Tonight’s monster doesn’t have a story of its own in our scriptures, Philo. It only appears in poems. But it appears quite often.
Myths of the Near East · Comparison, advanced
The Dragon of the Sea
Resemble, bear a resemblance to, have much in common with, differ from, correspond to, echo, by comparison, compared with: the vocabulary of the careful comparer, for the sea serpent that appears in the stories of half the ancient world.
🐉 Play the story too: in the gamebook, you are Baal, in the story from Ugarit.Play the gamebook →
SOPHIA
PHILO
Leviathan. “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?” That’s from Job. My father loves that chapter.
Many voices
After the Baal cycle of Ugarit, the Psalms, Job and Isaiah
In the stories of Ugarit, a Canaanite city on the coast north of here, the storm god Baal fought against Yam, the Sea, who wanted to rule the gods. The craftsman god made Baal two magic clubs, called Driver and Chaser, and with them Baal struck Yam down. In another poem, Baal is praised because he “smote Lotan, the fleeing serpent, the twisting serpent, the mighty one with seven heads.”
In the Psalms, the singer says to God: “You divided the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters; you crushed the heads of Leviathan.” And in another psalm, God “crushed Rahab like a carcass.”
In Isaiah, the prophet looks to the future: “On that day, the Lord with his great, strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.”
In Job, God shows Job a Leviathan so huge and fierce that no human can tame it, and yet which is only one of God’s creatures: “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Will it make a pet of you, and play with you like a bird?”
The Ugaritic texts retold in brief. The Psalms, Isaiah and Job are quoted in the Greek of the Septuagint, where Leviathan is translated as “the dragon”.
What we know today
The city of Ugarit, on the coast of modern Syria, was discovered in 1928 when a farmer’s plough hit a tomb. Its clay tablets, in a unique alphabet of wedge-shaped letters, contained the stories of Baal, Yam and Lotan. Scholars were astonished to find that Lotan is described with almost the same words as Leviathan in Isaiah: “the fleeing serpent, the twisting serpent”.
Scholars disagree about what this means: a shared poetic language across Canaan, deliberate borrowing, or a deliberate answer.
Resemble, bear a resemblance to
DEMETRIA
Lotan resembles Leviathan. The words are almost the same: the fleeing serpent, the twisting serpent.
SOPHIA
Resemble is transitive: no preposition. Lotan resembles Leviathan, not resembles to. More formal: bear a (close / striking / slight) resemblance to.
Have in common, differ from
PHILO
They have a great deal in common: the sea, the serpent, the many heads. But they differ in one important way: Baal is fighting for his throne among many gods.
SOPHIA
Have (much / little / a lot / nothing) in common (with), and differ from (or differ in + the way): They differ in who does the fighting.
Correspond to, echo, parallel
THE CLERK
Then Driver and Chaser correspond to the Lord’s great sword in Isaiah?
SOPHIA
A scholar might say so. Correspond to (match), echo (repeat something earlier), parallel (as a verb: be similar to): Isaiah’s words echo the Ugaritic poem. The two images parallel each other.
By comparison, compared with, in comparison
MARCOS
Compared with Tiamat, Leviathan is small.
SOPHIA
Good. Compared with / to + noun, in comparison with + noun, or alone at the start of a sentence: By comparison, … Baal needs two magic clubs. By comparison, in Job, Leviathan is just a creature, like a bird to play with.
Philo’s footnote
PHILO
In Job, the monster isn’t an enemy god at all. It is a creature that God made and plays with. Whatever the old poems said, our poets turned the dragon into a pet.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the fable |
|---|---|---|
| resemble / bear a resemblance to | be similar to (no preposition after resemble) | Lotan resembles Leviathan. |
| have (much / little) in common with | share features | They have a great deal in common. |
| differ from / differ in | be different (in a particular way) | They differ in who does the fighting. |
| correspond to / echo / parallel | match / repeat / be similar to | Isaiah’s words echo the older poem. |
| compared with / in comparison with / by comparison | comparing | By comparison, Leviathan is small. |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose the best form
Choose the form that fits best.
1. Lotan closely ___ Leviathan.
2. The two monsters have a great deal ___.
3. They differ ___ who does the fighting.
4. Isaiah’s words ___ the Ugaritic poem: “the fleeing serpent, the twisting serpent.”
5. ___ Tiamat, Leviathan is quite small.
6. The image bears a striking ___ to the Canaanite poem.
B · Complete the sentence
Write the missing word.
7. Baal needs two magic clubs. By , in Job, Leviathan is a creature God plays with.
8. The two clubs correspond the sword in Isaiah.
9. These poems have very little in common the Greek myths.
10. The Ugaritic serpent differs the biblical one in several ways.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
11. “Leviathan resembles to Lotan.”
12. “The two poems bear a close resemblance to each other.”
13. “In comparison of Tiamat, Leviathan is small.”
Now play the story from Ugarit yourself, as Baal against the Sea.Play the gamebook →