2024 Author: Adelina Croftoon | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 02:07
Cypriots say that near the city Ayia Napa lives in the Mediterranean monster … It is allegedly known for a long time. Even the ancient Greeks called him Scylla, sung by Homer in the Odyssey. But since then, the character of the monster has changed dramatically, and he no longer ruins people. Unless he sometimes breaks the fishermen's nets. Therefore, he is called To Filiko Teras, which can be translated as "friendly monster."
There is no reliable evidence that the monster really exists, other than the stories of local residents, which show gullible tourists photographs with some vaguely distinguishable silhouette. Nonetheless, the Ayia Napa Monster figures in any advertising brochure praising the delights of the east coast of Cyprus. And, as it turns out now, not in vain.
This is what a monster looks like from the perspective of traveler John Smith Moffat. 1889 year
Date with the monster
The author of the article was told about the Ayia-Napa monster by his Moscow acquaintance Alexander Sedunov. A couple of years ago, he was vacationing in Cyprus in Ayia Napa. This place attracted Alexander because he is diving. And here, in the area of Cape Greco, the sea and wind have carved huge underwater caves in the coastal rocks for thousands of years.
Alexander, extreme by nature, decided to explore some of them. He, of course, had heard that it was at Cape Greco that the notorious monster was most often seen; perhaps it dwells in these caves. But our Muscovite did not believe a penny in these tales. He reasoned like this: according to the Cypriots, any self-respecting body of water should have its own monster. So they decided that their Mediterranean Sea was much cooler than some Scottish Loch Ness, and got their own monster with a pedigree richer than Nessie's.
Again, an additional attraction for tourists, although they are already attracted by the golden sand of the famous beaches and the gentle blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. If only Alexander could have guessed that soon he would face this “legend” face to face!
Here is how it was. One morning Sedunov went by boat to Cape Greco. The weather was wonderful: there was not a cloud in the sky, and the sea was completely calm. The most important thing is to swim with scuba diving, admiring the beauty of the seabed. But Sasha was attracted by mysterious caves. We dropped anchor not far from them. Sedunov put on his scuba gear and went under the water, while the owner of the ship remained on board to wait for him.
Cape Greco
Swimming among the corals, scaring away cheerful flocks of colorful fish, the scuba diver approached the dark mouth of the cave, visible in the rock. And suddenly a crocodile's muzzle stuck out of the hole and stared at Alexander with huge black eyes. Sedunov was so taken aback that he almost let go of the mouthpiece. He was more surprised than scared. After all, a crocodile is a freshwater animal. Where did he come from in the sea?
And the "crocodile", meanwhile, completely got out of the cave and slowly swam to the scuba diver. And then Sasha saw how huge he was - ten meters in length, or even more. And it's not a crocodile at all! The body is thick, barrel-shaped, like that of a pig. On the back there is a lamellar crest. And the tail is like a dolphin. This Sedunov then examined. And at that moment he saw only an open mouth with huge sharp teeth.
Here fear gripped Alexander so much that he could not move his arm or leg. I realized that the end had come to him. And the monster calmly swam past, slightly pushing it with a rough scaly side, and before that, it seemed, even somehow sarcastically winked: do not drift, they say, human!
In general, Alexander did not remember how he got on board the boat. And then for a long time I could not come to my senses. But the most offensive thing is that when he told tourists and local residents about this incident, everyone believed that he was composing a fiction.
Torn web
Only one local fisherman named Zopyros believed him. It turns out that he, too, "had the good fortune" to become closely acquainted with this monster. Once Zopiros went to sea with adult sons. Having found a decent school of anchovy, the fishermen threw in their net and began to trawl. And suddenly the tackle jerked so hard that they almost fell into the sea.
At first, the fishermen thought they had caught a large shark. They began to choose a net, gradually pulling it towards the ship. And then they saw something huge in her. And then the water froth, and the head of a monster on a long flexible neck emerged to the surface.
Angrily hissing at the fishermen, the monster snapped its toothy mouth - and disappeared into the abyss, carrying away the scraps of the net. More fishing was out of the question. The fishermen hastily weighed anchor and set off home at full speed.
Lizard fish-eater
Whether it was or not, the descriptions of the monster seen by Sedunov and Zopyros do not coincide. Sedunov's monster looks more like a crocodile, and the Cypriot met something that resembles a dinosaur - a relative of Nessie. Therefore, either one of them is lying (or even both), or fear has big eyes. Two different monsters cannot live unnoticed off the coast of a densely populated island!
And if the monster still lives in the waters of the Mediterranean, why does he not touch people? Perhaps he prefers a fish diet or, in general, feeds exclusively on algae.
The transformation of a beauty
But it was not always so. Cypriots identify their monster with the legendary Scylla, who in ancient times devoured any navigator who had the imprudence to approach her rock.
Homer in The Odyssey describes this monster like this. Scylla's rock rose high with a sharp peak to the sky and was forever covered with dark clouds, access to it was impossible due to its smooth surface and steepness. In the middle of it, at a height inaccessible even for an arrow, a cave gaped, facing a dark vent to the west: the terrible Scylla lived in it. She had 12 legs, on six long flexible necks protruding over her head.
The monster's jaws gleamed with frequent, sharp teeth arranged in three rows. Looking out of the cave, she hunted down prey with all her heads, groping her paws around the rock and catching dolphins and other marine animals. When a ship passed by the cave, Scylla, gaping all her jaws, at once kidnapped six people from the ship. This is how she ate the six companions of Odysseus.
As you can see, the Ayia Napa monster is not very similar to Homer's Scylla. However, it is possible that the great blind man simply went too far, surrendering to the will of his truly boundless imagination. Or maybe Scylla has evolved for the better during this time? Or is it her descendant?
In some ancient Greek myths, Scylla is represented as a beautiful girl. Glaucus, the sea deity, was looking for her love. But the sorceress Kirka herself was captivated by the Commander-in-Chief. Such is the formed love triangle. The sorceress decided to chase her rival. She poisoned the water in the place where Scylla used to swim. As a result, the girl became a ferocious beast, her beautiful body was disfigured.
According to another myth, this transformation was accomplished by the wife of the sea god Poseidon Amphitrite, who found out that her hubby had made Scylla his lover, and got rid of her rival in the same savage way.
But since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. The Olympian gods have died, or their influence has been reduced to zero. This means that the enchantments imposed by them have lost their effectiveness. But what if the reverse process of transformation of Scylla from a monster into a beauty began? Then the metamorphoses of the appearance and the change in diet are understandable.
Inhabitants of underwater tunnels
It is not clear only why there is still not a single clear picture and other convincing evidence of the existence of the Ayia Napa monster. It would seem that in this area of the Mediterranean there is not a single unexplored corner, and there is simply nowhere for such a whopper to hide. Except perhaps underwater caves. Although the divers have covered them quite thoroughly, there are still nooks and crannies where they cannot or do not dare to enter.
There is a hypothesis that in the bowels of our planet there are huge cavities filled with water. They stretch for many thousands of kilometers. And it is quite possible that prehistoric life has been preserved in these caverns.
Why not assume that lizards sometimes leave their habitats and emerge into our world, and at the first signs of close attention to their person they go into underwater tunnels? And, for example, Nessie may well make a voyage to the shores of Cyprus, and the Mediterranean monster may emerge somewhere in Ladoga.
And if the Ayia Napa monster is just a myth, a lure for tourists, what's wrong with that? It's more fun to live this way!
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