Kampe (mythology)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kampe ( Greek  Καμπή actually "curvature", here: "caterpillar") is a female monster in Greek mythology who guarded the Cyclops and Hekatoncheiren in Tartaros on the orders of Kronos . When Zeus needed the help of the imprisoned in the fight against the titans , he slew the kampe.

An imaginative description of the monster can be found in the Dionysiacs of the Nonnos of Panopolis :

Kampe,
this monster writhing in many forms. A thousand
strange creeping up from the snake's feet
stretching beings kindled the fight in a wild crowd,
splashed their poison into the distance. Around the monster's neck
fifty different heads of raging beasts sprouted,
roared partly with lions' heads, comparable to the horror
Face of the Sphinx, the Virgin who speaks in riddles; to change
Parts they sprayed flakes of foam under the tusks of boars,
almost exactly resembled the sight of the Scylla with hers
Pack of numerous heads of wildly yapping dogs: The monster
Body appeared in the middle as a double girl,
instead of his hair he wore a dense network of poisonous snakes;
her towering body, from the chest to the base of the thighs
full of hard-staring scales, resembled the sea monsters
deceptive; the claws on her widely spread hands
were curved, as sharp as a curved sickle;
up from the neck down over the huge back
crawled, clinging to the girl's neck, free to himself
turning, a large scorpion with an ice-hardened sting.
Shaped in such a diverse way, the Kampe wound forward,
could roam the mainland, the air, the depth of the salt flood,
could lift up with a pair of gloomy wings,
bring storms and excite wild hurricanes,
a black-winged tartaros nymph; flickering fire
sparks flew out of his eyes into the vastness.
Dionysiacs, Canto 18. Verses 237-263. Translation by Dietrich Ebener .

It has been suggested that the kampe described by Nonnos was a redesigned Babylonian Tiamat . Kampe was probably identified with the Echidna , to which she resembles the description. Her appearance resembles a centaur, only she is female and sits on a kite and snakes coiled around her legs. Just like the Medusa , it has snake hair and like this it wears a belt made of living animals that is constantly changing.

In the Lexicon of Hesychios of Alexandria (K.614) it is noted that the poet Epicharmos referred to the kampe as ketos , that is, as a sea monster.

According to Diodor Kampe was not slain by Zeus but by Dionysus .

swell

  1. ↑ Libraries of Apollodor 1.6 (1.2.1.1f. Wagner)
  2. ↑ Nonnos: Works in two volumes. Translated from the Greek and edited by Dietrich Ebener. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin a. Weimar 1985. Vol. 1. pp. 273-274
  3. ↑ Maximilian Mayer: The giants and titans in the ancient saga and art Weidmann, Berlin 1887. P. 232-234.
  4. ↑ Diodor Library 3.72

Web links