Skylla

Japanese: Skylla

…In the Old Testament, the Book of Judges, Samson confessed to his wife Delilah that the secret of his superhuman strength was in his hair, and was captured. However, his hair grew back and he regained his strength, and 3,000 Philistines died together with him when they knocked down the pillars of the house on which they were standing. Nisos, King of Megara, had a single scarlet hair among his white hair, which guaranteed his strong right to rule, but it was cut off by Scylla, the daughter of the enemy general Minos, who fell in love with him. One of the 80 types of minor features of Buddha states that "the spiral hair is clockwise and ultramarine in color," and that the curly hair creates a dignified appearance. …

From Glaucus

According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, he was originally a fisherman from Antedon in Boeotia, but after accidentally consuming a medicinal herb, he became a sea god with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. Later, when he courted the beautiful young girl Skylla, she rejected him, so he asked the witch Circe for help, and she transformed Scylla into a sea monster. This story is also told by the sea god himself in the long poem Endymion by the English poet Keats.

Octopus (Tako/Chapter fish)

…Octopuses attract and prey on approaching fish, so they are seen as seducers, traitors, or even demons, and the name devilfish has become common. In the West, there have been legends of sea monsters since ancient times, and octopuses have been confused with the 12-legged, 6-headed monster Scylla, described in the Odyssey. Furthermore, in the early 19th century, naturalist Pierre Denys-Montfort determined that the Kraken, a monster that dragged ships into the sea, was in fact a giant octopus, and established the terrifying image of it as the largest and most ferocious creature on earth. …

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Skylla" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…旧約聖書《士師記》のサムソンは髪に怪力の秘密があることを妻デリラに打ち明け，そられて捕らえられたが髪は伸びて再び力を得，3000のペリシテ人が屋根にいる家の柱を倒してともに死んだ。メガラ王ニソスNisosは白髪の中に1本の緋（ひ）色の毛があり，これが強力な統治権を保証していたが，敵将ミノスに恋した娘スキュラSkyllaに切りとられた。釈迦の小相八十種好の一つに〈螺髪は右旋し群青色〉とあって縮毛が威厳をつくっている。…

【グラウコス】より

…オウィディウスの《転身物語》によれば，彼はもとボイオティア地方のアンテドンの漁夫であったが，たまたま口にした薬草のおかげで，上半身は人間，下半身は魚の姿をした海神となった。その後，まだ美少女だったスキュラSkyllaに求愛したものの相手にされなかったため，魔女キルケに助力を請うたところ，彼女はスキュラを海の女怪に変じてしまったという。この話はイギリスの詩人キーツの長詩《エンディミオン》の中でも，海神みずからの口から語られている。…

【タコ(蛸∥章魚)】より

…タコは近づく魚を引き寄せて捕食するので，誘惑者や裏切り者，あるいは悪魔と同一視され，devilfishの名が一般化している。西洋では古くから海の怪物の伝説が存在したが，タコも《オデュッセイア》に語られる12本足と6頭の怪物スキュラSkyllaなどと混同された。さらに19世紀初めに博物学者ドニ･モンフォールPierre Denys‐Montfortは，船を海中に引きずり込むという怪物クラーケンの正体を大ダコと断定し，〈地上で最大の凶暴な生物〉という恐しいイメージを定着させた。…

※「Skylla」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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