The Leviathan
The
Leviathan
Classification:
Monster
Association:
Creation, The Sky
Culture: Phoenician,
Greek, Jewish
A monster in
Phoenician mythology. Known in Ugarit by the name Lotan.
Leviathan is
the female water entity, paired with the male land entity Behemoth.
It is
referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of
Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the Book of Amos; it is also mentioned in the
apocryphal Book of Enoch.
In the Old
Testament is it called the dragon of Chaos. And referred to as the crooked
serpent.
In general
it is a denizen of the sea, and hence is equated with the crocodile and the
whale.
In
apocalyptic literature and in Christianity, Leviathan figures as one of the
forms in which the devil manifest himself.
The
Leviathan of the Book of Job is a reflection of the older Canaanite Lotan, a
primeval monster defeated by the god Baal Hadad.
Parallels to
the role of Mesopotamian Tiamat defeated by Marduk have long been drawn in comparative
mythology.
As have been
wider comparisons to dragon and world serpent narratives such as Indra slaying
Vrtra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr.
The Book of
Enoch (60:7–9) describes Leviathan as a female monster dwelling in the watery
abyss (as Tiamat), while Behemoth is a male monster living in the desert of
Dunaydin ("east of Eden")
