Hippocampus (mythology)

This article is about a mythological creature. For the part of the brain, see Hippocampus.
"Hippocamp" redirects here. For the moon of Neptune, see Hippocamp (moon).
Winged hippocamp in an Art Deco fountain, Kansas City, Missouri, (1937)

The hippocampus or hippocamp, also hippokampos (plural: hippocampi or hippocamps; Ancient Greek: ἱππόκαμπος, from ἵππος, 'horse', and κάμπος, 'sea monster'[1]), often called a sea-horse[2] in English,[citation needed] is a mythological creature shared by Phoenician,[3] Etruscan, Pictish, Roman and Greek mythology, though its name has a Greek origin. The hippocampus has typically been depicted as having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish.

  1. ^ Word origin of Hippocampus at reference.com; compare the monster Campe.
  2. ^ The hyphen distinguishes from the seahorse, a real fish.
  3. ^ Israel Antiquities Authority, Yizre'el Valley silver hoard Archived 2020-12-01 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved Jan 10 2013)