YOU ARE SURPRISED AND KILLED BY A MANTICORE! IT QUICKLY SHREDS YOUR FLESH AND DEVOURS YOU!
Mythic Monster Ecology: The Manticore
What does man truly fear? Death itself, or relinquishing their existence on someone else’s terms? What if this true fe…
YOU ARE SURPRISED AND KILLED BY A MANTICORE! IT QUICKLY SHREDS YOUR FLESH AND DEVOURS YOU!
Mythic Monster Ecology: The Manticore
What does man truly fear? Death itself, or relinquishing their existence on someone else’s terms? What if this true fear had a face? What if this same fear took men, and turned them into the beasts they fled from?
Today on Mythic Monster Ecology, we will be learning about the Man-Eating Beast, the Manticore. We will discuss its Origin Myth, dissect its archetypal traits, reveal a TRUE ACCOUNT of a REAL MANTICORE, and talk about Manticore Combat Tactics.
Ctesias, Indica (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 72)
(trans. Freese) (Greek historian C4th B.C.):
"The Martikhora (Manticore) is an animal found in this country [India]. It has a face like a man's, a skin red as cinnabar, and is as large as a lion. It has three rows of teeth, ears and light-blue eyes like those of a man; its tail is like that of a land scorpion, containing a sting more than a cubit long at the end. It has other stings on each side of its tail and one on the top of its head, like the scorpion, with which it inflicts a wound that is always fatal. If it is attacked from a distance, it sets up its tail in front and discharges its stings as if from a bow; if attacked from behind, it straightens it out and launches its stings in a direct line to the distance of a hundred feet. The wound inflicted is fatal to all animals except the elephant. The stings are about a foot long and about as thick as a small rush. The Martikhora [the Persian word for man-eater] is called in Greek Anthropophagos (Man-Eater), because, although it preys upon other animals, it kills and devours a greater number of human beings. It fights with both its claws and stings, which, according to Ktesias (Ctesias), grow again after they have been discharged. There is a great number of these animals in India, which are hunted and killed with spears or arrows by natives mounted on elephants."
Behold, the..
