The Odyssey’s sea monsters are terrifying expressions of ‘ecohorror’

By Ryan Denson, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Exeter; University of Silesia in Katowice

The ancient Greeks are generally thought of as a people at home on the sea. Yet their familiarity with the ocean didn’t stop them from fearing it. Danger and uncertainty always loomed over ancient voyages, and this is reflected in writing from the time.

One of the most famous works of ancient Greek literature is, after all, a poem about a man lost at sea for a decade. Homer’s Odyssey is famed for its many monsters, some of which…

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