Ceto

Ceto
A part of the frieze depicting a woman with her back to us, looking to the left. There are other figures partially visible, including a lion.
The goddess Ceto aiding her father Pontus in the mythological war known as the Gigantomachy — c. 166–156 BC — Gigantomachy Frieze, Pergamon Altar of Zeus
AbodeSea
Personal information
ParentsPontus and Gaia
SiblingsNereus, Thaumas, Phorcys and Eurybia
ConsortPhorcys
Childrenthe Gorgons, the Graeae, Echidna, Ladon

Ceto (/ˈst/; Ancient Greek: Κητώ, romanizedKētṓ, lit.'sea monster') is a primordial sea goddess in Greek mythology, the daughter of Pontus and her mother, Gaia. As a mythological figure, she is considered to be one of the most ancient deities, and bore a host of monstrous children fathered by Phorcys, another child of Gaia and Pontus. The small Solar System body 65489 Ceto was named after her, and its satellite after Phorcys.

Ceto was also variously called Crataeis[citation needed] (Κράταιις, Krataiis, from κραταιίς "mighty") and Trienus[citation needed] (Τρίενος, Trienos, from τρίενος "within three years"), and was occasionally conflated by scholars with the goddess Hecate (for whom Crataeis and Trienus are also epithets).

This goddess should not be confused with the minor Oceanid also named Ceto, or with various mythological beings referred to as ketos (plural kētē or ketea); this is a general term for "sea monster" in Ancient Greek.[1]

  1. ^ "κῆτος" in Liddell, Henry and Robert Scott. 1996. A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised by H.S. Jones and R. McKenzie. Ninth edition, with revised supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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