This is a cyclops. Well, sort of. It’s actually the skeleton of an elephant. A small elephant that at one time was indigenous to Sicily. Yup, that’s right. This animal, which is the size of a Vespa motor bike, once roamed the ancient landscape of Sicily. (Remember, part of Sicily is on the African tectonic plate!) When the ancient Greeks found remains of the prehistoric being, specifically the skull (pictured), they imagined that it belonged to a one-eyed giant. In other words, a cyclops! And so was born many legends around this fantastic, cave-dwelling creature, including the visit of Odysseus and his men and the rock stacks at Acitrezza from The Odyssey.
The remains of this elephant can be found in the Orsi museum in Siracusa.
