The aim of the paper is to review the ancient sources devoted to the sea monster called κάμπη (f. ā-stem). Some researchers believe that it is also attested as κάμπος (n. es-stem). The zoonym in question, so named by the reason of a similarity of the marine animal to a caterpillar, evidently derives from the verb κάμπτω ‘to bend, curve’. The dramatist and philosopher Epicharmus of Kos (ca. 530–440 BC) was probably the first Greek writer who mentioned the sea monster κάμπη. Such a supposition is confirmed by the gloss κάμπη· κῆτος παρὰ Ἐπιχάρμῳ, registered in Hesychius’ lexicon (5th–6th c. AD). According to most modern lexicographers, the alternative form κάμπος n. ‘a sea monster’ is attested in one literary work in the form of the genitive plural καμπέων (Lyc., Alex. 414). The author intends to verify whether the alleged variant κάμπος (n. es-stem) is an authentic lexical item or a doubtful guess.
