# A History of Monsters 29

besides the fact that Pausanias, in his *Description of Boeotia*, describes a Triton preserved in the temple of Bacchus at Tanagra, and Pliny also mentions them. Therefore, it is clear that what has been said of Tritons and Nereids since ancient times is not groundless, especially since it is said that in the year 1523, a sea monster was found at Rome on the Greater Bank. It was human-shaped down to the navel, while the rest was a fish with a forked tail curved like a crescent moon, much like the Tritons described by Apollonius; we provide its likeness here. Conrad Gessner records a similar image, which he claims to have received from a painter who saw the monster alive. Its forehead was rough with horns, its ears prominent, its arms almost human, and the rest a fish. It was captured in the Illyrian Sea after it emerged from the water onto the shore, intending to snatch away a young boy playing there. Fishermen who were watching threw stones at it, and the wounded monster returned shortly after to the shore from which it had fled, where it expired.

To further confirm these claims, Rondelet and Belon write that a sea monster with the appearance of a monk was captured in Norway among the people called the Diezunt, near the town of Den Elepoch; its outlines are shown in the figure above. They say it lived for three days but uttered no sound except for certain sighs expressing the deepest sorrow. From this, we know it is consistent with the truth—as we have learned from veteran fishermen—that when the nearby sea is about to suffer storms, human groans can be heard from the deep. As a crowning touch to these accounts, let us add what Rondelet recounted concerning the "Bishop-fish": specifically, that in the year 1531, a monster was caught in the sea near Poland which resembled a bishop, wearing a miter and other vestments, and it was presented to the King of Poland. Regarding these monsters, Boussuetus elegantly wrote:

"If the blue waves of Nereus produce such offspring, The earth has no reason to boast of its own. The face presents a man, the belly ends in a fish; Tell me, please, what could be more dissimilar?"

He expressed this even more elegantly elsewhere:

"If the grey sea ever brought forth such a brood— A half-human beast, and a half-wild man— And such wondrous portents come forth from time to time, Is it any wonder if the Earth also bears more?"

Thus, Tritons are named either from the Aeolic word *trito*, meaning "head," because they only resemble the human form in their head; or rather from the name *triaina*, a trident—that is, a fisherman’s tool used to spear larger fish. From this, the trident was later assigned by poets as the symbol of Neptune, the god of the sea and of fishermen.

The history of sea monsters has opened the way for us to understand the Nereid nymphs and the Sirens. Therefore, we believe it necessary to say something about them at present. Since male sea monsters are designated as Tritons, as was written above, female monsters are likewise called Nereids (after Nereus, the supposed god of the Ocean) or Nymphs—as if they were "lymphs," for the ancients called water *nympha* rather than *lympha*. This is why we have the *Nymphaeum* bath and the *Nymphaea* plant, which delights in water. Finally, they are called Sirens because water, in its flowing, produces certain musical sounds like those believed to be made by Sirens.

The history we have just cited persuades us that the race of Nereid nymphs and Sirens truly exists. Furthermore, the ambassador of Gaul reported to Caesar Augustus that creatures were found in the same form in which Nereids are painted. Francesco Massario of Venice, in his commentaries on the ninth book of Pliny, recounts that they have been seen during voyages. Indeed, a sea monster was recently captured in Frisia that was a maiden from her face to her pubic area, and a fish below. Isaiah prophesied that Sirens would exist where there were once shrines of pleasure. The Chaldean interpreter understands these to be dragons, as we also indicated in our *History of Serpents*. Saint Jerome interprets them as demons, or large dragons distinguished by a crest. However, the Greek scholiast of Isaiah wished to call them Sirens, which among winged creatures emit a mournful voice; therefore, one must gather from this author that Sirens should be placed among the birds rather than the aquatic creatures. Likewise, the Latin translator seems to add wings to them; for this reason, this animal will not