Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss,
in no particular order, five of the most powerful sea monsters in Greek mythology.
Before we jump into our first entry, I’d like to quickly preface with a short disclaimer,
which is that neither the Hippokampoi, half-horse, half-fish creatures, nor the Ichthyocentaurs,
centaurs with lobster claws and fish tails, are going to feature on this list. So, apologies
in advance if you were hoping for a spotlight on either of those. This video is going to
focus on the variety bent on shedding blood and extinguishing life.
Let’s get into it.
Starting us off are the Sirens.
The Sirens were female monsters of hybrid appearance, possessing human heads and the
bodies of giant birds. Other descriptions gave them human arms that played musical instruments.
They were originally the handmaidens of the goddess Persephone, but when she was abducted
by Hades, Demeter gave them bird bodies so that they could cover more ground in the search.
The sirens’ song was so beautiful and enchanting that it utterly bewitched and entranced any
who heard it, so that those caught in its spell could not see the thorns beneath the
petals. Sailors brought their ships ever closer, desperate to hear the song as loudly and clearly
as possible, but their minds were so taken that the jagged rocks their ships rapidly
approached went unnoticed. Ultimately, sailors were reduced to bloated corpses, and ships
were reduced to sunken wrecks that littered the ocean floor. The two most famous encounters
with the Sirens were Jason and the Argonauts and Odysseus and his crew. Orpheus saved the
first group by drowning out the siren’s song with his own music, and Odysseus survived
by lashing himself to the mast and having his crew plug their ears with beeswax.
Next we have Cetus.
Sired by the sea god Phorkys, Cetus was the sea-monster sent by Poseidon to bring death
and destruction to the land of Troy after King Laomedon reneged on his promise to pay
Poseidon, who worked at building the walls of Troy for an entire year. An oracle revealed
that the only way Laomedon could extricate his kingdom from the plight his avarice and
lack of integrity embroiled it in was by chaining his daughter to a cliff and sacrificing her
to the monster. Fortunately, she didn’t end up dying, for a bargain was struck in
which Hercules agreed to kill the monster in exchange for Laomedon’s immortal horses.
But again, true to form, Laomedon reneged on his promise, giving nothing after his daughter
was saved. This second slight would be tantamount to signing his own death warrant, though,
for it was not wise to make yourself an enemy of Hercules, who delivered the King’s comeuppance
when he returned with six ships, sacked Troy, and killed Laomedon.
Next we have basically the same scenario but with Perseus. The monster is either also Cetus
or some unnamed minion of Poseidon, depending on the version.
After slaying Medusa, Perseus used his winged sandals to fly home. Land and water wheeled
below him, but his eyes eventually fell on a beautiful woman, the princess Andromeda,
chained to a cliff. Her mother, Cassiopeia, had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful
than all the nymphs of the sea. As punishment for her hubris, Poseidon sent a sea monster
to ravage the land of Ethiopia, of which Andromeda’s father was king. An oracle was consulted,
and it was said that the monster would only relent if Andromeda was sacrificed to it.
Much like Hercules ,Perseus later struck a bargain, offering to kill the monster in exchange
for Andromeda’s hand in marriage. And so, the monster was killed and Perseus won himself
a wife.
Finishing off this list are Scylla and Charybdis, both of whom we’re going to discuss at the
same time. They were neighbours, so you can’t really talk about one without the other.
They lived across from each other, occupying opposite sides of a strait, which was made
virtually impassable because of them; attempting to sail through was to court death. These
two monsters featured most prominently in two stories: the quest for the Golden Fleece,
when Jason and his crew made their return trip after obtaining the Fleece, and the Odyssey,
in which Odysseus is forced to endure a 10 year journey home fraught with danger and
suffering after the Trojan war.
Jason had a much easier time negotiating this obstacle than Odysseus did. He and his crew
were able to circumvent the strait, thus avoiding both Scylla and Charybdis, by having their
vessel guided safely through the Planktai rocks by the water nymphs.
Odysseus was not afforded such a luxury, instead forced to decide which danger he’d rather
brave. He was left with the perilous dilemma of choosing which side of the strait he should
sail his ship down. And incidentally, it was this dilemma from which rose the expression,
between a rock and a hard place.
On one side was Charybdis. A great fig tree that grew from the abutting cliff showed exactly
where she lurked beneath the ocean’s surface. Though there is little to no information concerning
Charybdis’ appearance, her immense size is a given. Three times each day she sucked
such a vast amount of water that a powerful whirlpool was created, powerful enough even
to consume any ships unfortunate enough to find themselves nearby; and it was said that
Poseidon himself - the mighty earth-shaker - was powerless to rescue those caught in
Charybdis’ vortex.
On the other side of the strait was Scylla’s lair, which was a cave embedded in the cliff
side. Ships that passed by had it’ sailors snatched off the deck, and larger prey beneath
the surface, like sharks, dolphins, and whales, made for frequent meals. Where descriptive
information pertaining to Charybdis was sparse, it was abundant for Scylla. Here’s a passage
from the Odyssey that described what she looked like:
“She has twelve legs, all writhing, dangling down, and six long swaying necks, a hideous
head on each, each head barbed with a triple row of fangs, thickset, packed tight - and
armed to the hilt with black death!”
Per Ovid’s account, Scylla was pursued by the sea-god Glaucus, but after being rejected,
he sought out the sorceress Circe to cure his lovesickness and punish Scylla. A potion
was poured into Scylla's favourite bathing pool, so the next time she went in, she was
horribly transformed.
In the end Odysseus takes his ship past Scylla, deducing that losing several members of his
crew - while lamentable - is preferable to having the whole ship and everyone on it dragged
down to the crushing black depths.
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