Cetus: A Mythical Sea Creature of Enormous Size

Cetus (Greek κῆτος) is a mythical creature, a sea monster of enormous size. Descriptions of the mythical whale vary from a large fish to combinations of different creatures. Often, whales are associated with Leviathan, a sea serpent and sea monster of ancient mythology.

Whales in Mythologies

Ancient Mythology

The word “cetus” originates from ancient Greek and initially sounded like “keteya” or “ketos.” In ancient Greek art, whales were depicted as serpent-like toothed fish, sometimes with front paws. These creatures were considered monsters, defeated by Perseus while rescuing Andromeda and by Hercules while liberating Hesione. Both whales were sent by the gods as punishment for the kings’ disrespect towards the gods.

Pliny the Elder described the Cetus as a real creature inhabiting the Indian Ocean and surpassing the largest ships in size. The researcher noted that the Cetus has blowholes on its forehead and can eject streams of water from them. Pliny explained the gigantic size of whales by the fact that the sea is larger than land, so it receives more “seeds of life” from the sky.

Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, a cetus (kētos) is a kind of sea monster sent by the wrath of Poseidon to devastate the shores of a country. Authors provide two different stories: one set in Ethiopia and the other in Troy.

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Cetus of Ethiopia

The cetus of Ethiopia (Κητος Αιθιοπιος) was sent to punish the pride of Cassiopeia, queen of Ethiopia or Joppa (Phoenicia). Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids themselves, and as expected, they reported her words to Poseidon. The offended sea god first sent a flood and then a sea monster to ravage Joppa. When King Cepheus consulted the oracle of Ammon, it revealed that the only way to appease Poseidon was to sacrifice his daughter Andromeda to the monster. Cepheus, compelled by the wishes of his people, chained Andromeda to a rock, naked except for certain jewels. Just then, Perseus appeared, defeated the sea monster, and married Andromeda as a reward. The monster was placed in the stars, hence the constellation of Cetus.

Cetus of Troy

The cetus of Troy (Κητος Τροιας) was sent to punish the perjury of Laomedon, then king of Troy. Unlike the Ethiopian cetus, this monster does have parentage, imagined as a daughter of Phorcys. When Laomedon was building Troy, Poseidon and Apollo offered their services in exchange for a fee. Poseidon punished the breach of promise by sending a sea monster to the shores of Troy. Following an oracle’s orders, the Trojans sacrificed Hesione, Laomedon’s daughter. The hero who faced this challenge was none other than Heracles, who had just returned from his expedition against the Amazons.

Slavic Mythology

According to preserved legends, the earth stands amidst the boundless sea on three fish. One of them is a Cetus, and when it moves, earthquakes occur. The Cetus was called the father or mother of all fish. According to some beliefs, the Cetus swims not in water but in a fiery river or sea. In the apocryphal Old Russian “Conversation of the Three Saints,” there is mention of a Cetus creature on which the whole earth stands. Flames erupt from its mouth and nostrils, and when the Cetus stirs, the end of the world comes, and everything perishes in fire. According to another version provided there, the world stands on three large and thirty smaller fish whales. In the works of the Byzantine Mefodiy Tatarsky, which spread to Russia, it is said that whales cover sources with their bodies. The worldwide flood occurred because whales, at God’s command, swam away from the sources, releasing the waters.

According to folklore, the image of the creature Wonder-Wonder Fish-Whale is famous. It can swallow heroes during their travels or lie across the sea like a bridge.

Medieval European Mythology

Unlike antiquity, in medieval Europe, whales were described as creatures created by God alongside other animals.

The most famous descriptions of whales in medieval literature are found in Scandinavian and Icelandic sources, particularly in the “King’s Mirror,” created around the mid-thirteenth century. Various real species of whales are fairly accurately described there, including killer whales and Greenland whales.

However, in the work, they are classified as fish. Fantastical whale-horses and whale-pigs are also mentioned as extremely fierce creatures that sink ships as soon as they see them and are inedible. There are also benevolent whales that rescue people in storms or drive fish into nets. According to Icelandic beliefs, the whale cannot be mentioned at sea. Otherwise, it will immediately appear and attack the ship.

A Flemish author, Thomas Cantimpré, wrote in the thirteenth century that a Cetus is so large that it can be mistaken for an island when it surfaces. Allegedly, careless sailors land on it, and when they light fire on its body, it sinks into the sea, drowning sailors. He also wrote that the Cetus lures the fish it feeds on with the scent it emits from its mouth. This motif is also found in the Arabic “One Thousand and One Nights.”

Conrad Gessner, who lived in Zurich in the sixteenth century, published “The History of Animals,” where, in addition to real creatures, he described fantastic whales based on descriptions of other authors. Some illustrations portray them as fierce and terrifying. For example, blowholes on the head of a Cetus are depicted as pipes, teeth do not fit into the mouth and protrude from it, there is a mane on the neck, and there are bushy eyebrows that give a menacing stern look.

Symbolism of the Cetus

In Christian symbolism, the Cetus represents the devil himself and the allegory of the destruction of the careless sinful soul. Its mouth is the gate of Hell, and its stomach is Hell itself or a place of trials.

According to legend, the prophet Jonah was swallowed by a Cetus for violating God’s command to convert the inhabitants of Nineveh to righteous life. During the sea voyage to Joppa, the ship with the prophet was caught in a terrible storm, and the sailors, in fear, cast lots to find out whose sins caused God’s wrath upon them. The lot fell on Jonah, who confessed his sin, was thrown overboard, and swallowed by a huge fish created by God specifically for his punishment. After spending three days in the belly of the creature, Jonah vomited back unharmed. This story is sometimes interpreted as an allegory of the resurrection.

Another sea monster mentioned in the Bible is Leviathan. In the Book of Job, it is described as a mighty, proud creature capable of breaking stones and iron. The destruction of Leviathan by God is mentioned in the Book of Isaiah. Here, the monster appears as a serpent. In various interpretations, Leviathan is described as either a cetus, a sea dragon, or even a dinosaur. Thanks to Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan became a symbol of an all-absorbing state.

The fantastic Cetus appears in heraldry as a symbol of the fishing industry. In modern language, the phrase “three whales” means the basis of something, the main foundation.