Hippocamp facts for kids

Poseidon in a chariot drawn by hippocampi, surrounded with dolphins, tritons, and Nereids on sea-monsters. Room 4 of the Baths of Neptune, Ostia Antica, Latium, Italy.

The hippocamp (also: hippocampe, hippokamp, or hippocampus, pl: hippocampi or hippokampoi) is a sea monster in Greek mythology. The creature has a horse's body and a fish's tail. It was not commonly pictured in Classical Greek art but when it is, it is sometimes ridden by the sea god Nereus or sea nymphs. The hippocamp plays no part in any known mythological tale. The ancients believed it was the adult form of the seahorse. It draws the chariot of Poseidon and other sea divinities in the works of ancient writers and artists.

Images for kids

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  Winged hippocamp in an Art Deco fountain, Kansas City, Missouri, (1937)

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  Terracotta bell-krater (mixing bowl) with lid, late 5th century BC

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  Hippocampus in Roman mosaic in the thermae at Aquae Sulis (Bath)

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  The "sea-horse" in medieval heraldry was a legendary creature that was part horse and part fish, not to be confused with the later heraldic hippocampus, which was a natural seahorse.

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  Tritons and winged hippocampi in the Trevi Fountain, Rome

See also

In Spanish: Hipocampo (mitología) para niños