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Ceto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses of the name Ceto see Ceto (disambiguation)
| Greek deities series |
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|---|---|
| Primordial deities | |
| Titans and Olympians | |
| Chthonic deities | |
| Personified concepts | |
| Other deities | |
| Aquatic deities | |
In Greek mythology, Ceto, or Keto (Greek: Κητος, Ketos, "sea monster") was a hideous aquatic monster, a daughter of Gaia and Pontus. The asteroid (65489) Ceto is named after her, and its satellite (65489) Ceto I Phorcys after her husband.
She was the personification of the dangers of the sea, unknown terrors and bizarre creatures. Eventually, the word "ceto" became simple shorthand for any sea monster. It is still used in this way - cetacean is a derivation. Her husband was Phorcys and they had many children, collectively known as the Phorcydes or Phorcydides.
In Greek art Ceta was drawn as a serpentine fish. Ceto also gave name to the constellation Cetus.
In Jonah 2:1 (1:17 in English translation), the Hebrew text reads dag gadol (דג גדול), which literally means "great fish." The LXX translates this phrase into Greek as ketos megas (κητος μεγας). The term ketos alone means "huge fish," and in Greek mythology the term was closely associated with sea monsters. (See http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Ketea.html for more information regarding Greek mythology and the Ketos.) Jerome later translated this phrase as piscis granda in his Latin Vulgate. However, he translated ketos as cetus in Matthew 12:40.
Another figure named Ceto is an Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys