Cetus

Cetus, the whale, or Sea Monster, has been identified, at least since Aratos' day (3rd century B.C.), with the fabled creature sent by Neptune (Poseidon) to devour Andromeda, but turned to stone at the sight of the Medusa's head (Algol) in the hand of Perseus [Allen, Star Names]. Cetus is positioned on the banks of the River Eridanus, the other side of his body is bordered by Pisces. This whale would have had to cross the constellation Pisces (which in astrology rules the seas; Neptune's territory) to reach Andromeda, who was tied to a rock awaiting his arrival, and the sea monster was expected to devour her, or perhaps the wave that the whale produced would devour her. Cetus was killed by the hero Perseus.

Cetus is a Latin word for the order Cetacea which includes the whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Derivatives of Latin cetus, Greek ketos: cetacean, cetaceous, cetene, cetyl (an alcoholic substance taken from whale wax and is called cetyl alcohol), spermaceti.

The word whale is from Old English hwael, and comes from the Indo-European root *(s)kwal-o- 'Big fish' Derivatives: whale¹, narwhal, rorqual, (these words from Old Norse hvalr, whale, from Germanic *hwalaz), squalene (from New Latin Squalus, shark genus from its occurrence in the liver oil of sharks, from Latin squalus, a sea fish), squalid (related to Latin squales filth, squalus filthy, squalere be covered with a rough or scaly layer). [Pokorny (s)kwalo-s 958. Watkins] Probably related to the word squall¹, a brief harsh cry, and squall², a brief sudden violent windstorm, to blow strongly for a brief period [Klein].

"Cetus undulates its scaly back (Cetos convolvens squamea terga), it rises aloft upon a spiral of coils and splashes with such a belly as drove the sea beyond its proper shores when it appeared from the waves to destroy the daughter of Cepheus exposed upon the cliffs..." [Manilius Astronomica 1st century AD, P.39] [daughter of Cepheus is Andromeda]

Manilius in describing the astrological influences associates this constellation with the production of salt:

"Moreover, such men [those astrologically influenced by Cetus] will be able to fill great salt-pans, to evaporate the sea, and to extract the sea's venom [salt], they prepare a wide expanse of hardened ground and surround it with firm walls, next conduct therein waters channeled from the nearby sea and then deny them exit by closing sluice-gates, so the floor holds in the waves and begins to glisten as the water is drained off by the sun. When the sea's dry element has collected, Ocean's white locks (salt) are shorn for use at table, and huge mounds are made of the solid foam; and the poison of the deep, which prevents the use of sea-water, vitiating it with a  taste, they commute to life-giving salt and render a source of health" [Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century AD, book 5, p.355.].

Salt comes from the Indo-European root *sal-¹ 'Salt'. Derivatives: salt, souse¹ (pickled meat), silt (fine sand, salt marsh), salsa, sauce, sausage, sal, salad, salami, salary, sali-, saline, halo- (from Latin halos, 'threshing floor, disc around the Sun or Moon), Halogen (Greek hals + genes = born, from Greek halos, stem hal-, salt, sea), Halon (a halocarbon used as fire-extinguishing agents). [Pokorny 1. sal- 878. Watkins] 'Take it with a grain of salt' (to accept a statement with skepticism). 'To salt away' (to protect money for future use, budget see below), Salzburg, Salamanca, Salamis, from salama ('he was safe or free'). "In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus referred to the crowd as the 'salt of the earth'.

Apparently the pre-Indo-European Proto-Finno-Baltic word for the whale was 'hal', borrowed by Germanic speakers and ended up in English through a long complicated process as 'whale', from Germanic *hwalaz. The Finnish is 'kala' and the Magyar (Hungarian) is 'hal'. Greek hal is salt.

Manilius is describing the making of sausage, sauce, salami, souse, pickled meat, in his astrological influences:

This monster enlists its sons [those influenced astrologically by Cetus] in an onslaught on the deep and a butchery of scaly creatures; theirs will be a passion for ensnaring the deep with nets spread wide and for straitening the sea with bonds; they will confine in spacious prisons seals which deem themselves as safe as in the open sea and shackle them fast in fetters; the unwary tunny they will draw along in a network of meshes. Their capture is not the end, the fish struggle against their bonds, meet a new assault, and suffer death by the knife, and the sea is dyed, mixed with blood of its own. Furthermore, when the victims lie dead along the shore, a second slaughter is perpetrated on the first; the fish are torn into pieces, and a single body is divided to serve separate ends. One part is better if its juices [sauce] are given up, another if they are retained. In the one case a valuable fluid is discharged, which yields the choicest part of the blood, flavored with salt, it imparts a relish to the palate. In the other case all the pieces of the decaying carcass are blended together and merge their shapes until every distinguishing feature has been lost, they provide food with a condiment of general use. Or when, presenting the very likeness of the dark-hued sea, a shoal of the scaly creatures has come to a stop and cannot move for their numbers, they are surrounded and drawn from the water by a huge drag-net, and fill large tanks and wine-vats, their common endowment of liquid is exuded upon each other, for their inward parts melt and issue forth as a stream of decomposition. [Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century AD, book 5, p.353, 355.]

This constellation is the French Baleine, the Italian Balaena, the 1515 Almagest and the Alfonsine Tables called it Balaena, the fourth century Christian astronomer, Firmicus, called it Belus, the Beast or Monster, Ovid called it Belua Ponti (Sea-Monster). There are two orders of whales, the other suborder of the Cetacea, the toothed whales, are of the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins) and have a constellation of their own, Delphinus. This constellation, Cetus, might refer to the baleen whales in particular, also called whalebone whales or great whales, the Mysticeti. Baleen whales have baleen plates instead of teeth which they use to filter their food.

“Whales (ballena) are beasts of enormous size, named from casting forth and spraying water, for they throw waves higher than the other sea animals; in Greek ballein means 'cast forth'. The sea-monster (cetus, plural cete) is named ketos, plural kete, that is, on account of its vastness. These are huge types of sea-monsters (bellua), and their bodies are the same size as mountains. Such a cetus swallowed Jonah; its belly was so big that it resembled hell, as the prophet says (cf. Jonah 2:3): "He heard me from the belly of hell." (The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD, p.260.]

The words 'belly', and 'waves' in the semantic sense (or perhaps types of waves), is often referred to in connection with the the archetypal whale in myth and in the bible. Belly comes from the Indo-European root *bhelgh- 'To swell'. [Extension of *bhel-² in Indo-European roots (bhel-² is the root from which the word baleen comes)]. Derivatives: bellows (bellows started out as the plural of belly), belly (from Old English bel(i)g, bælig, bag, bellows), billow (a swelling wave, from Old Norse bylgja, a wave), bolster (a swollen cushion), blagging, budget (a budget is the same thing as a belly. Both words are from a root which means swollen, expanded to mean a sack or pouch. The original meaning of budget was a wallet where one's money was kept), bulge (from Latin bulga, leather sack). [Pokorny bhelgh- 125. Watkins] 

Whales produce blubber, the fat of the whale, the originally meaning was 'bubble, foam'. Compare bleb, blob, the verb blubber, to weep loudly [Klein].

Cetus is a whale positioned on the banks of the river Eridanus; the banks of the Eridanus is where the sisters of Phaeton, the Heliades, were weeping (blubbering) before being turned into poplar tree. From the tears of the Heliades comes amber which floated down the Eridanus River. Whales produce ambergris. The word 'amber' is probably derived from the Arabic word anbar, meaning ambergris, a substance from sperm whales used as a base to make perfume. Another etymology is suggested on this webpage quoting Eugenion Ragazzi (2000): "'amber' is believed to derive from the Arabic word 'Haur Rumi' that means 'Roman poplar tree': the following corrupted terms were Haurum, Habrum, Hambrum and finally Ambarum and Amber". [Arabic Rumi means Rome, and haur seems to what they call the Populus alba 1]

“Amber (sucinus), which the Greeks call electron, has the color of tawny wax, and is said to be the sap (sucus) of trees, and for the reason is called 'amber.' An explanation taken from myth has led it to being called electrum, for the story goes that when Phaethon was killed by a bolt of lightning, his sisters, in their grief, were turned into poplar trees, and they exude amber (electrum) as tears, year in and out, by the river Eridanus (i.e. the Po); and it is called electrum because many poets said the sun used to be called Elector (the 'Shining One'). But in fact amber is not the sap of the poplar tree but of the pine tree, for when it is burned it gives off the fragrance of pine pitch.” [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD, p.323.].

Elector (the 'Shining One'), might relate to Latin halos, 'threshing floor, disk around the sun or moon'. In chemistry, solutions of salts in water are called electrolytes. Electrolytes as well as molten salts conduct electricity. Salt is a preservative and amber preserves the body of an insect trapped in the resinous drop of amber.

Within the borders of this constellation was a modern constellation, created in 1800, Machina Electrica, to honor the creation of the first electricity generator. Composed of dim stars that can be found south of Cetus, the sea-monster [south of the belly] between Fornax, the furnace, and Sculptor. The constellation appeared in a few star atlases, but was never widely accepted and is no longer recognized by astronomers [2]. "The Elektrides (Amber) Islands that lie off the Pados." mentioned by Strabo, Geography 5.1.9 [3] are identified with he Kvarner islands in the Adriatic.

"Amber was prized for its perfume, warmth, electrical properties, and ability to preserve life in its resin (Pliny NH 37). Martial suggests that insects preserved in amber have eternity as jewels. Amber was probably traded down from northern Europe to the Adriatic via the Po and the Rhone. But neither river was the source of amber in antiquity. It came from northern Europe, from Jutland in Denmark, and from the Baltic coast". [Frederick Ahl, Metaformations, p.189-190]

Mythology tells us that amber originated from the tears shed by the Heliades that flowed into the river Eridanus. Eridanus or Eridanos, was a name given by geologists to a river which flowed where the Baltic Sea is now. In the Pleistocene era, the current Baltic Sea was the river basin of a river, currently named Eridanos. The tertiary forests of the Baltic produces the best amber in the world and the Baltic sea area contains 90% of the world's amber - Heliades tears.

“Eridanos … swallowed a foreigner, Phaethon in his flood … he brings wealth from his trees to the friends who live near him as he rolls along the brilliant amber gifts of the Heliades.” –Dionysiaca 22.90 

The names of goddesses Electra 1, and Electra 2 (one of the seven Pleiades), should be from the same root as electric, we know that the isle of Electra was near the Eridanus, as is the constellation Cetus:

"And quickly they [the Argonauts] entered the ship, and toiled at their oars unceasingly until they reached the sacred isle of Electra, the highest of them all, near the river Eridanus [Grimal]

Electra is translated from Greek 'a-lektron', 'with no marriage bed' [4].

A salt is an ionic compound composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions (cation from Greek kation, go down kata-, + ienai, 'to go', 'ion'. Anion, from Greek anienai, to go up: ana-, up, + ienai, 'to go', 'ion'). An ion or group of ions having a positive charge and characteristically moving toward the negative electrode in electrolysis.

The word coitus, sexual intercourse, 'a coming together', from coitus, past participle of Latin coire, co-ire, co-itus; from com + ienai, to go, 'to go together'. Coitus, the coming together of the two ions - male and female. [The word ion, might have something to do Jonas (Latin Ionas) whose name means 'dove', who spent three days and nights in a whale's belly?]

"coitus: Reconstructed from ME coit, Fr. coït, L. coetus, coitus (the latter app. by metonymic assimilation to co-ire, co-itus), a. Greek koite, 'bed'. Evidently subject before assimilation to taboo replacement by Latin cetus, Greek ketos, 'sea monster'" [5].

It might be significant that the alpha star of Pisces, Alrisha, the star positioned on the knot in the cord that joins the two fishes of Pisces, is right on the border of Pisces and Cetus, Hevelius drew the star as just touching the Monster's neck (see above). The two fishes of Pisces are bound by a cord and the Romans knew them as 'Venus et Cupido', Venus/Aphrodite and Cupid/Eros changed into fishes and they tied their tails together with a long cord. Alrisha, the star representing the knot of the cord, so close to Cetus might support a likely etymological relationship between the words 'cetus' and 'coitus'. This might also relate, in coded terminology, to the story of Andromeda and Perseus, the presence of the whale, or sea monster, might represent coitus, or sexual intercourse. An association that might have been understood by Christian writer Isidore of Seville:

“The pagans also believed that Perseus and his wife Andromeda had been received into the heavens after they died, and so they traced out their images in stars and did not blush to name these constellations after them” [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD, p.106.]

Isidore believes that salt is related to Latin salus, health.

“Salt (sal) by its nature is necessary for all food. It gives savor to relishes, it excites hunger, and it arouses an appetite for all foods. Indeed all enjoyment of food and the greatest cheerfulness comes from salt. Hence health (salus) is thought to take its name, for nothing is better for us than salt (sal) and sun - in fact, we see that the bodies of sailors are well-hardened. And even livestock, flocks, and beasts of burden are called to pasture particularly with salt, and are more productive of milk and more obliging at giving cheese. Salt tightens bodies; it dries and binds them. It preserves corpses from falling into putrefaction so that they last.” [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD, p.318.]

Latin salus comes from the Indo-European root *kailo-  'Whole, uninjured, of good omen'. Derivatives: hale¹ (to salute or greet), whole, wholesome, hail² (to salute or greet), wassail (to drink to the health of; toast), health, heal, holy, holiday, hollyhock, (these words from Old English halig, holy, sacred), holly tree (genus Ilex), Hollywood, hallow (to make or set apart as holy), Allhallowmas (all Saints' Day), Halloween (from Old English halgian, to consecrate, bless), Helga, Helge (Old Norse 'Holy One'), Oleg, Olga, from Old Norse Helge (feminine Helga), 'holy'. [Pokorny kai-lo- 520. Watkins] The Old Norse name Helga (holy).

The spouting exhale of a whale, creates a steaming misting fountain of air and water, through which the observers, depending on the position they are in reference to the sun, can see the colors of the rainbow in the mist above the head of the whale, giving them a halo, a sort of holy, mystical image (baleen whales are of the genus Balaena mysticetus). This constellation with Roman authors were titled Pristis, Pristix, and Pistrix, these words are related to the word 'prism'. A prism has the same effect as a water-drop in the air where rays of light are decomposed into colored rays of rainbow. [Cetus is not the rainbow itself, Electra is mother of Iris, the rainbow].

Another meaning of cetus.

*Qet- (meaning hole in the ground for dwelling, living space or living room) in the IE protolanguage was adopted, after some mutations in the meaning, as ketos in Greek [6].

© Anne Wright 2008.