Myths and Legends * Manticore. Manticore in ancient mythology and the modern world Manticore description
A lot of information has been preserved about the creature called the “manticore”, only thanks to the ancient Greek physician Ctesias, who allegedly saw him at the Persian court. The Greek described the monster as a lion with the face of a man who devoured people and overtook the victim at great distances in one leap. There is a version that this creation is supposedly one of the images.
Manticore - who is it?
The manticore is a creature with a lion's body, a man's face and a scorpion's tail, the striking features of which were three rows of teeth and blue eyes. It was believed that this monster hunts people and feeds on their meat, so it was often depicted with human body parts in its teeth. The tail was crowned with huge spikes, with which the monster could also kill, so there was no chance of salvation.
Manticore - Greek mythology
Manticore - who is she? Although, judging by the description and habits of the monster, many researchers suggest that it comes from Persia or India, its appearance is very reminiscent of a huge tiger. Even the name means “cannibal” in Farsi, and such big wild cats They were also found in the jungle. But the discoverer of the creation is not considered to be the Hindus, but the Greek doctor Ctesias, who described the nightmarish creation in his books. According to his version, the manticore is an evil creature with:
- the body of a lion and the face of a man;
- three rows of teeth;
- a claw on the tip of the tail;
- mustache filled with poison.
This is how the ancient Hellenes described the manticore in their writings. Later, Greek scientists formed their own version of this creation. The geographer Pausanias was sure that we were talking about a giant tiger, and the red color of the skin gave it in the eyes of the Hindus setting sun. And already a triple row of teeth and a tail that shoots poisonous arrows- inventions of hunters who were afraid to defeat a huge beast.
What does a manticore look like?
According to the descriptions of the ancient Greeks, which they received from the Persians, the manticore was a symbiosis of different creatures:
- the body of a lion, but not yellow, but red;
- a scorpion sting on its tail that shoots needles;
- lightning jumps, fast running;
- the voice is similar to the sounds of a trumpet and a pipe at the same time.
Whose body does the manticore have? Judging by the descriptions of a large lion or a giant cat, it was characteristic feature monster. In subsequent centuries, her image was significantly supplemented with other features:
- Middle Ages. The huge teeth were no longer located in the mouth, but in the throat, and the voice was like the hiss of a snake, with which the monster lured people.
- 20th century, science fiction books. The manticore acquired wings and shooting poisonous spines, and its voice was more like a purr. Instantly healed its wounds, the skin had the ability to reflect any spells.
What is the difference between a manticore and a chimera?
Some researchers link the manticore and chimera by external signs, but there is a difference between them. Chimera - a creature made from Greek mythology, Echidna was considered her mother, and her father was the son of Gaia and Tartarus, Cypheus; according to another version, she was born from Orth and Hydra. It was believed that the chimera lived in Lycia, and Prince Bellerophon defeated it. This creature is from the pantheon of gods native to the Greeks, and the manticore is a guest from foreign legends. and the manticore had one thing in common outer line: the body of a lion, otherwise the Hellenic monster was different:
- the ability to spit fire;
- the back of the goat's body;
- snake tail;
- three heads: a goat, a snake and a dragon.
The Legend of the Manticore
The Greek Ctesias did not bring any legends about the manticore, limiting himself to general rumors about its existence. In the myths of Persia there is a mention that this terrible monster, when meeting a person, likes to ask riddles, and if the traveler answers everything, he lets him go. Researchers are inclined to believe that the manticore, a monster that devours people, arose in the stories of India, and then migrated to Persia, where the Greek Ctesias heard about it.
There is also a version that supposedly such a monster was created by a legend about the god Vishnu, who could transform into different creatures. In the form of one of them - a lion with a human face - he defeated the evil demon Hiranyakasipu. After which the Hindus began to call the man-lion Vishnu Narasimha the manticore. Legend describes it as having the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and the teeth of a shark. In the Middle Ages, the manticore became a symbol of tyranny and evil.
Manticore (monster) Manticore (monster)Although the manticore is rarely mentioned in ancient scientific books, medieval bestiaries abound in its descriptions. From there, the manticore migrated into folklore. Thus, in the 13th century, Bartholomew of England wrote about it, and in the 14th century, William Caxton wrote about it in his book “The Mirror of the World.” For Caxton, the manticore's three rows of teeth became "a palisade of huge teeth in her throat," and her voice, like the melody of a pipe, became "the sweet hiss of a snake, with which she attracts people to herself in order to then devour them."
In the 20th century, ideas about the manticore continued to evolve. For example, in the bestiary of the Polish science fiction writer Andrzej Sapkowski, the manticore acquired wings and learned to shoot in any direction with its poisoned spines. And in the novel by the English writer J. Rowling “Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the manticore “after absorbing its next victim begins to purr quietly.” Also, according to Rowling, "the skin of a manticore reflects almost every known spell." In the story “Demon Hunter” by Russian science fiction writer Nikolai Basov, the manticore has the ability to heal its wounds almost instantly. In the film “Manticore” (2005), a manticore cannot be killed by anything, and only the gaze of another manticore (or its reflection) can turn it into stone. In the Grimm series (s3e11 "The Good Soldier" and s4e12 "The Gendarme"), manticores are depicted as dangerous and deadly creatures, devoid of the fear of death. The image of the Manticore is also found in modern animation. For example, in the animated American series “The Amazing Misadventures of Flapjack”, in one of the episodes the manticore is presented in the form of a lion with the face of a man and small wings, which becomes docile if tickled. The manticore was found in computer games series "Disciples", "Dark Souls" and "Might and Magic" - in "Heroes of Might and Magic III" and "Might and Magic 7" she looked like a lion with a scorpion tail and wings (looks similar in the animated series "My little pony" (s1e2 and s5e6)), in “Heroes of Might and Magic V” a human face was added to the image, and is also a non-player monster in the game “Allods Online” (also a lion with a scorpion tail and wings). The manticore is one of the key characters in the novel of the same name by Canadian writer Robertson Davis. Manticore was also reflected in one of the albums of the popular British group (Cradle Of Filth), namely in the 2012 album "The Manticore And Other Horrors".
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Excerpt characterizing the Manticore (monster)
“These are perfect robbers, especially Dolokhov,” said the guest. - He is the son of Marya Ivanovna Dolokhova, such a respectable lady, so what? You can imagine: the three of them found a bear somewhere, put it in a carriage and took it to the actresses. The police came running to calm them down. They caught the policeman and tied him back to back to the bear and let the bear into the Moika; the bear is swimming, and the policeman is on him.“The policeman’s figure is good, ma chere,” shouted the count, dying of laughter.
- Oh, what a horror! What's there to laugh about, Count?
But the ladies couldn’t help but laugh themselves.
“They saved this unfortunate man by force,” the guest continued. “And it’s the son of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov who is playing so cleverly!” – she added. “They said he was so well-mannered and smart.” This is where all my upbringing abroad has led me. I hope that no one will accept him here, despite his wealth. They wanted to introduce him to me. I resolutely refused: I have daughters.
- Why do you say that this young man is so rich? - asked the countess, bending down from the girls, who immediately pretended not to listen. - After all, he only has illegitimate children. It seems... Pierre is also illegal.
The guest waved her hand.
“He has twenty illegal ones, I think.”
Princess Anna Mikhailovna intervened in the conversation, apparently wanting to show off her connections and her knowledge of all social circumstances.
“That’s the thing,” she said significantly and also in a half-whisper. – The reputation of Count Kirill Vladimirovich is known... He lost count of his children, but this Pierre was beloved.
“How good the old man was,” said the countess, “even last year!” I have never seen a more beautiful man.
“Now he’s changed a lot,” said Anna Mikhailovna. “So I wanted to say,” she continued, “through his wife, Prince Vasily is the direct heir to the entire estate, but his father loved Pierre very much, was involved in his upbringing and wrote to the sovereign... so no one knows if he dies (he is so bad that they are waiting for it) every minute, and Lorrain came from St. Petersburg), who will get this huge fortune, Pierre or Prince Vasily. Forty thousand souls and millions. I know this very well, because Prince Vasily himself told me this. And Kirill Vladimirovich is my second cousin on my mother’s side. “He baptized Borya,” she added, as if not attributing any significance to this circumstance.
– Prince Vasily arrived in Moscow yesterday. He’s going for an inspection, they told me,” the guest said.
“Yes, but, entre nous, [between us],” said the princess, “this is an excuse, he actually came to Count Kirill Vladimirovich, having learned that he was so bad.”
“However, ma chere, this is a nice thing,” said the count and, noticing that the eldest guest was not listening to him, he turned to the young ladies. – The policeman had a good figure, I imagine.
And he, imagining how the policeman waved his hands, laughed again with a sonorous and deep laugh that shook his entire being. full body how people who always ate well and especially drank laugh. “So, please, come and have dinner with us,” he said.
There was silence. The Countess looked at the guest, smiling pleasantly, however, without hiding the fact that she would not be at all upset now if the guest got up and left. The guest's daughter was already straightening her dress, looking questioningly at her mother, when suddenly from the next room several men's and women's feet were heard running towards the door, the crash of a chair being snagged and knocked over, and a thirteen-year-old girl ran into the room, wrapping something in her short muslin skirt, and stopped in the middle rooms. It was obvious that she accidentally, with an uncalculated run, ran so far. At the same moment a student with a crimson collar, a guards officer, a fifteen-year-old girl and a fat, ruddy boy in a children's jacket appeared at the door.
The count jumped up and, swaying, spread his arms wide around the running girl.
- Oh, here she is! – he shouted laughing. - Birthday girl! Ma chere, birthday girl!
“Ma chere, il y a un temps pour tout, [Darling, there is time for everything,” said the countess, pretending to be stern. “You keep spoiling her, Elie,” she added to her husband.
“Bonjour, ma chere, je vous felicite, [Hello, my dear, I congratulate you,” said the guest. – Quelle delicuse enfant! “What a lovely child!” she added, turning to her mother.
A dark-eyed, big-mouthed, ugly, but lively girl, with her childish open shoulders, which, shrinking, moved in her bodice from fast running, with her black curls bunched back, thin bare arms and small legs in lace pantaloons and open shoes, I was at that sweet age when a girl is no longer a child, and a child is not yet a girl. Turning away from her father, she ran up to her mother and, not paying any attention to her stern remark, hid her flushed face in the lace of her mother’s mantilla and laughed. She was laughing at something, talking abruptly about a doll that she had taken out from under her skirt.
– See?... Doll... Mimi... See.
And Natasha could no longer speak (everything seemed funny to her). She fell on top of her mother and laughed so loudly and loudly that everyone, even the prim guest, laughed against their will.
- Well, go, go with your freak! - said the mother, feigning angrily pushing her daughter away. “This is my youngest,” she turned to the guest.
Natasha, taking her face away from her mother’s lace scarf for a minute, looked at her from below through tears of laughter and hid her face again.
The guest, forced to admire the family scene, considered it necessary to take some part in it.
The first mention of the manticore is found in the books of the Greek physician Ctesias, thanks to whom many Persian myths became known to the Greeks. Aristotle and Pliny the Elder directly refer to Ctesias in their writings.
He (Ctesias) assures that the Indian beast “martichora” has a triple row of teeth on both lower and upper jaws, and it is the size of a lion and just as hairy, its legs resemble the legs of a lion; his face and ears resemble those of a human; his eyes are blue, and he himself is bright red; its tail is the same as that of an earthen scorpion - it has a sting in its tail and it has the ability to shoot needles attached to its tail like arrows; his voice is a cross between the sound of a pipe and a trumpet; he can run as fast as a deer and he is also wild and a cannibal.
Aristotle "History of Animals"
However, the most complete of the ancient descriptions of the manticore was made in the 2nd century AD. e. Claudius Aelianus (“On the Nature of Animals”). He gives several interesting details: “She strikes anyone who approaches her with her sting... The poisonous spines on her tail are comparable in thickness to the stem of a reed, and are about 30 centimeters long... She is capable of defeating any animal, with the exception of a lion.” . In the 2nd century AD e. Flavius Philostratus the Elder mentions the manticore as one of the miracles about which Apollonius of Tyana questions Iarchus on the Hill of the Sages.
Although the manticore is rarely mentioned in ancient scientific books, medieval bestiaries abound in its descriptions. From there, the manticore migrated into folklore. Thus, in the 13th century, Bartholomew of England wrote about it, and in the 14th century, William Caxton wrote about it in his book “The Mirror of the World.” For Caxton, the manticore's three rows of teeth became "a palisade of huge teeth in her throat," and her voice, like the melody of a pipe, became "the sweet hiss of a snake, with which she attracts people to herself in order to then devour them."
In the 20th century, ideas about the manticore continued to evolve. For example, in the bestiary of the Polish science fiction writer Andrzej Sapkowski, the manticore acquired wings and learned to shoot in any direction with its poisoned spines. And in the novel by the English writer J. Rowling “Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the manticore “begins to purr quietly after devouring its next victim.” Also, according to Rowling, "the skin of a manticore reflects almost every known spell." In the story “Demon Hunter” by Russian science fiction writer Nikolai Basov, the manticore has the ability to heal its wounds almost instantly. In the film "Manticore" (2005), a manticore cannot be killed by anything and only the gaze of another manticore (or its reflection) can turn it into stone. In the Grimm series (s3e11 "The Good Soldier" and s4e12 "The Gendarme"), manticores are depicted as dangerous and deadly creatures, devoid of the fear of death. The image of the Manticore is also found in modern animation. For example, in the American animated series “The Amazing Misadventures of Flapjack”, in one of the episodes the manticore is presented in the form of a lion with the face of a man and small wings, which becomes docile if tickled. The manticore was found in the computer games of the series "Disciples", "Dark Souls" and "Might and Magic" in "Heroes of Might and Magic III" and "Might and Magic 7" looked like a lion with a scorpion tail and wings (looks similar in the animated series " My little pony" (s1e2 and s5e6)), in "Heroes of Might and Magic V" a human face was added to the image, and is also a non-player monster in the game "
Manticore (monster)
Manticore
Manticore
It was believed that the manticore is a predator and can hunt people. Therefore, in medieval miniatures you can often see an image of a manticore with a human hand or foot in its teeth.
The first mention of the manticore is found in the books of the Greek physician Ctesias, thanks to whom many Persian myths became known to the Greeks. Aristotle and Pliny the Elder directly refer to Ctesias in their writings.
He (Ctesias) assures that the Indian beast “martichora” has a triple row of teeth on both lower and upper jaws, and it is the size of a lion and just as hairy, its legs resemble the legs of a lion; his face and ears resemble those of a human; his eyes are blue, and he himself is bright red; its tail is the same as that of an earthen scorpion - it has a sting in its tail and it has the ability to shoot needles attached to its tail like arrows; his voice is a cross between the sound of a pipe and a trumpet; he can run as fast as a deer and he is also wild and a cannibal.
(Aristotle's History of Animals)
However, the most complete of the ancient descriptions of the manticore was made in the 2nd century AD. e. Elian. He gives several interesting details: “She strikes anyone who approaches her with her sting... The poisonous spines on her tail are comparable in thickness to the stem of a reed, and are about 30 centimeters long... She is capable of defeating any animal, with the exception of a lion.” . In the 2nd century AD e. Flavius Philostratus the Elder mentions the manticore as one of the miracles about which Apollonius of Tyana questions Iarchus on the Hill of the Sages.
Although the manticore is rarely mentioned in ancient scientific books, medieval bestiaries abound in its descriptions. From there, the manticore migrated into folklore. Thus, in the 13th century, Bartholomew of England wrote about it, and in the 14th century, William Caxton wrote about it in his book “The Mirror of the World.” For Caxton, the manticore's three rows of teeth became "a palisade of huge teeth in her throat," and her voice, like the melody of a pipe, became "the sweet hiss of a snake, with which she attracts people to herself in order to then devour them."
In the 20th century, ideas about the manticore continued to evolve. For example, in the bestiary of the Polish science fiction writer Andrzej Sapkowski, the manticore acquired wings and learned to shoot in any direction with its poisoned spines. And in the novel by the English writer J. Rowling “Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the manticore “after absorbing its next victim begins to purr quietly.” Also, according to Rowling, “the skin of a manticore reflects almost every known spell.” In the story “Demon Hunter” by Russian science fiction writer Nikolai Basov, the manticore has the ability to heal its wounds almost instantly. The image of the Manticore is also found in modern animation. For example, in the animated American series “The Amazing Misadventures of Flapjack”, in one of the episodes the manticore is presented in the form of a lion with the face of a man and small wings, which becomes docile if tickled. The manticore was found in the computer games of the "Might and Magic" series - in "Heroes of Might and Magic III" and "Might and Magic 7" it looked like a lion with a scorpion tail and wings (it looks similar in the latest animated series "My Little Pony"), in “Heroes of Might and Magic V” a human face has been added to the image, and is also a non-player monster in the game “Allods Online” (also a lion with a scorpion tail and wings). The manticore is one of the key characters in the novel of the same name by Canadian writer Robertson Davis.
Notes
Categories:
- Non-heraldic figures
- Mythical animals
- Mythical cannibals
- Medieval mythology
- Persian mythology
- Characters from Borges's Book of Fictional Creatures
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Manticore (lat. Manticora) is a polysemantic term. The manticore is a fictional creature, a horse-sized monster with the head of a man, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. Manticore (lat. Manticora) is a genus of beetles from the ground beetle family... ... Wikipedia
Manticore: (Latin: Manticora) The manticore is a fictional creature, a monster the size of a horse, with the head of a man, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. Manticores (lat. Manticora) a genus of beetles from the ground beetle family (Carabidae), subfamily ... ... Wikipedia
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The manticore is perhaps the most bloodthirsty and dangerous of creatures. She has the body of a lion, a human face, blue eyes and a voice like the sound of a pipe. But its main and most terrible features are three rows of teeth in its mouth, a poisonous sting at the end of its tail, like a scorpion, and poisonous spines on its tail, which the manticore can shoot in any direction. Finally, “manticore” translated from Farsi means “man-eater”.
We find the first mention of the manticore in the books of the Greek physician Ctesias, already well known to the reader. Thanks to Ctesias, many Persian myths became known to the Greeks. Further Greek and Roman descriptions repeat the main characteristics of the man tikora given by Ctesias - a lion's body covered with red hair, three rows of teeth and a tail with a poisonous sting and poisoned spines. Aristotle and Pliny directly refer to Ctesias in their writings.
However, the most complete ancient description manticores made in the 2nd century AD. e. Elian. He gives several interesting details: “She strikes anyone who approaches her with her sting... The poisonous spines on her tail are comparable in thickness to the stem of a reed, and are about 30 centimeters long... She is capable of defeating any animal, with the exception of a lion.” . Although it is clear that Aelian, like Aristotle and Pliny, derived his knowledge of the manticore from Ctesias, he adds that detailed information about this monster is contained in the work of the historian Cnidus. In the 2nd century AD e. Philostratus of Lemnos mentions the manticore as one of the miracles about which Apollonius questions Iarchus on the Hill of the Sages.
Although the manticore is rarely mentioned in ancient scientific books, medieval bestiaries abound in its descriptions. From there, the manticore migrated to natural science works and folklore. In the 13th century, Bartholomew of England wrote about it, and in the 14th century, William Caxton wrote about it in his book “The Mirror of the World.” For Caxton, the manticore's three rows of teeth become "a palisade of huge teeth in her throat," and her pipe-like voice becomes "the sweet hiss of a serpent, with which she draws people to her in order to devour them." This appears to be the only time a manticore has been confused with a siren.
During the Renaissance, the manticore found its way into the pages of Conrad Gesner's "History of Animals" and Edward Topsell's "History of Quadruped Beasts." Since the 18th century, the manticore has not been mentioned in any serious scientific work, with the exception of those devoted to the study of myths.
As already mentioned, over the centuries only minor details have been added to the description of the manticore. For example, Pliny writes that her eyes are not blue, but green, Bartholomew of England says that “she has the furry body of a bear,” and on some medieval coats of arms the manticore is depicted with a crooked or spiral horn on its head, and sometimes with a tail and dragon wings. However, such changes made by different authors had little effect on general idea about the manticore - since the time of Ctesias, there has been only one “species” of manticore.
Although they have repeatedly tried to connect the origin of the manticore with the Indian beast “makara”, the European werewolf and other creatures, it would be most correct, obviously, to say that it “comes” from the Indian tiger. This assumption was made back in the 2nd century AD. e. commentator Ctesias Greek writer Pausanias. He believed that the jaws with teeth in three rows, the human face and the tail of a scorpion were nothing more than “the fantasy of Indian peasants who are terrified of this animal.” According to Valentine Ball, the legend of three rows of teeth could arise from the fact that the molars of some predators have several sharp rows on each, and the sting of a manticore is a keratinized area of skin at the tip of a tiger's tail, reminiscent of a claw in appearance. In addition, according to Indian belief, the tiger's whiskers are considered poisonous. Wilson believes that the ancient Persians saw the human face of a manticore on Indian sculptures of a tiger deity.
In the Middle Ages, the manticore became the emblem of the prophet Jeremiah, since it is an underground creature, and Jeremiah was thrown into a deep pit by his enemies. In folklore, the manticore has become a symbol of tyranny, envy, and evil in general. Back in the late 30s of this century, Spanish peasants considered the manticore “a beast of bad omens.”
Since the Middle Ages, the manticore comes to fiction. The 13th century novel “Tsar Alexander” says that off the coast of the Caspian Sea, Alexander the Great lost 30 thousand of his warriors in battles with lions, bears, dragons, unicorns and manticores. In John Skelton's poem "Philip the Sparrow" (18th century), a little girl, addressing the cat who killed her favorite bird, says: "May the mountain manticores eat your brain." In George Wilkins's play The Misfortunes of Forced Marriage, one of the characters compares moneylenders to "manticores, the enemies of mankind, who have two rows of teeth."
The manticore is one of the tempting beasts in Flaubert's novella The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Flaubert's manticore is also a red lion with a human face and three rows of teeth; In addition, she spreads the plague.
In Piers Anthony's fantasy story "The Chameleon's Spell," a manticore, "a creature the size of a horse, with the head of a man, the body of a lion, the wings of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion," guards the home of a good wizard.
Images of the manticore are no more common than mentions of it in literature. Most of them are book illustrations. Unlike scientists and writers, artists allowed themselves to treat the image of a manticore with a greater degree of imagination. The manticore was depicted with long female hair and with arrows on its tail. The only depiction of three rows of teeth can be seen in the Westminster bestiary. A manticore graces a 13th-century world map of Hereford. The most detailed illustration is reproduced in a 17th-century bestiary. It depicts a creature with the head of a man, the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, the wings and claws of a dragon, the horns of a cow and the udder of a goat.
Pictures from bestiaries inspired many decorators of Christian churches. The image of the manticore can be seen on the octagonal column at Suwini Abbey, on the mosaics in the cathedrals of Aosta and Cahors, where the manticore personifies Saint Jeremiah.
Over its more than two thousand-year history, the manticore has changed little and, despite attempts made in the current century to give it virtuous traits, it remains a symbol of bloodthirstiness.
