclops Polyphemus lives in Homer's Odyssey. And ancient Greeks did collect and puzzle over giant bones they found.
Why it's unproven
Historian Adrienne Mayor, who has studied fossils in myth, says we cannot know which came first, the bones or the stories. One-eyed giants also appear in folklore far from these islands.
Learn
- Tiny elephants. Island elephants shrank over many generations. Some stood only about three feet tall at the shoulder.
- Before Alexander. Most Greeks had never seen a living elephant before the time of Alexander the Great, so a skull would have been a mystery.
Test yourself
What is the 'eye' in a dwarf elephant skull really?
The opening for the trunk. It is the nasal opening where the trunk attached. The real eye sockets are small and on the sides.
Sources
- How misread fossil skulls influenced the Cyclops myth, The Collector
- Did fossils inspire the Cyclops? Discover Magazine
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