The Cyclopes were children of Uranus and Gaea. Uranus was disgusted with the ugliness of these children and banished them to Tartarus, deep beneath the Earth. When Zeus overthrew his father, Cronus, he freed the Cyclopes from their prison and they forged weapons for Zeus and his family. The Cyclopes had tremendous strength and were masons as well as smiths. They built Zeus's palace on Mount Olympus.