sIklO´pEz

In Greek mythology, immense one-eyed beings. They appear in at least two distinct traditions:




back to
Greek and Roman Mythology

Polyphemus is a particularly famous one, but they also figured prominently in Greek myths as helpers of Hephaestos, the smith god. They were the brothers of the Titans and the Hecatonchieres, though the Cyclopes in The Odyssey were descendants of Poseidon.

Cyclops - 'Ulysses' - James Joyce

Time:
5pm - 6pm
Scene:
'The Tavern'
Persons:
Bloom - Ulysses
Citizen - Polyphemus
Others / Nationalists - Cyclops
I - Thersites
Cigar - stake
Symbol::
-- Muscles
Art/Science: POLITICS


The scene is now the Barney Kernan's Pub on Little Brittain Street.
The narrator is talking and drinking with the others in the pub. Bloom,
enters the discussion with his views and expressions of the world which
enrage the Citizen. When Bloom speeds out, the Citizen throws a tin after
him, barely missing Bloom.

Cyclops (AKA Scott Summers) is one of the five original X-men. The other four were Jean Grey (who was then Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast, and Angel (who has since become Archangel).

Cyclops' power is the ability to emit a high powered optic blast from his eyes. Llike all other mutants in the Marvel world, has had his mutant power since birth. To control the blasts, Cyclops must always wear some form of ruby quartz protection over his eyes, usually sunglasses or a visor.

In issue 30 of X-men, Cyclops married Jean Grey. They're son Nate Summers was taken into the future and raised to fight the evil Apocalypse. He has since returned to the present as the warrior Cable. Cyclops' brother Alex Summers is also a mutant. He goes by the name Havoc and is currently affiliated with X-Factor.

Cyclops' costume has changed through the years but has essentially remained the same. An all blue spandex suit with some sort of yellow belt, and of course the visor.

In the 2000 X-Men movie, directed by Bryan Singer, Cyclops was played by James Marsden. Cyclops appears in just about every X-Men video game including the original NES one, the 6 player, Final Fight-esque arcade game, X-Men: Children of the Atom, X-Men VS Street Fighter, and Marvel VS Street Figher.

Compiled overview of the 90 ton Cyclops 'Mech, from various BattleTech novels and game sourcebooks:



Stormvanger Assemblies Unlimited first placed the Cyclops into production in 2710. It was designed primarily as a heavy assault 'Mech, but its sophisticated communications and information network equipment make it equally valuable as a command vehicle. In battlefield situations, the 'Mech is capable of coordinating up to an entire BattleMech regiment with its sophisticated holographic Tacticon B-2000 battle computer while easily maintaining planet-wide and orbital communications using the Olmstead 840 tight beam comm system and Satnav satellite uplink.

Tactical doctrine usually places it in the reserve, where it can coordinate and support the overall actions of the other BattleMechs in its command. At regimental level and higher, the commander's Cyclops are usually guarded by a headquarters lance and supporting units.

The Cyclops' weaponry is mixed so that it can attack or defend itself against any opponent at any range necessary. The Delta Dart LRM-10 Missle Rack is capable of engaging the enemy at extreme range. The Zeus-36 Mk III autocannon can be used in the middle ranges. Finally, a pair of Diverse Optics Type 20 medium lasers along with the Hovertec SRM-4 Missle Rack can take on anything that gets nearer. With its diverse weaponry, the Cyclops is somewhat limited in ammunition storage; its projectile weapons tend to run out of ammunition quickly in extended battle situations.

Though the Cyclops' head section is armored as heavily as its internal structure can handle, the armor is somewhat inadequate. Most enemy 'Mechs will aim at the head of a Cyclops, knowing that any hits or even near misses could disable the sophisticated command equipment located there. Dealing damage to the obviously high ranking MechWarrior inside it is a bonus as well.

Even with these minor drawbacks, the Cyclops is a formidable weapon to be found in the battle lances of almost every 'Mech regiment in the Successor States, and has been a part of every major engagement in the Succession Wars.

Although the battles of the Succession Wars greatly reduced the number of Cyclops, the design is still employed in a variety of roles throughout the Inner Sphere. Although no manufacturer currently produces a standard field-modification kit for the Cyclops, unit commanders and their technicians have modified these BattleMechs in numerous ways. Most commonly, MechWarriors replace the original design's Zeus-36 Mk III autocannon with a Zeus Slingshot Gauss rifle. Although the Gauss rifle does slightly less damage than the autocannon, it possesses a far greater range and produces almost no waste heat.

Many MechWarriors also modify the Cyclops by installing more sophisticated communications equipment. Typically, the Cyclops is fifted with a C3 computer. Such computers provide superior communications capacity and other important advantages on the battlefield. For example, all the 'Mechs in a network of C3-equipped 'Mechs can use the targeting data supplied by the sensors of any other 'Mech in the network.

Though individuals have occasionally made personal modifications, the present-day Cyclops is virtually identical to the prototype that rolled off the assembly line in 2710.



Note: Information used here was the domain of FASA before they split the rights between Wizkids LLC and Microsoft (table-top gaming and video games respectively). Copyright of the fluff text is in limbo, but names of persons, places, & things are without any doubt the property of Wizkids LLC. Use of any terms here related to the BattleTech trademark are not meant as a challenge to Wizkids LLC's rights.
A hero published by Marvel Comics. Cyclops was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #1 in 1963.

Scott Summers was the eldest son of Christopher Summers, a major in the U.S. Air Force, and his wife Katherine. The Summers and their two sons Scott and Alex were in a small plane flying back from vacation, when their craft was attacked by a scout ship of the Sh'iar empire. The parents were taken captive, but not before Katherine was able to strap the only parachute onto Scott and push him, holding his younger brother from the plane. The chute was damaged during the decent and Scott took the brunt of the impact to protect young Alex. Scott suffered a head injury as a result that caused some brain damage that would not be apparent until later in life.

The two Summers brothers were put into an orphanage for a time. It has been revealed years later that during their time in the orphanage, the Summers brothers came to the attention of Dr. Nathaniel Essex, a master in genetics and mutant himself, who goes by the name of Mister Sinister. During this time, Essex performed various experiments on mutant children, including Alex whose ability to absorb cosmic radiation was linked with another mutant known as Ahmet Abdol. The Summers brothers were split up about this time, and Scott stayed at the orphanage for many years.

Eventually, Scott's mutant ability to project beams of force from his eyes manifested, but due to the brain injury he had suffered years before he had no ability to control the power. Through the help of mutant leader, Charles Xavier, Scott was fitted with a pair of ruby quartz glasses that contained the beams and allowed Scott to carry on a relatively normal life, although he constantly has to remain vigilant less his eye beams get loose and injure someone.

Xavier brought Summers to his home in Westchester, New York, and Scott became the first student to be trained by Xavier to use his powers and employ them for good. Over time, other students were brought in and these students became known as the X-Men. Although initially Xavier would lead them telepathically while in the field, eventually Scott (who went by the code name Cyclops) rose to be the natural field leader. During this time, Cyclops and the rest of the original team of X-Men encountered, Scott's younger brother Alex, whose mutant power manifested itself as the ability to absorb cosmic radiation and project it in a powerful blast of energy. Alex began using the name Havok as a codename and worked off and on with the X-Men, but it would be many years before he became a full member of the team.

The first group of X-Men became lifelong friends and romance bloomed between Scott and fellow student Jean Grey, who was called Marvel Girl. Although they went through the natural ups and downs of relationships (especially ones that involve putting on spandex, and fighting people called things like the Blob and Unus the Untouchable), the two always had deep feelings for each other.

Then, the original X-Men were defeated and captured by Krakoa, the Living Island with only Cyclops escaping. He returned to Xavier, who gathered a new group of mutants to aid in finding is original group of students. The new group of mutants accompanied Cyclops, back to Krakoa and with the help of both the new and old groups, the mutants defeated Krakoa. Most of the original group of X-Men decided to move on, with the exception of Cyclops, who stayed on as leader of the X-Men while the new group learned to act as a team.

Years later, while in space battling the menace that threatened the existence of the universe, the X-Men encountered a group of space privateers named the Starjammers. The Starjammers were lead by a human who called himself Corsair. During their time together, it was revealed that Corsair was actually Christopher Summers, the father of Cyclops. The elder Summers had survived over the years, but chose not to return to Earth, believing that his two sons had been killed during the battle with Sh'iar scout ship. It would be a number of years before Cyclops and his father would learn each other's identity and be reunited.

Cyclops acted as team leader for many years, until Jean Grey was seemingly killed after becoming the immensely powerful Phoenix. Summers traveled for a while, but eventually came back to the X-Men. During this time, Summers met a woman named Madelyne Pryor, a pilot and a double to Summers former love Jean Grey. The two fell in love and were married, eventually having a son named Nathan Christopher. They were happy for a time, but it was not to last.

It was discovered that Jean Grey had not been killed, but had been replaced by the Phoenix entity. She was discovered alive and Summers left his wife and child to sort out his feelings about Grey's return. He and his fellow original X-Men banded together to help mutants by posing as a mutant hunting group called X-Factor. They sought to help mutants who had been discovered by offering them shelter and teaching them to use their powers under the guise of hunting them down for profit. It was a difficult time for Summers as his wife and child disappeared and he struggled with his feelings for Marvel Girl.

Eventually, during the Inferno event, it was revealed that Pryor was actually a clone of Jean Grey and she sold herself over to demonic powers in an attempt to get revenge on Cyclops and Marvel Girl. The resulting battles left Madelyne Pryor dead and Scott Summers reunited with his son and the woman he loved.

Tragedy struck Scott Summers again soon after. His son Nathan was infected with a techno-organic virus by the villain Apocalypse, who realized that he would grow to be a powerful opponent. Summers was forced to give his son to a member of the Clan Askani who were from 2000 years in the future. The Clan believed that Nathan was the key to Apocalypse's defeat and that they could help to cure him. So, Cyclops allowed his son to be taken into the future with no real hope of seeing him again.

Soon after this, Cyclops and the rest of the members of X-Factor returned to the X-Men and Cyclops shared leadership of the team with Storm. They fought a number of menaces including Magneto, Onslaught, and Bastion. Scott Summers and Jean Grey eventually married and were able to spend a number of years in the future raising Nathan, who later traveled back in time to be the hero known as Cable.

Apocalypse appeared and captured the Twelve, twelve mutants who would help him achieve great power. He planned to use this power to transfer his mind into the body of Nate Grey, the X-Man, who was actually Nathan Summers from an alternate timeline. During the battle, Cyclops attempted to prevent the transfer of Apocalypse's mind into Grey's body only to have it transferred into his instead. The result was that for a time Apocalypse and Cyclops inhabited the same body, but since Summers has regained his body and serves as a leader in the X-Men to this day.

When the adventures of the X-Men were portrayed on the big screen, the character of Cyclops was played by actor James Marsden.

Cyclops is the "electronic referee" at the tennis tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London.

Tennis is a game with a formally laid out court, with balls having to land inside the lines. And there are line judges all around the court to watch for where the balls land. (A top level match has one umpire, and then at each end of the court, a judge on the centre service line, a judge on the baseline and 3 judges on the 3 "vertical" lines). If any part of the ball touches the line, the ball is good - it has to be totally outside the line to be ruled out.

Most of the time, the judges can fairly easily see what's going on. But with the fastest servers serving at speeds approaching 140 mph, it's not so easy. Bring on Cyclops to monitor the service line, deciding if serves are in or out.

The system resembles a burglar alarm, with beams of infrared light directed just beyond the line. When the ball interrupts the beam - as it must if the serve is long by a small margin - an alarm goes off. This produces an audible beep. Of course, the line judge still has to be paying attention as the Cyclops only detects balls that are just out. A serve which is a long way out will miss the beam of the device altogether, and will be called manually.

The electronic eye derives its name from the mythological Greek race of one eyed giants and was invented by Bill Carlton of Malta. It was first introduced to Wimbledon in 1980 and now is used in many other major tennis tournaments around the world, including the US Open.

rootbeer277 asks "any idea how the cyclops tells the difference between a ball, a foot, and a tennis racket?" I think it doesn't, any time its beam is interrupted, it beeps. But it's on the centre service line (ie nowhere near where any players stand during a serve, they're usually just inside or just outside the baseline), and the operator (ie the line judge) turns it off immediately after the serve and then back on before the next point. It does very occasionally go off in the middle of a rally, in which case a let is usually played (the point is replayed) as the loud beep can be distracting.

In more recent years, there's a second detection system in use at Wimbledon. If a serve clips the net, but goes in, a first serve is called and the point is replayed. In the past, there was a judge who kept a finger on the net cord, feeling if this happened. However, apart from being inaccurate, this judge was the most likely to get hit by a high speed tennis ball!

Nowdays, there is a vibration sensor attached to the net which produces a beep (significantly higher pitched than the beep from Cyclops). The Umpire then calls the first serve.

Sources: Me having been to Wimbledon, and the Wimbledon tournament website for some of the details (eg the inventor and the exact date).


BlueDragon says "re cyclops : new systems, Hawkeye and Auto-ref are being trialled - they will track all the lines, not just the service line. Tennis wont be the same without the thrill of seeing a line judge having to throw themselves out of the way of a speeding ball ;)". Hawkeye tracks the path of a ball and can produce a virtual reality 3d model of where it landed, making it possible for the commentators to judge if a call was correct. Whether it will replace the line judges, or (more likely) be used to help decide close calls, like the 3rd umpire in cricket remains to be seen.


Update, July 2009: Cyclops has now been removed from Wimbledon. For the past couple of years, Hawkeye is fully installed on Centre and No 1 Court, and, as of 2009, the new No 2 Court as well. Line judges still provide the "primary call", but the players can request a challenge on any call using Hawkeye. They are allowed 3 incorrect challenges per set.

Cy"clops (s?"kl?ps), n. sing. & pl. [L. Cyclops, Gr. (strictly round-eyed), pl. ; circle + eye.]

1. Gr. Myth.

One of a race of giants, sons of Neptune and Amphitrite, having but one eye, and that in the middle of the forehead. They were fabled to inhabit Sicily, and to assist in the workshops of Vulcan, under Mt. Etna.

⇒ Pope, in his translation of the "Odyssey," uniformly spells this word Cyclop, when used in the singular.

2. Zool.

A genus of minute Entomostraca, found both in fresh and salt water. See Copepoda.

3.

A portable forge, used by tinkers, etc.

 

© Webster 1913.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.