Ceto

Besides Ceto, Gaia (Earth) and Pontus had four other offspring, Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys and Eurybia.Hard, p. 50; Hesiod, Theogony 233–339 (Most, pp. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.21.xml 21–23]); Apollodorus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.6 1.2.6]. Hesiod's Theogony lists the children of Ceto and Phorcys as the two Graiae: Pemphredo and Enyo, and the three Gorgons: Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa,Theogony 270–276 (Most, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.25.xml pp. 24, 25]). with their last offspring being an unnamed serpent (later called Ladon, by Apollonius of Rhodes) who guards the golden apples.Theogony 333–336 (Most, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.29.xml pp. 28, 29]); Apollonius of Rhodes, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/apollonius_rhodes-argonautica/2009/pb_LCL001.441.xml 4.1396]. Also according to Hesiod, the half-woman, half-snake Echidna was born to a "she" who was probably meant by Hesiod to be Ceto, (with Phorcys the likely father); however the "she" might instead refer to the Oceanid Callirhoe.Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.25.xml 270-300]. Though Herbert Jennings Rose says simply that it is "not clear which parents [for Echidna] are meant", Athanassakis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cvSiWE0KQsYC&pg=PA44 p. 44], says that Ceto and Phorcys are the "more likely candidates for parents". The problem arises from the ambiguous referent of the pronoun "she" in Theogony [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.27.xml 295]. While some have read this "she" as referring to Callirhoe (e.g. Smith [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DE%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Dechidna-bio-1 s.v. Echidna]; Morford, p. 162), according to Clay, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2etBN0w0NGUC&pg=PA159 p. 159 n. 32], "the modern scholarly consensus" reads Ceto, see for example Most, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.27.xml p. 27 n. 16] ("Probably Ceto"); Gantz, p. 22 ("Phorkys and Keto produce Echidna"); Caldwell, pp. 7, 46 lines 295–303 ("presumably Keto"); West, p. 249 line 295 ("probably Keto"); Grimal, s.v. Echidna ("Phorcys and Ceto"). The mythographer Pherecydes of Athens (5th century BC) has Echidna as the daughter of Phorcys, without naming a mother.Pherecydes, fr. 7 Fowler = FGrHist 3 F 7 (Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA278 p. 278]); Hošek, p. 678.

The mythographers Apollodorus and Hyginus each name three daughters as the offspring of Ceto and Phorcys: Pemphredo, Dino and Persis, collectively called the Graeae ("old women").Apollodorus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.4.2 2.4.2]; Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#p.9 Preface § p.9]. Apollodorus and Hyginus also make Ladon the offspring of Echidna and Typhon, rather than Ceto and Phorcys.Apollodorus [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.11 2.5.11]; Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#p.35 Preface § p.35], [https://topostext.org/work/206 151].

The Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius cites Phorcys and Ceto as the parents of the Hesperides, but this assertion is not repeated in other ancient sources.

Ceto is possibly the mother of the Nemean lion and the Sphinx by her grandson Orthrus.Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.29.xml 326–327]. Who is meant as the mother is unclear, the problem arising from the ambiguous referent of the pronoun "she" in line 326 of the Theogony, see Clay, [https://archive.org/details/hesiodscosmos0000clay/page/159 p.159, note 34]

Homer refers to Thoosa, the mother of Polyphemus in the Odyssey, as a daughter of Phorcys, but does not indicate whether Ceto is her mother.

Pliny the Elder mentions worship of "storied Ceto" at Joppa (now Jaffa), in a single reference, immediately after his mention of Andromeda, whom Perseus rescued from a sea-monster. S. Safrai and M. Stern suggest the possibility that someone at Joppa established a cult of the monster under the name Ceto. As an alternative explanation, they posit that Pliny or his source misread the name cetus—or that of the Syrian goddess Derceto.Colitur illic fabulosa Ceto. Pliny, Book 5, chapter 14, §69; this same paragraph will be referred to as v.14, v.69, V.xiv.69; and v.13 (one of the chapter divisions is missing in some MSS). For Ceto as a transferred name, see Rackham's Loeb translation; for emendations, see The Jewish people in the first century. Historical geography, political history, social, cultural and religious life and institutions. Ed. by S. Safrai and M. Stern in co-operation with D. Flusser and W. C. van Unnik, Vol II, p. 1081, and Oldfather's translation of Pliny (Derceto).

{{Reflist}}

• Athanassakis, Apostolos N, Hesiod: Theogony, Works and days, Shield, JHU Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-8018-7984-5}}.
• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
• Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica, edited and translated by William H. Race, Loeb Classical Library No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99630-4}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL001/2009/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
• Caldwell, Richard, Hesiod's Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). {{ISBN|978-0-941051-00-2}}.
• Clay, Jenny Strauss, Hesiod's Cosmos, Cambridge University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-521-82392-0}}.
• Fowler, R. L., Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0198147404}}.
• Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at ToposText].
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
• Grimal, Pierre, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iOx6de8LUNAC The Dictionary of Classical Mythology], Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}.
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• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. {{ISBN|978-0674995611|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
• Morford, Mark P. O., Robert J. Lenardon, Classical Mythology, Eighth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-19-530805-1}}.
• Most, G.W., Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library No. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99720-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL057/2018/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
• Rose, Herbert Jennings, "Echidna" in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Hammond and Scullard (editors), Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-19-869117-3}}
• Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873).
• West, M. L., Hesiod: Theogony, Oxford University Press.

• Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• Bartelink, Dr. G.J.M. (1988). Prisma van de mythologie. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.

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