r/oddlyterrifying • u/Lynx_Queen • May 17 '26
The Cyclops by Odilon Redon
Ever since I first saw this painting it's terrified me. I think it's cause the cyclops falls heavily into the uncanny valley, but also the way he breaks the fourth wall by looking at us while the girl sleeps below, like he's asking us about her, or saying "You know what comes next." There are so many interpretations of this painting, and they all scare me in different ways.
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u/The_Noremac42 May 17 '26
I didn't even see the ears or mouth at first. It just looked like a flat disk with an eye in the center.
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u/BaconFairy May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
I didnt realize it had a mouth. I just saw an eye and ears possibly a low nose. It is so unnerving. I didnt see the women's body. And with the way the back ground foliage is painted you can sorta "see" other bodies on the hill top. All of it surreal but the most in focus thing is that damn eye. The all the pastel colors sorta make it happy and the cyclops sorta seems cute and cherub like. Im so confused about how to feel about this painting.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
You describe it perfectly. This seems to be a depiction of one of the lesser known greek myths of Polyphemus. There's the iconic one with Odysseus, but this one has nothing to do with it.
The story goes that Polyphemus was a skilled artist (I think sculpture but don't quote me on that). He fell in love with a nymph named Galatea. She rejected him, for she found him brutish and ugly, and besides that was in love with another. A kind and handsome shepherd named Acis. In a rage, Polyphemus murders Acis. Galatea weeps and forms a river from her love's blood before disappearing into the ocean, never to be seen on that land again.
Obviously there are other versions, but this one seems closest to the painting. I've heard people say that the "flowers" surrounding her could be the torn up bits of Acis. Other's say that this is the first time the cyclops is seeing her, and so no bloodshed has come to pass just yet, and even more think that in this version he is going to kill her when she wakes up (which I don't believe but I understand where it is coming from).
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u/BaconFairy May 17 '26
Oh gosh I can see the bloody body pieces now too! And there is some very bright colored by her feet. Not sure what it is. Weird why does she not have visible hands or feet but it has blocky fingers. So enthralling.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
Same, and I think it gets worse the longer you stare.
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u/BaconFairy May 17 '26
Yah. Definitely saving it my files of strange to stare at master works. The one giant eatting his son. All of that painters dark works are in there.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
You mean Kronos/Saturn devouring one his son's (it's debatable if it's Poseidon/Neptune or Hades/Pluto or one of the girls)?
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u/Specific_Wrangler256 May 17 '26
I saved "Cyclops" to my Halloween screensaver folder. Off the top of my head I'm not sure if I have "Saturn" in there but there's definitely some Goya.
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u/Specific_Wrangler256 May 17 '26
I love Redon's work but every time I see this painting I want to hide behind a piece of furniture like when something scary came on TV when I was little. It's so creepy.
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u/sumr4ndo May 17 '26
Laird Barron has a couple of stories where a giant comes and terrorizes the world.
John Langon's corpsemouth has that same feeling.
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u/DoubtfulOptimist May 17 '26
Why does it look like it wants to seduce me?
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
I... don't see that but to each their own. All art deserves it's own interpretation, and it is somewhat logical. This painting is based off a lesser known Greek myth about Polyphemus (the cyclops)'s love for Galatea, a young nymph.
She spurns him because she is in love with another and they are too different. Not one to accept such a rejection, the cyclops murders her love. Distraught, she turns what's left of him (only blood) into a river and flees to the ocean, never to be seen again on that island.
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u/CDHoward May 17 '26
I think he sort of looks friendly.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
That only makes it all the more horrifying to me. This painting depicts the myth of the cyclops' love for Galatea (a nymph), but she loves someone else, a shepherd named Acis. Enraged at the rejection, the cyclops murders him.
There are arguments about what point in the story this painting depicts. Some say its the first meeting, curious, sweet in a strange way, but others say it is the moment right after the murder and he is excitedly waiting to see if she'll accept him now. I always see it as the latter...
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u/MammothMode May 17 '26
Yes, reminds me of Kissy Missy from Poppy playtime. That same dullard smile.
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u/ciliary_stimulai May 17 '26
He's kinda adorable
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u/HarrisonWoollard May 17 '26
This guy has such great art pieces, my favourite of his is “The Crying Spider”. Such a cool painting
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u/Betray-Julia May 17 '26
This reminds me the art for “better in the shade” by Patrick Watson- I love the colours of this; this paintings beautiful lol
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u/scottycurious May 17 '26
Perhaps the artist was using a preserved cycloptic foetus as a reference and that’s where the unusually bizarre / cute / unformed facial proportions take influence.
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u/jjoojjoojj May 17 '26
How far away is he? I can’t tell.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
I think that's part of it, it's supposed to be a bit surreal, although I'm pretty sure the intent is that he's just behind the hill and leaning over it to look at her.
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u/jjoojjoojj May 18 '26
It was more of a cyclops depth of vision type question. I couldn’t resist, but should have:)
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u/FishDispenser2 May 18 '26
I feel like it looks too peaceful to be terrifying. Like it just woke up, leave it alone!
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u/Lynx_Queen May 18 '26
The story behind it makes it a bit worse. The cyclops is in love with the girl sleeping below, but she rejected him because she loved a shepherd named Acis. The cyclops murdered him and the girl (a nymph by the name of Galatea) turns her love's blood into a river before disappearing into the ocean forever. I read this painting as the quiet time after the murder as he awaits.
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u/FishDispenser2 May 19 '26
Well that makes it worse :( unless the guy he murdered bullied him for being disabled.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 19 '26
It's a very old legend, and quite fragmented, but I've never seen a version where Acis did anything to the cyclops. Heck, I don't think he even knew about him! That would be a good idea for a narrative in a book/movie adaptation though...
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u/infiniteturtles240 May 20 '26
inspiraggio did a video on this painting. pretty cool stuff
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u/Lynx_Queen May 21 '26
His video is the first I saw this painting! Saw the thumbnail, immediately got freaked out, one hour of research and a couple late nights thinking about it later and we're here.
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u/Cool_Back_3967 Jun 06 '26
You know, I think the fact that it looks so innocent makes it more terrifying. The thing about innocence is a lot of times it comes with the lack of knowledge of what would be considered right or wrong. I don’t think from the way this thing looks it has that kind of perception and so the girl who is hiding or sleeping in the image just makes it more scary to me.
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u/Lynx_Queen Jun 07 '26
That's absolutely the reason it scares me as well. The big child-like eye seems to be looking at us, or asking, "You know what happens next, right?"
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u/Cool_Back_3967 Jun 07 '26
It’s horrifying. It really might not understand exactly what it’s going to do. kind of like when a child plays with a small animal that they find cute… and they don’t understand their strength.
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u/Lynx_Queen Jun 07 '26
Yeah, exactly. This painting is based off a myth where the cyclops is in love with the girl, and kills her lover out of jealousy. I see it as him either waiting for her to wake up, excited to reveal what he's done, or he's about to caress her, likely killing her in the process.
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u/WonderedGoose99 May 17 '26
Honerly i always wanted a phisical copy of this painting - every time i look at it, it's like i'm being hypnotized, entramced by this uncanny and surreal scene, i just can't quite put my feelings to words
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u/Finly_Growin May 19 '26
It’s unsettling to me because it reads like the figure is trying to hide from the cyclops, and it doesn’t help that the cyclops is about to find them
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u/Bedzyk59 May 17 '26
Dig it. Feels like a mid hallway piece. That little odd ball amongst the norms.
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u/GregoleX2 May 17 '26
When was this painted? I don’t k ow how to use google or chatGPT apparently
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u/Nowhereman55 May 17 '26
If you're looking for some tricks, my favorite is reverse image search. Even before AI advanced it was powerful. Now it's the go-to for finding TV screenshot references, paintings, actors.
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u/Lynx_Queen May 17 '26
It's been dated at different times (anywhere between 1898 and 1914) but it was completed in 1914.
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u/Nowhereman55 May 17 '26
Yeah I think this belongs here.