Sea Monsters in Ancient Art

 The iconography of the Greek kētos (Latinized as cetus) was established in the Archaic period (ca. 600–480 BCE) and remained amazingly consistent for centuries, long into Roman Imperial times. It is one of the creatures that after the conquests of Alexander the Great (r. 331–323 BCE) traveled to the East, where it appeared in Gandharan art and influenced representations of monsters from Afghanistan to India. The kētos has even been suggested as a partial inspiration for the Chinese dragon. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to Greek mythology, Perseus slew Cetus to save Andromeda from being sacrificed to it. In a different story, Heracles slew Cetus to save Hesione.The term cetacean (for marine mammals like whales or porpoises) was derived from cetus. In Greek art, ceti were depicted as serpentine fish, sometimes with the head of a greyhound and the body of a whale or dolphin with a divided fan-like tail.  In Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, Jonah's "great fish" is translated as kētos.

Art historian, John Boardman, conjectured that images of the kētos in Central Asia influenced depictions of the Chinese Dragon and Indian makara. They suggest that after contact with silk-road images of the kētos, the Chinese dragon appeared more reptilian and shifted head-shape.

Those of us familiar with the "Clash of the Titans" films, think of this mythological sea monster as the kraken. The English word kraken is taken from the modern Scandinavian languages, originating from the Old Norse word kraki. In both Norwegian and Swedish Kraken is the definite form of krake, a word designating an unhealthy animal or something twisted (cognate with the English crook and crank). In modern German, Krake (plural and oblique cases of the singular: Kraken) means octopus, but can also refer to the legendary kraken. Kraken is also an old Norwegian word for octopus and an old euphemism in Swedish for whales, used when the original word became taboo as it was believed it could summon the creatures.

If you want to have a little laugh, ask your Alexa device to "Release the Kraken!"

Ritual Water Jar (loutrophoros) with Perseus Battling the Sea Monster Ketos Greek made in Apulia South Italy 340-330 BCE Terracotta that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Detail of Loricate torso of Nero, mid 1st century CE, from Bologna via de' Carbonesi, the cuirass is decorated with two Nereids riding on a Ketos and the Gorgon's head, Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico courtesy of Carole Raddato, CC BY

Mosaic of the Nereids, fragment of a mosaic depicting a Nereid riding a hybrid sea monster (Ketos), it paved a room of a Roman house perhaps of the private baths area (thermae), 2nd century AD, Museo Histórico Municipal de Écija, Spain courtesy of Carole Raddato, CC BY

Mosaic of Ketos, the sea monster, found at Caulonia (Monasterace) in the Casa del Drago, 3rd century BCE now in the National Archaeological Museum of Calabria courtesy of Miguel Hermoso Cuesta.

One of the earliest extant representations of a Greek ketos, or sea monster from a terracotta vase of the 2nd half of the 7th century BCE, Greek, Cretan or South Italian at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Roman fresco depicting Hercules freeing Hesione from the sea monster in front of the walls of Troy found in Pompeii in the Insula Occidentalis, now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (inv. 9445) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko (digitally adjusted for perspective and enhanced).

Ritual stone palette with a Nereid (Sea Nymph) and a Cherub riding a Sea Monster (Ketos) from Gandhara (modern Pakistan) 1st century BCE at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Perseus Rescuing Andromeda by Paolo Veronese, 1576-1578, now in the Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Silver Mirror from the tomb of a Roman woman depicting the legend of Phrixus and Helle with the sea monster, Ketos, beneath the flying ram that I photographed at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome.  The mirror was once gilded and covered with an amalgam of Mercury 2nd century CE Vallerano 

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Roman influence in Buddhist art

This small bronze Buddha is probably one of the earliest iconic representations of Shakyamuni from Gandhara. He sits in a yogic posture holding his right hand in abhaya mudra (a gesture of approachability). His unusual halo has serrations that indicate radiating light. His hairstyle, the form of his robes, and the treatment of the figure reflect stylistic contacts with the classical traditions of the West. This Buddha shows closer affinities to Roman sculpture than any other surviving Gandharan bronze. - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Buddhism developed as early as the 6th century BCE. But, before the late 1st to early 2nd century CE, the Buddha was represented by symbols and not in human form.  In this early human incarnation of the Buddha, he is shown with a mustache, considered a symbol of princely status.  This aspect, found only on very early depictions of the Buddha, was not included when representations of the Buddha in a variety of postures with varying gestures were codified in the 4th century CE. The radiant halo is thought to be unique to this sculpture.  Some scholars have suggested that it is based upon depictions of the Roman emperor Nero who liked to be portrayed as Helios, the Sun God, with a radiant crown.  Depictions of Solar Apollo in Roman art from the same period also include the radiant crown of Helios.

Seated Buddha, early 2nd century CE, ancient Gandhara (modern day Pakistan) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Roman mosaic from El Djem, Tunisia depicting Solar Apollo with the radiant halo of Helios, late 2nd century CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Mathiarex.

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Dionysus with an eastern "twist"

Another Kushan piece illustrating an eastern take on the god Dionysus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
This mature bearded man has grape leaves in his hair, suggesting that he is Dionysus. The furrowed brow, indications of age, and piercing gaze reflect a taste for naturalism, possibly the result of Hellenistic influence following the conquest of Alexander the Great. The head was buried, and over the centuries a hard crust developed on the surface.

Image: Kushan head of Dionysus, 4th-5th centuries CE, from ancient Gandhara at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Roman trading partners: The Kushans

Gandhāra was an ancient region in the Peshawar basin in the north-west of the ancient Indian subcontinent, corresponding to present-day north-west Pakistan and north-east Afghanistan. The centre of the region was at the confluence of the Kabul and Swat rivers, bounded by the Sulaiman Mountains on the west and the Indus River on the east.

Gandhara was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE. Conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BCE, it subsequently became part of the Maurya Empire and then the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The region was a major centre for Greco-Buddhism under the Indo-Greeks and Gandharan Buddhism under later dynasties. Gandhara attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century CE under the Kushan Empire.

The Kushans moved into Gandhāra from Central Asia after the fall of the Parthian dynasty about 75 CE. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire and the Han dynasty of China and was at the center of trade relations between the Roman Empire and China.

Ambassadors from the Kushans who met with the Roman Emperor Hadrian are described in the Historia Augusta. According to Aurelius Victor and Appian, Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius also received Bactrian, Indian, and Hycanian ambassadors thought to be from Kushan. Archaeologists who uncovered the famous Begram Treasure in the summer capital of the Kushan Empire reported finding a considerable amount of goods imported from the Roman Empire especially various types of glassware.

The Kushan empire fragmented into western and eastern kingdoms in 225 CE. The Western Kushans (in Afghanistan) were soon subjugated by the Persian Sasanian Empire and lost Sogdiana, Bactria, and Gandhara to them. The Sassanian king Shapur I (240–270 CE) claims in his Naqsh-e Rostam inscription possession of the territory of the Kushans as far as "Purushapura" (Peshawar), suggesting he controlled Bactria and areas as far as the Hindu-Kush or even south of it. The Sasanians replaced the Persian vassals with their own administrators. But, Hormizd I Kushanshah, the brother of a ruling Sasanian satrap, led a rebellion against the Sasanians and reestablished an independent kingdom under his rule.

Then in the 4th century CE, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty pressed from the east and Shapur II regained control of large territories in the areas as well. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarite Huns. The remnants of Kushan culture under the Kidarites in the northwest were ultimately wiped out in the end of the 5th century by the invasions of the Alchon Huns (sometimes considered as a branch of the Hephthalites), and later the Nezak Huns.

This door guardian or Dvarapala, is interesting because of its more realistic depiction of a warrior instead of the majority of idealized or mythological figures used as guardians in Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina shrines. Perhaps this is a result of earlier exposure to Hellenistic art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art said similar armored guardian figures were found flanking a doorway of a monastery at the Gandharan site of Thareli. They found it interesting that the monks chose to integrate such non-Buddhist deities into the embellishment of their monastic residences. The appearance of such protectors probably can be linked to the growing importance of the war god Skanda in the late Gandharan tradition.

Image: Door Guardian (Dvarapala), 4th century CE, ancient Gandhāra (modern Pakistan) courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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