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Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places |
Manticore
| Description | The
body and four legs of a lion, the head of a man, and the tail of a
scorpion, or dragon.
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| Features | Has a
triple row of teeth, a and a voice like a "small trumpet", or like
"the united sound of a pipe and a trumpet."
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| Also Called | Manticora,
or Leucrocuta
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| Might actually be | A hyena,
a Caspian tiger, or a cheetah.
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| Symbolizes | In medieval
times, it was a symbol of the devil.
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| Described By: | Aristotle-
"If we may believe Ctesias...he mentions an Indian animal called
Martichora, which had three rows of teeth in each jaw; it is as large and
rough as a lion, and has similar feet, but its ears and face are like
those of a man; its eye is grey, and its body red; it has a tail
like a land scorpion, in which there is a sting; it darts forth the spines
with which it is covered, instead of hair, and it utters a noise
resembling the united sound of a pipe and a trumpet; it is not less swift
of foot than a stag, and is wild, and devours men."
Pliny- "A triple row of teeth meeting like the teeth of a comb, the face and ears of a human being, grey eyes, a blood-red color, a lion's body, inflicting stings with its tail like a scorpion...with a special appetite for human flesh." Topsell- "When the Indians take a Whelp of this beast, they fall to and bruise the buttockes and taile thereof, so that it may never be fit to bring sharp quills, afterwards it is tamed without peril. This, also, is the same beast which is called Leucrocuta, about the bigness of a wilde Asse, being in legs and hoofes like a Hart, having his mouth reaching on both sides to his eares, and the head and face of a female like unto a Badgers."
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| Related Creatures | Corocotta-
"By union of the hyena with the Ethopian lioness, the
Corocotta is produced, which has the faculty of imitating the voices of men
and cattle. Its gaze is always fixed and immoveable; it has no gums
in either of its jaws, and the teeth are one continuous piece of
bone." (Pliny)
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