Cyclopses I Have Known

There have been times when I have wandered into a subject (mythological or otherwise) and found that my first 'take' didn't satisfy.  Cyclops is one of those.  I revisit, literally, each piece I do when I enter my studio or review the series on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97140136@N08/sets/72157643013508483/.

Here are three takes on the motif.

The center one went abstract on me.  The stone becomes dominant.

The others focused, it seems, on the one eye and the menacing arm clutching the remains of one of Ulysses' men.  In the last version, Cyclops can be said to be in drag (if it is a male) OR alternatively, it is a creature of both sexes.  We never see its mate and unless Cyclops is immortal (even though blinded) we might wonder about the 'species' future.

As to why I have gone to the effort to portray this particular character from Homer's Odyssey, I may reflect that the one-eyedness of this creature calls up a monomaniacal quality that I find disturbingly pervasive today.

You can take it from there.