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May 15, 2023 · May 15, 2023. The sixth century historian Procopius, in both his History of the Wars, and The Secret History, mentions a sea monster--a gigantic whale--named Porphyrios that dwelt in the Bosporus Strait and the Black Sea, and which terrorized the shipping lanes around Constantinople for about fifty years, and which causes significant headaches ...
Porphyrios (Greek: Πορφύριος) was a large whale that harassed and sank ships in the waters near Constantinople in the sixth century. Active for over fifty years, Porphyrios caused great concern for Byzantine seafarers. Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) made it an important matter to capture it, though he could not come up with a way ...
Jun 3, 2023 · Procopius states that Porphyrios was a massive beast that measured 45ft (13.7m) long and 15ft (4.6m) wide. During antiquity and through to the middle ages, whales were seen as sea monsters due to the lack of knowledge about what a whale was, or the different kinds of whales. According to Procopus, Prophyrios terrorized ships near Constantinople ...
- Lauren Dillon
Aug 16, 2023 · By the early 5th century BC, sea monsters formed a key element of Greek legends and were subsequently incorporated into Roman myths, no doubt as a way of making sense of ominous and unsettling phenomena. The ancient Greek word ketos (κῆτоς) was used for sea creatures such as sharks, dolphins, whales and huge fish, as well as sea monsters.
- Sarah Crocker
- Basilisk. If you were to approach a modern-day biologist and ask about the basilisk, you'll likely get a rundown of the tropical lizards that go by that name.
- Monoceros. Today, we're all but deluged with sugary-sweet takes on the unicorn, from glitter-encrusted children's clothes to coffee-chain drinks laden with sweeteners and food dye.
- Onocentaur. You may think you have the concept of the centaur down. It's a creature with the body of a horse, only with a human upper half sprouting from the front shoulders of the animal.
- The Plinian races. As intellectually advanced as Pliny the Elder was for his time, it's clear that ancient Romans didn't worry about primary sources. Neither did the people who came after Pliny's publication of "Natural History," as some were so taken by the monsters described in the book that they referred to some as the "Plinian races" or, more bluntly, as "monstrous races."
The Sirens of Roman myth were creatures with the body of a bird and the face of a woman. They lured sailors to their dooms with irresistibly sweet music, symbolizing the perilous temptations of the sea. Nereids. The Nereids were sea nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris, known for their beauty and kind nature. They often accompanied Poseidon ...
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This rich literary and oral tradition of sea monsters in the Mediterranean, voiced through a wide variety of media, was carried through to medieval times and even extends into the present. In addition to representations in poetry and prose, conceptions of sea monsters also feature prominently in Greek and Roman art.
