Margaret MacMillan

How curious that such an outsize man, in physique as well as personality, should be remembered today mainly for giving his name to a small fish. For the 19th century, Bismarck was no herring but a leviathan. Between 1862 and 1890, he created Germany, seeing off first the Austrian empire and then France.

Canadian Historian

Rick Perlstein

Empirical debunking cannot reach the deepest fear of the reactionary mind, which is that the state - that devouring leviathan - will soon swallow up all traces of human volition and dignity. The conclusion is based on conservative moral convictions that reason can't shake.

American Historian

Steven Pinker

Probably Hobbes got it right when he said that a leviathan, a third party with a monopoly on the use of legitimate use of force in a territory, might be among the biggest violence reduction techniques ever invented.

Canadian Scientist

Steven Spielberg

My early exposure to all the leviathans of the Saturday matinee creature features inspired me, when I grew up, to make 'Jurassic Park.

American Director

Leviathan originates from the Bible, so it's steeped in religious and mythological nuance.

Biblical Origin

In modern use, leviathan can symbolize a great threat or overpowering dominant force.

Symbolic Meaning

Leviathan represents something enormous, often an organization with significant influence.

Metaphorical Giant

Used as a metaphor, leviathan implies control and possibly oppressive power.

Power Dynamics

Literature often references leviathan as a massive and terrifying sea creature.

Mythic Creature

Leviathan in storytelling conveys a sense of horror and insignificance against nature.

Evokes Fear

 Your city’s puny army is hopelessly outmatched. You think back to the legends. In the stories, the ruler of the city saved his people by feeding the creatures a ransom of pearls. The pearls would be split equally between the leviathans lords.

Can you solve the sea...

 coincided with the rise of centralized states. So that's a bit of a support for the leviathan theory. Also supporting it is the fact that we today see eruptions of violence in zones of anarchy, in failed states, collapsed empires,

The surprising decline...

 made up of adults more than 30 tons of seagoing force killer whales have been known to attack these leviathans but they do so very rarely it's the next wave they're waiting for coming up the