A very old legend refers to a northern people associated with the Scythian world called the Arimaspi, said to have had only one eye and to have raided their neighbours in search of gold. The striking point in the story is that their enemies were griffins—sacred creatures that protected treasures of gold from their attacks.

If we approach this narrative through symbolic depth interpretation, the griffin can be understood as a creature combining the head of an eagle with the body of a lion. Among Iranians, as among many ancient peoples, such a figure acquired sacred significance because it joins the king of animals on earth, the lion, with the eagle, king of the sky.

The griffin archetype is symbolically connected with the sun, while the eagle itself represents sharp sight, awareness and attention. The conflict between griffin and cyclopean figures can therefore be read as a conflict between opposing psychological forces within us: on one side, courage, precision and awareness, guardian of golden treasure or pure knowledge and wisdom; on the other, the one-sided, ideological, violent, half-conscious and unreflective outlook that wishes to declare itself owner of that wisdom. One is an image of darkness and the other of light.

4) Before the Greek gods led by Zeus attack the ancient Titans and their world, myth speaks of an earlier age called the Golden Age. Under the Titans and before the rule of Zeus, human beings are said to have lived long lives without disease, and balance and peace prevailed. Zeus and his brothers Poseidon, god of the sea, and Hades, god of the underworld, first free the Cyclopes from Tartarus in order to defeat the Titans.

The Cyclopes, although represented as having limited awareness and mental powers, are also portrayed as unsurpassed makers of weapons. They forge the thunderbolt for Zeus, the trident for Poseidon, and for Hades a helmet that makes him invisible. With these three weapons, the Golden Age and its peace end and the gods overcome the Titans. Prometheus, another Titan who takes pity on humanity and steals fire from Zeus to give to human beings, is condemned by the gods to perpetual suffering.

This part of the myth can be read as a description of how people governed by the Cyclops archetype—through ideology, absolute certainty in their own righteousness and limited understanding—destroy peace, tranquillity and human life, and help establish powers that make life bitter and difficult. Collective ideologies and one-sided closed systems of thought are, from this perspective, enlarged embodiments of the individual Cyclops within each of us. Imagine for a moment a world without Cyclopes: a world in which human beings sincerely seek truth and aim not merely to remain who they are but to become better than they are today. To realise such a world, each of us must struggle honestly with the Cyclops within.

The next time, in the name of ethnicity, race, religion, belief or any other possession through which we define our identity, we feel that we are absolutely right and can identify ourselves with absolute truth, let us remember that each of us carries a one-eyed giant within: self-regarding, foolish, self-righteous and angry, and in need of confrontation. Every war that remains unresolved within us becomes a war in the external world, where the one-eyed giant within can become our totality outside.

Let us begin somewhere simpler. In every friendship and family life there comes a moment when we enter a heated emotional argument with a spouse, sibling, parent or friend. Can you remember what you felt the last time this happened? Within each of us lives an “angry I” that is always right, always knows better, always sees others as responsible and is determined to win at any price. That angry I is the Cyclops within us. When it emerges from its dark chamber, we feel compelled to continue the argument and to win. We want to prove that we are right.

It no longer matters whether we learn anything, because we already “know” what is right. It no longer matters what the other person feels, or whether they learn anything from the encounter. The only thing that matters is that I win now and demonstrate that I am right.