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Cetus (mythology)

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In Ancient Greek ketos ( κῆτος , plural kete/ketea , κήτη/κήτεα ), Latinized as cetus (pl. ceti or cete = cetea ), is any huge sea monster . According to the mythology , Perseus slew a cetus to save Andromeda from being sacrificed to it. The term cetacean (for whale) derives from cetus . In Greek art , ceti were depicted as serpentine fish. The name of the mythological figure Ceto is derived from kētos . The name of the constellation Cetus also derives from this word.

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36-412: A cetus was variously described as a sea monster or sea serpent . Other versions describe a cetus as a sea monster with the head of a wild boar or greyhound and the body of a whale or a dolphin with divided, fan-like tails. Ceti 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

72-535: A kētos , the Chinese dragon appeared more reptilian and shifted head-shape; the Pig dragon with the head of a boar compared to the reptilian head of modern dragons that of a camel . Cetus or megakētēs (μεγακήτης) is commonly used as a ship's name 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

108-682: A 35 m (115 ft) long skeleton claimed as belonging to an extinct sea serpent was put on a show in the New York City by Albert C. Koch. The claim was debunked by Prof. Jeffries Wyman, an anatomist who went to see the skeleton for himself. Wyman declared that the skull of the animal had to be mammalian in origin, and that the skeleton was composed of bones of several different animals, including an extinct species of whale. On 6 August 1848 Captain McQuhae of HMS  Daedalus and several of his officers and crew (en route to St Helena ) saw

144-514: A Cetus to save Hesione . A Cetus had also been portrayed to support Ino and Melicertes when they threw themselves into the sea instead of a dolphin to carry Palaemon . In Etruscan mythology , the Cetea were regarded as psychopomps , being depicted frequently on sarcophagi and urns, along with dolphins and hippocamps . Furthermore, the Etruscan deity Nethuns is sometimes shown wearing

180-470: A column from the water. Norwegian Bishop Erik Pontoppidan (1698–1764) did not disbelieve the existence of sea serpents themselves, but doubted they would prey on ships and feed on humans, being more cautious-minded in that respect than Archbishop Olaus (of Upsala). Nevertheless, a number of reports were made by sailors at the time that sea serpents would destroy ships by wrapping the ship in coils of their body and pulling it underwater. Sailors threatened by

216-654: A headdress depicting a Cetus. The monster tannin in the Hebrew Bible has been translated as Greek kētos in the Septuagint , and cetus in the Latin Vulgate . Tanninim ( תַּנִּינִים ) (-im denotes Hebraic plural) appear in the Hebrew Book of Genesis , Exodus , Deuteronomy , Psalms , Job , Ezekiel , Isaiah , and Jeremiah . They are explicitly listed among the creatures created by God on

252-520: A man of my acquaintance I should have easily have recognized his features with the naked eye." According to seven members of the crew, it remained in view for around twenty minutes. Another officer wrote that the creature was more of a lizard than a serpent. Evolutionary biologist Gary J. Galbreath contends that what the crew of Daedalus saw was a sei whale . A report was published in the Illustrated London News on 14 April 1849 of

288-570: A sea serpent in Valldal in Norway, throwing its body onto the mountain Syltefjellet. Marks on the mountain are associated with the legend. An apparent eye-witness account is given by Aristotle in his work Historia Animalium on natural history . Strabo makes reference to an eyewitness account of a dead sea creature sighted by Poseidonius on the coast of the northern Levant. He reports

324-414: A sea serpent were said to have thrown large objects such as paddles or shovels overboard in the path of the serpent, hoping that the serpent would take the object and leave without destroying the ship. Rev. Hans Egede , a Dano-Norwegian clergyman who was an early explorer and surveyor of Greenland, gave an 18th-century description of a sea serpent witnessed by his party. In his journal he wrote: On

360-650: A sea serpent which was subsequently reported (and debated) in The Times . The vessel sighted what they named as an enormous serpent between the Cape of Good Hope and St Helena. The serpent was witnessed to have been swimming with 1.2 m (4 feet) of its head above the water and they believed that there was another 18 m (60 feet) of the creature in the sea. Captain McQuahoe also said that "[The creature] passed rapidly, but so close under our lee quarter, that had it been

396-540: A sighting of a sea serpent off the Portuguese coast by HMS  Plumper . On the morning of the 31st December, 1848, in lat. 41° 13'N., and long. 12° 31'W., being nearly due west of Oporto, I saw a long black creature with a sharp head, moving slowly, I should think about two knots [3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph] ... its back was about twenty feet [6 m] if not more above water; and its head, as near as I could judge, from six to eight [1.8 to 2.4 m] ...There

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432-407: A similar imaginary creature called centipede cetacean in his work L'histoire entière des poissons . In Nordic mythology , Jörmungandr (or Midgarðsormr ) was a sea serpent or worm so long that it encircled the entire world, Midgard . Sea serpents also appear frequently in later Scandinavian folklore , particularly in that of Norway, such as an account that in 1028 AD, Saint Olaf killed

468-494: A sketch in this otherwise well-illustrated book, but the missionary named Bing who was his comrade drew a sketch, which is reproduced in Henry Lee 's work. Bing further described this creature as having reddish eyes, almost burning with fire. This convinced Bishop Pontoppidan that this was different from the type of sea serpent seen by others. From Bing's drawing, Pontoppidan estimated the creature to be considerably shorter than

504-765: The Book of Job , rahaḇ occurs in the Hebrew text and is translated in the King James Version as "proud". If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him. Rahab is a poetical name for Egypt. It might have Egyptian origins that were accommodated to the Hebrew language. However, there is nothing relevant in the Coptic language . I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this one

540-678: The Nērēides (in most later works called by the Roman form, the Nereids ), which invoked the wrath of Poseidon who sent the sea monster Kētŏs (in a far greater number of European works renamed as the Latinised Cetus) to attack Æthiopia . Upon consulting a wise oracle , King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia were told to sacrifice Andromeda to the Cetus. They had Andromeda chained to a rock near

576-675: The Tanninim mentioned in Book of Genesis 1:21 and the "great serpent" of Amos 9:3. In the Aeneid , a pair of sea serpents killed Laocoön and his sons when Laocoön argued against bringing the Trojan Horse into Troy. Claudius Aelianus in his work On the Nature of Animals mentions a giant sea centipede, which has a tail that is similar to a crayfish and which moves using numerous feet on each side of its body. Guillaume Rondelet mentions

612-607: The fifth day of the Genesis creation narrative , translated in the King James Version as "great whales ". 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" , translated in

648-416: The 6th of July, 1734, there appeared a very large and frightful sea monster, which raised itself so high out of the water that its head reached above our main-top (top of the mainmast ). It had a long, sharp snout, and spouted water like a whale; and very broad flappers. The body seemed to be covered with scales, and the skin was uneven and wrinkled, and the lower part was formed like a snake. After some time

684-524: The Babylonian myth are parallel to the creation stories found in the biblical passages containing the name Rahab. There is a possible connection between the monster Rahab and the fragmentary attested Akkadian chaos-dragon Labbu . In Isaiah 30:7, rahaḇ becomes a proverbial expression that gives an allusion to the Hebrew etymology insolence . For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her arrogancy that sitteth still. In

720-699: 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." Art historian John Boardman conjectured that images of the kētos in Central Asia influenced depictions of the Chinese Dragon and Indian makara . Boardman suggested that after contact with Silk Road images of

756-546: 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

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792-615: The King James Version as "the dragon ". In Jewish mythology , Tannin is sometimes conflated with the related sea monsters Leviathan and Rahab . Along with Rahab, "Tannin" was a name applied to ancient Egypt after the Exodus to Canaan . Joseph Eddy Fontenrose noted that "cetus" was a counterpart of Tiamat -based Medusa, and was modelled after Yam and Mot and Leviathan. In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translation),

828-528: The LORD; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hewed Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon? He stirreth up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He smiteth through Rahab. The Babylonians told of a sky-god, Marduk , and a sea-goddess, Tiamat , battling for supreme power over the other gods, in the Enūma Eliš . It has been speculated these two characters in

864-740: 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. Sea serpent A sea serpent is a type of sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably in Mesopotamian cosmology ( Tiamat ), Ugaritic cosmology ( Yam , Tannin ), biblical cosmology ( Leviathan , Rahab ), Greek cosmology ( Cetus , Echidna , Hydra , Scylla ), and Norse cosmology ( Jörmungandr ). The Drachenkampf mytheme,

900-576: The chief god in the role of the hero slaying a sea serpent, is widespread both in the ancient Near East and in Indo-European mythology , e.g. Lotan and Hadad , Leviathan and Yahweh , Tiamat and Marduk (see also Labbu , Bašmu , Mušḫuššu ), Illuyanka and Tarhunt , Yammu and Baal in the Baal Cycle etc. The Hebrew Bible also has mythological descriptions of large sea creatures as part of creation under Yahweh's command, such as

936-555: The creature plunged backwards into the water, and then turned its tail up above the surface, a whole ship-length from the head. The following evening we had very bad weather" ―translated in Henry Lee (1883). Egede also wrote on the same sea-monster sighting in his book, noting that the beast was spotted at the 64th degree of latitude , and was as thick or "bulky as the Ship, and three or four times as long". Egede himself did not supply

972-470: The following: "As for the plains, the first, beginning at the sea, is called Macras, or Macra-Plain. Here, as reported by Poseidonius, was seen the fallen dragon, the corpse of which was about a plethrum [30 m or 100 feet] in length, and so bulky that horsemen standing by it on either side could not see one another, and its jaws were large enough to admit a man on horseback, and each flake of its horny scales exceeded an oblong shield in length." The creature

1008-494: The length of a cable rope, or 100 fathoms (200 m (220 yd)) attested by multiple witnesses, and the pair of fins which were attached "below the waist ( Danish : liv )" in Pontoppidan's view, was another unusual feature. Lee proposed a rational explanation that this sea-serpent was a misapprehended sighting of what was actually the exposed head and one tentacle of a giant squid (Cf. figure above left). In 1845,

1044-426: The ocean so that the cetus could devour her. After finding Andromeda chained to the rock and learning of her plight, Perseus managed to slay the Cetus when the creature emerged from the ocean to devour her. According to one version, Perseus slew Cetus with the harpe lent to him by Hermes . According to another version, he used Medusa 's head to turn the sea monster to stone . In a different story, Heracles slew

1080-591: The planet Neptune in a vote organised by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in 2009. Several Israel Navy submarines also bear the name, including the fifth Dolphin class submarine , which officially entered service in January, 2016: The INS Rahav . In the video game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , the boss character Rahab is a vampire who has evolved into a marine fish-like creature, possibly

1116-519: The remarkable story of how a serpent of fearsome size, from 200 feet [60 m] to 400 feet [120 m] long, and 20 feet [6 m] wide, resides in rifts and caves outside Bergen . On bright summer nights this serpent leaves the caves to eat calves, lambs and pigs, or it fares out to the sea and feeds on sea nettles, crabs and similar marine animals. It has ell -long hair hanging from its neck, sharp black scales and flaming red eyes. It attacks vessels, grabs and swallows people, as it lifts itself up like

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1152-536: The sea. Rahab (Hebrew: רָחָב‎, Rachav, "spacious place") is also one of the Hebrew words for the Abyss . Rahab appears in Psalm 89 :10, Isaiah 51:9–10, and Job 26:12. Rahab, in these passages, takes the meaning of primeval, chaotic, multi-headed sea-dragon or Leviathan. Thou didst crush Rahab, as one that is slain; Thou didst scatter Thine enemies with the arm of Thy strength. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of

1188-447: The shoulder than any elephant. There are notable physical and mythological similarities between a cetus and a drakōn (the dragons in Greek mythology ), and, to a lesser extent, other monsters of Greek myth, such as Scylla , Charybdis , and Medusa and her Gorgon sisters. Cetus are often depicted fighting Perseus or as the mount of a Nereid . Queen Cassiopeia boasted that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than

1224-463: Was born there. In medieval Jewish folklore , Rahab is a mythical sea monster , a dragon of the waters, the " demonic angel of the sea". Rahab represents the primordial abyss, the water-dragon of darkness and chaos, comparable to Leviathan and Tiamat . Rahab later became a particular demon, inhabitant of the sea, especially associated with the Red Sea . Rahab is the official Hebrew name for

1260-522: Was seen sometime between 130 and 51 BC. Swedish ecclesiastic and writer Olaus Magnus included illustrations of sea serpents and other various marine monsters on his illustrated map, the Carta marina . In his 1555 work History of the Northern Peoples , Olaus gives the following description of a Norwegian sea serpent: Those who sail up along the coast of Norway to trade or to fish, all tell

1296-410: Was something on its back that appeared like a mane, and, as it moved through the water, kept washing about; but before I could examine it more closely, it was too far astern Rahab (Egypt) Rahab ( Hebrew : רַהַב , Modern: Rahav, Tiberian: Rahaḇ, "blusterer") is used in the Hebrew Bible to indicate pride or arrogance, a mystical sea monster, as an emblematic or poetic name for Egypt, and for

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