Cetus (mythology)
In
Depictions
A cetus was variously described as a sea monster or sea serpent. Other versions describe cetus as sea monsters with the head of a wild boar[4][5] or greyhounds and the body of whales or dolphins with divided, fan-like tails. Cetus were said to be colossal beasts the size of a ship, their skulls alone measuring 40 feet (12 meters) in length, their spines being a cubit in thickness, and their skeletons taller at the shoulder than any elephant.[5]
There are notable physical and mythological similarities between a cetus and a drakōn (the
Greek mythology
Cetus are often depicted fighting Perseus or as the mount of a
Queen
In a different story, Heracles slew a Cetus to save Hesione.[9]
A Cetus had also been portrayed to support Ino and Melicertes when they threw themselves into the sea[10] instead of a dolphin to carry Palaemon.
Etruscan mythology
In
Furthermore, the Etruscan deity Nethuns is sometimes shown wearing a headdress depicting a Cetus.[12]
Bible and Jewish mythology
The tannin sea monsters
The monster
Tanninim (תַּנִּינִים) (-im denotes Hebraic plural) appear in the Hebrew Book of Genesis,[13] Exodus,[14] Deuteronomy,[15] Psalms,[17] Job,[18] Ezekiel,[19] Isaiah,[20] and Jeremiah.[21] They are explicitly listed among the creatures created by God on the fifth day of the Genesis creation narrative,[13] translated in the King James Version as "great whales".[22] The Septuagint renders the original Hebrew of Genesis 1:21 (hattanninim haggedolim) as κήτη τὰ μεγάλα (kētē ta megala) in Greek, and this was in turn translated as cete grandia in the Vulgate. The tannin is listed in the apocalypse of Isaiah as among the sea beasts to be slain by Yahweh "on that day",[23] translated in the King James Version as "the dragon".[24][n 1]
Conflation with Leviathan and Rahab
In
Jonah's "great fish"
In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translation), the Hebrew text reads dag gadol (דג גדול), which literally means "great fish". The Septuagint translates this phrase into Greek as mega kētos (μέγα κῆτος). This was at the start of more widespread depiction of real whales in Greece and kētos would cover proven whales, sharks and the old meaning of curious sea monsters. Jerome later translated this phrase as piscis grandis in his Latin Vulgate. However, he translated the Greek word kētos as cetus in Gospel of Matthew 12:40. The English opts for the former: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."[28]
In other cultures
Art historian
Ships and sailing
Cetus or megakētēs (μεγακήτης) is commonly used as a ship's name[31] or figurehead denoting a ship unafraid of the sea or a ruthless pirate ship to be feared. Cetea were widely viewed as misfortune or bad omen by sailors widely influenced by the Mediterranean traditions such as the bringer of a great storm or general harbinger. Lore and tales associated it with lost cargo and being swept off course, even pirates being allied with such creatures so as to become taboo aboard vessels.[citation needed]
See also
- Ketu (mythology)
- Makara
- Kraken
- Tannin (monster)
- Black Tortoise - Cetus and the Black Tortoise correspond in astrology, as both creatures possess affinities to water and travel in the underworld to guide people[32] (see also: Cetus in Chinese astronomy)
Notes
- ^ This passage in Isaiah directly parallels another from the earlier Baal Cycle. The Hebrew passage describing the tannin takes the place of a Ugaritic one describing "the encircler"[25] or "the mighty one with seven heads" (šlyṭ d.šbʿt rašm).[26] In both the Ugaritic and Hebrew texts, it is debatable whether three figures are being described or whether the others are epithets of Lotan or Leviathan.
References
- ^ Sheldon-Williams, I. P., ed. (1981), Johannis Scotti Erivgenae Periphyseon (De Divisione Naturae) Liber Tertius, Scriptores Latini Hiberniae Volume XI, L. Bieler., p. 305
- ^ Sheldon-Williams, I. P., ed. (1847), The Theory and Practice of Latin Grammar, L. Bieler., R. Groombridge & Sons, p. 22
- ^ "κῆτος" in Liddell, Henry and Robert Scott. 19406. A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised by H.S. Jones and R. McKenzie.. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ^ John K. Papadopoulos, Deborah Ruscillo, 2002, A Ketos in Early Athens: An Archaeology of Whales and Sea Monsters in the Greek World, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 106, No. 2 (Apr., 2002), Archaeological Institute of America
- ^ Joseph Eddy Fontenrose, 1974, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins, pp.289-294, Biblo and Tannen Publishers
- ^ Daniel Ogden, 2013, Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds,Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Fights with Kētē, Sea-Serpents, pp.116-147, Oxford University Press
- ^ Sharon Khalifa-Gueta, 2018, The Evolution of the Western Dragon (PDF), pp.265-290, Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies, Volume 4, Issue 4, Center for European and Mediterranean Affairs, Athens Institute for Education and Research
- ISBN 978-0500252130.
- ^ Perseus: Apollodorus 2.4.3. Heracles: Homer Iliad 21.441, Apollodorus 2.5.9.
- ^ Leveson Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, 1838, The doctrine of the Deluge; vindicating the scriptural account from the doubts cast upon it, Vol.1, p.385
- University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
- Etruscan dodecapolis, in northern Etruria.
- ^ a b Gen. 1:21.
- ^ Exod. 7:9–10:12.
- ^ Deut. 32:33.
- ^ a b Heider, George C. (1999), "Tannîn", Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, pp. 835–836
- ^ Ps. 74:13, 91:13, 148:7, and possibly 44:20.[16]
- ^ Job 7:12.
- ^ Ezek. 29:3 & 32:2.
- ^ Isa. 27:1 & 51:9.
- ^ Jer. 51:34.
- ^ Gen. 1:21 (KJV).
- ^ Isa. 27:1.
- ^ Isa. 27:1 (KJV).
- ISBN 978-3-16-153347-1
- ^ Uehlinger, C. (1999), "Leviathan", Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, p. 512
- ^ Heider (1999) "Tannîn", p. 836
- ^ Matthew 12:40 (NIV)
- ISBN 978-0500252130.
- ^ National Gallery of Art, "Jade coiled dragon, Hongshan Culture (c. 4700–2920 B.C.)" Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine, Washington, D.C., Retrieved on 09-10-2021.
- ^ The Kosmos Society, 2019, The Idealized Ship | Part 2: Huge, hollow and swallowing, Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University
- ^ National Museum of Korea, 2007, Black Tortoise and Serpent, the Guardian Deity of the North
External links
Media related to Cetus (mythology) at Wikimedia Commons- Theoi Project - Ketea
