Nature as a Source of Inspiration for the Supernatural

The Mediterranean Moray and Serpentine Sea Monsters

Bibliographic Data

ID17822295
AuthorsDominic Ingemark (0000-0003-1161-8992, Uppsala University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume15
Issue1
Pages101-126
Publication date2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePreternature Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2161-2188 • E-ISSN: 2161-2196
PublisherThe Pennsylvania State University Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5325/preternature.15.1.0101
OpenAlexW7159640220
LanguageEN
References cited32

While the sea monsters in ancient Greek and Roman art and literature firmly belong to the supernatural sphere, these sources were probably inspired in part by the natural world. There are convincing arguments to suggest multiple sources of inspiration, which with few exceptions derive from the animal kingdom. Different scholars have touched upon the question of which species might have inspired the ancient imagination, from whales and sharks to snakes and dogs to fossils of long-extinct megafauna. This article is an attempt to add one more possible species: the Mediterranean moray (Muraena helena). Moray eels have double jaws—pharyngeal jaws constitute a “second set” of sharp teeth—and descriptions of sea monsters in the ancient literature emphasize not just a double but a triple set of teeth. Moreover, the moray eel has a serpentine shape, a common feature of sea monsters. Also, it is a fiercely territorial species, commonly lurking in holes, not unlike the sea monsters of myth abiding in caves

Feature (linguistics) · Mediterranean climate · Mediterranean sea · Mythology · Natural (archaeology) · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology

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