Myths and Legends * Manticore. Manticore the bloodiest flying monster Manticore myths and legends of peoples

    Manticore (monster) Manticore (monster)

Although the manticore is rarely spoken of in ancient scientific books, medieval bestiaries abound in its descriptions. From there, the manticore migrated to folklore. So, in the XIII century, Bartholomew English wrote about her, in the XIV - William Caxton in the book “Mirror of the World”. Caxton’s three rows of manticore teeth turned into a "palisade of huge teeth in her throat," and her voice, like a flute melody, became "the sweet snake hiss that she attracts people to then devour them."

In the 20th century, ideas about the manticore continued to develop. 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 poisonous spikes. And in the novel of the English writer J. Rowling "Magic creatures and where to look for them," the manticore "after absorbing another victim begins to purr softly." Also, according to Rowling, "the skin of the manticore reflects almost all known spells." In the story of the domestic science fiction writer Nikolai Basov, “Demon Hunter,” the manticore has the ability to heal his wounds almost instantly. In the film “Manticore” (2005), the manticore cannot be killed by anything and only the look of another manticore (or its reflection) can turn it into stone. In the series “Grimm” (s3e11 “The Good Soldier” and s4e12 “The Gendarme”), the manticores are portrayed as dangerous and deadly creatures, deprived of the fear of death. The image of Manticore is also found in modern animation. For example, in the animated American TV series The Amazing Flopjack Misadventures, in one of the episodes the manticore is presented in the image of a lion with a man’s face and small wings, which becomes meek if you tickle it. Manticore was found in computer games of the Disciples, Dark Souls and 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 (looks similar in the animated series “My little pony” (s1e2 and s5e6)), in “Heroes of Might and Magic V” a human face has been added to the image, and she is also a non-player monster in the game “Allods Online” (also a lion with a scorpion tail and wings). Manticore is one of the key characters in the eponymous novel by Canadian writer Robertson Davis. Manticore, also found its reflection in one of the albums of the popular British band (Cradle Of Filth), namely in the 2012 album "The Manticore And Other Horrors".

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Notes

References

• Manticore - Fantastic creatures wiki - Wikia

Excerpt from Manticore (the Beast)

“These are perfect robbers, especially Dolokhov,” said the guest. “He is the son of Marya Ivanovna Dolokhova, such a respectable lady, and so what?” You can imagine: the three of them got a bear somewhere, put him in a carriage and drove to the actresses. The police came running to appease them. They caught the quarter and tied his back with his back to the bear and let the bear into the Moika; the bear is swimming, and the quarter is on it.
“Good, ma chere, quarterly figure,” cried the count, dying with laughter.
  - Ah, what a horror! Why laugh here, Count?
  But the ladies involuntarily laughed themselves.
  “This unfortunate person was saved by force,” the guest continued. - And this is the son of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov so cleverly amuses himself! She added. - And they said that he was so well brought up and smart. Here is all overseas education wherever brought. 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 are you saying that this young man is so rich?” - asked the countess, bending down from the girls, who immediately pretended not to listen. - After all, he has only illegal children. It seems ... and Pierre is illegal.
  The guest waved her hand.
  “He has twenty of them illegal, I think.”
  Princess Anna Mikhailovna intervened in the conversation, apparently wanting to show her connections and her knowledge of all secular circumstances.
  “That's the thing,” she said significantly and also in a whisper. - The reputation of Count Kirill Vladimirovich is known ... He lost his account to his children, but this Pierre was beloved.
  “How good the old man was,” said the countess, “last year!” I have never seen a man more beautiful.
  “Now it has changed a lot,” said Anna Mikhailovna. “So I wanted to say,” she continued, “according to my wife, the direct heir to the whole name is Prince Vasily, but Pierre's father loved him very much, educated him and wrote to the emperor ... so no one knows if he will die (he’s so bad that they’re waiting for this 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 told me this. Yes, and Kirill Vladimirovich I have a second cousin maternal uncle. He baptized Borya, ”she added, as if not ascribing any significance to this circumstance.
  - Prince Vasily arrived in Moscow yesterday. He is going for an audit, they told me, ”said the guest.
  “Yes, but, entre nous, [between us,]” the princess said, “this is an excuse; he came to Count Kirill Vladimirovich himself, having learned that he was so bad.”
  “However, ma chere, this is a nice thing,” said the count and, noting that the eldest guest had not listened to him, he turned to the young ladies. - A good figure was at the quarter, I imagine.
And he, imagining how the quarterly waved his hands, laughed again with a loud and bassy laugh that shook his whole body, like people laughing, always eating well and especially drinking. “So, please, have lunch with us,” he said.

There was a silence. The countess looked at the guest, smiling pleasantly, however, not hiding the fact that she would not be upset now if the guest got up and left. The guest’s daughter was already straightening her dress, looking inquiringly at her mother, when suddenly from the next room there was a run to the door of several male and female legs, the thunder of a hooked and tumbled down chair, and a thirteen-year-old girl ran into the room, smelling something with a short muslin skirt, and stopped in the middle rooms. Obviously, she accidentally, from an unscheduled run, jumped so far. A student with a raspberry collar, a guard officer, a fifteen-year-old girl and a fat ruddy boy in a children's jacket appeared at the door at that very moment.
  The count jumped up and, swaying, spread his arms wide around the girl who was running.
  - Ah, there she is! He cried out laughing. - Birthday girl! Ma chere, birthday girl!
  “Ma chere, il y a un temps pour tout, [Darling, I have time for everything],” said the countess, pretending to be strict. “You pamper her all, Elie,” she added to her husband.
  “Bonjour, ma chere, je vous felicite, [Hello, my dear, congratulations,]” the guest said. - Quelle delicuse enfant! [What a lovely child!] She added, turning to her mother.
  Black-eyed, with a big mouth, an ugly but lively girl, with her children’s open shoulders, who, cowering, moved in their corsage from a quick run, with their black curls huddled back, thin bare hands and small legs in lace panties and open shoes, was at that sweet age when the girl is no longer a child, and the child is not a girl. Having turned away from her father, she ran to her mother and, not paying any attention to her strict remark, hid her reddened face in the lace of her mantle and laughed. She laughed at something, jerking abruptly about the doll she had taken out from under her skirts.
  “See? ... Doll ... Mimi ... See.
  And Natasha could not speak anymore (everything seemed ridiculous to her). She fell on her mother and burst out laughing so loudly and loudly that everyone, even the stiff guest, laughed against her will.
  - Well, go, go with your freak! - said the mother, feigning angrily pushing away her daughter. “This is my lesser,” she said to the guest.
Natasha, tearing her face off for a moment from her mother’s lace scarf, looked down at her 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.

An ancient mythical creature, a dangerous predator with a blood-red lion body and a human head. A scorpion sting crowns her tail.

The origin of the manticore

This creature came to us from India, but for the first time in its writings it was described by Ctesias, the Greek physician. According to him, the manticore or "mantichora" (in the Indian manner) reached the size of a lion and had an equally thick woolen coat, which cast a bright red, like blood, color. The manticore's head was more like a human head, its bright blue eyes hypnotized the victim so that she could not move with fear. Her sharp teeth inspired horror, three rows of which crowned the mouth of a terrible predator, and the tail of a scorpion, in the needle of which there was terrible poison. Ctesias also noted that in addition to the scorpion sting, there were needles on the tail of the manticore, with which the monster could pierce its victim from a distance, like arrows. The voice of the manticore was like the sounds of a pipe and pipe at the same time. During the hunt, the manticore hid in the thicket of the jungle and attacked large animals and people passing by. Of all the creatures on earth, she was most afraid of engaging in a fight with the lion, because only he could defeat her.

Many contemporaries of Ctesias, and scholars of later times, were skeptical of his words, suggesting that the frightened Indians mistook the most ordinary tiger for a terrible monster, because in the movement the strips of this big cat merged, which made it appear that the tiger skin becomes red shade. And terrible teeth and tail are inventions of frightened residents.

Nevertheless, the description of the predator is found in the writings of such great people as Aristotle in his "Animal History", Pausanias on the pages of the Description of Hellas, Pliny in the "Natural History" and Solin in the "Collection of Sights". With the light hand of the last two authors, the formidable predator of the manticore lost its tail, studded with sharp spikes, with which it could hit a target at a distance. It remains for the poor predator to be content with a scorpion sting, but Solin immediately notes in his work that this is feline (and the manticore can be ranked as a feline family), is incredibly jumping and his jump is so far that no distances and no obstacles can stop him.

On the pages of the Middle Ages

Manticore over the past centuries has been firmly rooted in many books, especially medieval bestiaries. And although it has undergone some changes over the years, the main features of this mythical creature have remained unchanged - a blood-red skin, rows of teeth as sharp as a knife, the tail of a scorpion and a love of human meat. In medieval miniatures, this predator was most often depicted with any part of a man in his teeth to emphasize his nature as an ogre.

But this resemblance to the ancient image ended. In the Middle Ages, the manticore was awarded the serpent hiss, with which she lured the victim. The triple row of teeth, according to some scriptures, turned into a stockade, going straight down the throat.

Some scholars, inspired by the labors of their ancient colleagues, have added new abilities to the manticore. So Honorius Augustodunsky endowed the mythical creature with the opportunity not only to jump long distances, as Solin wrote, but also to fly.

The place of manticores in the modern world

Many writers, such as Andrzej Sapkowski and Joanne Rowling, could not remain indifferent to such a fierce and formidable creature and settled the manticore on the pages of their own bestiaries.

There is no limit to human imagination, and Sapkowski returned to the manticore with her tail with sharp needles, with which she can smash the enemy in absolutely any direction, and a pair of wings grew on her back. The formidable predator has become even more dangerous.

Rowling in her book "Magic creatures and where to look for them" endowed the skin of the manticore with immunity to magic. Now any spells are useless against this creature. The writer David Robertson gave the manticore human consciousness and the ability to talk, and Russian science fiction writer Nikolai Basov made her capable of regeneration.

In addition to books, the manticore also appeared on television screens in the film Manticore and the television series Grimm. Many are familiar with her from such famous and beloved games as “Heroes of Might and Magic III”, “Titan Quest”, “Age of Mythology”, “Artorias from the Abyss”. Similar characters are also found in the World of Warcraft universe.

500 years BC e. the young native of Sparta Ctesias was captured by the Persians. There, it occurred to him to write historical works about different countries. Sources of information were slaves of different nationalities. Returning to his homeland, Ctesius formalized his works in several historical treatises. In a work called Indica, he mentioned a terrible monster named manticore.

general description

Even in antiquity, the works of Ctesius were doubted by their reliability. The ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch openly declared the distortion of facts by the historian. To the present day, the writings of Ctesias have been rewritten. Researchers have proven that the bulk of the text is fictitious. In this case, questions arise: whether the manticore existed and whether Ctesius could confuse it with other mythical creatures.

Appearance

According to the descriptions, the manticore looked like this:

• human head;
• torso and paws of a lion;
• scorpion tail;
• red mane;
• blood red coat;
• 3 rows of sharp teeth;
• claws-daggers;
• blue eyes.

Its size was like a big horse. The voice of the manticore was like the sounds of a pipe and pipe at the same time. She could hiss like a snake. The scorpion tail, 30 cm long, was completely studded with poisonous thorns, the size of reed stalks.

Later, the monster acquired wings and a skin that reflects magic spells. Blue eyes turned red, and teeth moved from mouth to throat. Manticore began to be depicted with a part of the human body in its teeth in confirmation of its cannibalistic inclinations.

Interpretation of the role of manticore in myths

There are several versions of the interpretation of the role of such a creature as a manticore.

1. The beast-eater.
2. Avatar of god Vishnu.
3. Sphinx.
4. Chimera.

Due to the fact that the sources describing this creature are definitely doubtful, each version has the right to exist.

Manticore Beast

Based on this version, it can be argued that the manticore is an ancient creature, the creature of hell. The favorite treat of the beast was a fresh man. It was possible to tame a monster only with the help of magic. Black magicians used her as a watchman. But the guard from the manticore was not very good: having caught the man, she did not give it to the sorcerers, but immediately devoured it. The monster possessed the following qualities:

• high speed of movement in space;
• hypnosis proficiency;
• throwing poisonous spikes at a distance;
• instant regeneration of lost thorns;
• silent movement;
• so much power that one can tear a person’s body with claws;
• cunning and deceit.

In the Middle Ages, animals were considered a real creature living in India. It was believed that the monster lives in crowded places. At night, the insidious beast tracked down a lonely victim and devoured it, not even leaving a scrap of clothing. All the missing were attributed to tricks of the manticore.

According to legend, the monster was afraid only of lions, and with all other animals it willingly entered into battle. A medieval source describes a case of the murder of a basilisk by the manticore. People believed that if a poisonous tail was chopped off by a monster, it would die, so the bravest men of India hunted the manticore.

The fourth avatar of god Vishnu

Hindus believed that before the creation of the world, 3 strong gods united in Trimurti (the Hindu trinity). Brahma created the Universe, Shiva brought evil there, and Vishnu - good. It was the duty of God Vishnu to maintain a balance of good and evil in the universe. Each time, going down to earth to restore justice, he assumed a new look (avatar). There is a 9 avatar of god Vishnu:

• matsya fish;
• kurma Turtle;
• boar of Vasah;
• manticore Narasimha;
• dwarf vaman;
• ordinary man Parasurama;
• prince Rama;
• warrior Krishna;
• Buddha.

Hindus believe that there will be a tenth reincarnation. God Vishnu in his usual guise will descend to earth on a white horse with a sword of justice in his hands. With the help of this sword, he will forever restore order on earth. In Indian tales, there is a legend about the Fourth Avatar. According to her, Vishnu took the form of a lion man. This reincarnation is called the Narasimha manticore.

When Hiranyakashipu satisfied Brahma, he endowed him with unlimited power: with the exception of the three of Trimurti, all the gods were subordinate to Hiranyakashipu. The demon reveled in power, bathed in luxury, repaired lawlessness and debauchery.

The last straw of his lawlessness was an attempt to kill his own son, an adherent of the god Vishnu. A moment before the reprisal, Vishnu appeared in the form of a manticore from the column. He immediately attacked Hiranyakasipu and swallowed him. Manticore restored justice.

Image of the sphinx

In the myths of Persia, the manticore is described as a creature who loved to solve riddles to lonely wanderers. If the traveler guessed the riddle, the monster let him go; if not, he devoured. This description is very reminiscent of the Greek Sphinx - a relative of the popular Egyptian watchman of the same name.

According to ancient Greek myths, Thebes king Lai brought down the wrath of the goddess Hera, the patroness of the family and marriage, for sodomy. In punishment, Hera sent the Sphinx to Thebes to guard the only road leading to the city. Thebes residents were cut off from other places, and very soon a famine began in the city.

The only opportunity to pass the Sphinx was given to someone who guesses her cunning riddle: “Who walks on 4 legs in the morning, on lunch for 2, and in the evening on 3?” Such a riddle for the Sphinx was invented by 9 muses - the goddess of art and reason, but none of the Thebes could find the right solution, and they were strangled by a monster. When the wise Oedipus answered the Sphinx that the solution is a man, a proud creature threw himself off a cliff, freeing the city.

In addition to the passion for making deadly puzzles, the Sphinx and the manticore have similarities in appearance. The ancient Greeks portrayed a mythical creature with the body of a lion, which symbolized extraordinary physical strength, and the head of a woman, as a symbol of intelligence and cunning.

Manticore and Chimera

All the same Ancient Greece knew another creature that could be confused with manticore. The daughter of Typhon and Echidna, the sister of Cerberus, Hydra and the Sphinx, Chimera is the most ridiculous mythical creature from ancient Greek mythology. An evil creature all his life has been doing something to harm people, destroying fields, gardens and cattle.

The Chimera had a goat torso and a lion's head. Like the manticore, she had a red lion's mane and a poisonous tail. True, in the description of the ancient Greek mythical monster, the tail is similar to a snake, but given the length of the tail of the manticore, they can be easily identified.

The chimera could spew flame from its mouth, which was used to destroy the human economy. When her next trick bothered the king, he sent the hero of Bellerophon to destroy the monster. To help the noble husband, the king gave winged Pegasus. According to legend, Bellerophon soared into the sky so high that the fiery breath of the Chimera could not reach him. Then the hero began to shoot arrows at the monster, and each and every one they glared at the body of the Chimera. In terrible agony, the monster fell on a rock and died.

In the description of the death of the Chimera, one can also draw analogies with the manticore. At the beginning of the battle, she growled menacingly, then hissed furiously, and, struck by the arrows of Bellerophon, she squealed like a goat. Manticore could make trumpet sounds like growls and pipe sounds like goat bleating. Manticore's hiss is like a snake. In a myth, a chimera strewn with arrows from a flight altitude appears to the hero as a creature bristling with black needles.

Creature Image in Art

Indian mythology is still considered a little-studied area. This is due to its unsystematic nature. Similar mythical new ones are added to the old mythical creatures, but under different names. One gets the feeling that the Indians themselves do not remember their myths.

The image of the manticore is still a mystery. One can only imagine what the manticore looks like, but to understand what kind of animal it is is impossible. On the one hand, this is a cruel bloodthirsty monster, on the other - an implacable fighter for justice.

Nowadays, the image of the manticore is actively used in literature and cinema in the genre of mysticism and fantasy. The popular English writer Joan Rowling used this image in her latest book, and in the acclaimed TV series Game of Thrones, dragon lady Daenerys Burerozhennaya in one episode discusses manticores as sacred magical creatures.

The bestiary of ancient mythology is rich in interesting creatures. Manticore is the image of the beast that originated in Greek mythology. A lot of information about this mysterious creature related to predatory zoomorphs has been preserved since ancient times.

Origin

The predator first appeared in India. There its name is slightly different - the Indians call the creature a mantichora. The first records of the mythical creation belong to the Greek physician Xetius. He transmitted knowledge about the appearance of the beast, voice and manner of hunting. He chased the prey, hiding in the thickets, and quietly attacked the victim, using not only the sting on the tail, but also powerful claws and teeth for quick reprisals.

For a long time, the records of Xetius were not taken seriously - zoologists believed that the Indians were afraid of an ordinary tiger and came up with a new beast. This point of view was supported by the geographer Pausanias. He wrote that the frightened Indians mixed up the standard tiger color with bright red in the sunset light, and invented mystical differences in appearance to justify their defeat.

The idea of \u200b\u200bthe artificial origin of a predator is refuted by the appearance of references to it in the annals of other famous personalities. Aristotle and Solin wrote about the manticore, referring to the records of Xetius and adding new information. The creature's description is slightly different among different authors, but they always have the most striking features inherent in a mythical animal.

The appearance of the beast

Mentions of how the manticore looks can be found. But each of them necessarily contains the main characteristics of the exterior.

• body size comparable to the size of a large horse;
• the body of the creature resembles a lion’s, and the face looks like a human;
• saturated monochromatic color, blood red;
• strong teeth placed in three rows and distinguished by special sharpness;
• scorpion tail, with a sharp sting at the tip, 30 cm long.

The authors involved in the study of the beast, note the piercing gaze of blue eyes, which fascinated with depth and humanity. In ancient painting, the mythical creature was depicted with any part of the human body in its teeth, which emphasized its hunting abilities and terrified. Pliny described it as follows:

“Ctesias tells us that among the same Ethiopians, there is a beast whom he calls a manticore; he has a triple row of teeth that go into each other like combs, a person’s face and ears, like blue eyes, he himself is the color of blood; he has the body of a lion, and the tail ends with a sting, like a scorpion. His voice resembles a mixture of flute and trumpet sound; he is amazingly fast, and especially loves human meat.

Yuba tells us that the manticore in Ethiopia can also imitate the human voice. ”

The work of Claudius Elian of Rome describes the ancient creature more accurately, given the smallest details. The author noted the hairy ears of the creature, similar to human. He also specified the action of the sting - it was issued both at point-blank range and over a long distance in different directions.

Mythologists noted the particular hairiness of the beast and the incredible speed of movement, comparing it with the speed of a wild deer. The voice was considered like a mixture of sounds made by a pipe and a pipe.

Modern scholars and science fiction authors attribute to him large leathery and membranous wings, with the help of which the manticore quickly disappears from the place of hunting and becomes inaccessible.

Manticore and Chimera

Chimera is an entity from Greek mythology. According to one version, she. The creature lived in Lycia and was rendered harmless by Bellerophon.

The appearance of the chimera is somewhat similar to the manticore. The chimera is distinguished by a goat torso, a lion's head and a snake tail. Mythologists conducted many studies on the similarity of two mythical creatures, and found differences not only in appearance, but also in special abilities. The chimera had the ability to fight not only with fangs, claws and tail, she knew how to spit fire, which made her no less terrible beast than a manticore.

Manticore in the Middle Ages

The medieval bestiary was not without manticore. In this mysterious time, the beasts were endowed with a special serpent hiss, which was used to lure potential victims - both animals and humans. At the same time, the rows of sharp teeth were replaced by a picket coming from the throat of an animal to a mythical creature.

The hunt of the beast struck the imagination with blood and cruelty. The animal tore the victim with powerful claws, tore the body with sharp teeth and stung the resistance with the formidable tail. The sting reached the goal even at large distances, which excluded any chances of salvation.

The Middle Ages endowed the predatory beast with special bloodthirstiness, the creature became a kind of symbol of evil and war. At this time, the predator was especially popular, it could be found in bestiaries of various peoples. In some of them, the mythical creature was endowed with new abilities, special details of appearance and sophisticated methods of luring victims into their lair.

In the Middle Ages, the animal was considered to exist in the real world, and the absence of documented meetings with it was explained by the creature's commitment to a lonely life in uninhabited places.

Legends of the Manticore

The mysterious creature is almost not mentioned in world famous legends, but in many countries its own versions about its origin and skills have been put forward. The absence of famous legends is explained by the inability to escape from the angry beast - there was simply no one to describe the meetings and make up legends.

So, in Persia, the manticore is considered a terrible monster, which releases potential victims only if they manage to solve the riddle.

Another option is the origin of the mythical creature from the god Vishnu, who was endowed with the ability to transform into any unusual beast. Having chosen the image of a lion with a human face, Vishnu defeated the demon Hiranyakasipu in battle, after which this image of God began to be called Narasimha manticore.

Manticore in contemporary art

Mention of a mysterious animal can be found in modern literature. Joan Rowling endowed the beast with flying ability, added him the ability to purr cute after defeating another victim. The manticore in Rowling is immune to magic and is a particularly dangerous predator according to a fictitious classification.

More information about this type of animal can be found in the work "Fantastic Beasts and Where They Live." Olga Gromko in the book “Profession: Witch” added brushes on her ears to the creature, and Nikolai Basov endowed the animal with an important ability to regenerate.

In the cult book “Game of Thrones” and in the series shot on it, the manticore is present in a completely unusual form. In the series - this is an insect that is found on the continent of Essos. One part of the body of an insect resembles a human face. With the help of a small monster, the sorcerers of Quart tried to kill Daenerys Targaryen.

In the book, the manticores lived on the islands of the Jade Sea and possessed a poisonous sting that kills a person at the same instant that poison reached the heart of the victim. But scientists have come up with a special antidote that allows you to delay the death of a stung.

The series "Grimm" represents the essence in the form of a werewolf, capable of turning into a person. The point of view of the scriptwriters is supported by Kirill Korolev, author of the Encyclopedia of Supernatural Beings:

“It is believed that some people have the ability to turn into a manticore: at night they run around the settlements in search of victims.”

The mythical creature is mentioned in cartoons and computer games, in world literature and music. A huge almanac is being created in Ukraine, dedicated to the history and possibilities of the legendary beast.

In the real world, there is a predatory insect called "tuberous manticore." It is a large brown bug, its body length reaches 7 cm. These insects are found in Africa, they are especially active at night. They have strong jaws with teeth. This species is specifically mentioned in the book of Jules Verne “The Fifteen Years Captain”. There, an entomologist meets with a manticore, who with horror escapes from her captivity.

Conclusion

Ancient myths endow the manticore with a special frightening appearance, a penchant for bloodthirstiness and cannibalism. The mythical animal was not lost in ancient records; it is mentioned in modern works, endowing it with new skills and increasing the significance of the beast. Research on this creature continues, and scientists do not lose hope of finding new information about such a mysterious and interesting creature.

  Manticora, Epibouleus Oxisor) - a fictional creature - a monster with the body of a red lion, the head of a man and the tail of a scorpion. The creature with a red mane has three rows of teeth and blue eyes. The tail of the manticore ends with spikes, the poison of which kills instantly. It was believed that the manticore is a predator and can prey on humans. Therefore, in medieval miniatures you can often see the 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 which many Persian myths became known to the Greeks. Aristotle and Pliny the Elder in their writings directly refer to Ctesias.

He (Ctesias) assures that the Indian martihor beast has a triple row of teeth on both the lower and upper jaws, and he is the size of a lion and is equally hairy, his legs are like the legs of a lion; his face and ears resemble human ones; his eyes are blue, and he himself is bright red; his tail is the same as that of an earthen scorpion - he has a sting in his tail and he has the ability to shoot like arrows, with needles attached to his tail; his voice is a cross between the sound of a pipe and pipe; he can run as fast as a deer and he is also wild and cannibal.

Aristotle "Animal History"

However, the most complete of the ancient descriptions of the manticore was made in the II century BC. e. Claudius Elian ("On the Nature of Animals"). He gives some interesting details: “She strikes anyone who comes close to her with a sting ... The poisonous spikes on her tail are comparable in thickness to the stalk of reeds, and are about 30 centimeters long ... She can defeat any of the animals, except for the lion” . In the II century BC e. Flavius \u200b\u200bPhilostratus the Elder mentions the manticore as one of the miracles that Apollonius of Tyana asks Jarchus on the hill of the sages.

Although the manticore is rarely spoken of in ancient scientific books, medieval bestiaries abound in its descriptions. From there, the manticore migrated to folklore. So, in the XIII century, Bartholomew English wrote about her, in the XIV - William Caxton in the book “Mirror of the World”. Caxton’s three rows of manticore teeth turned into a "palisade of huge teeth in her throat," and her voice, like a flute melody, became "the sweet snake hiss that she attracts people to then devour them."

In the 20th century, ideas about the manticore continued to develop. 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 poisonous spikes. And in the novel of the English writer J. Rowling "Magic creatures and where to look for them," the manticore "after absorbing another victim begins to purr softly." Also, according to Rowling, "the skin of the manticore reflects almost all known spells." In the story of the domestic science fiction writer Nikolai Basov, “Demon Hunter,” the manticore has the ability to heal his wounds almost instantly. In the film “Manticore” (2005), the manticore cannot be killed by anything and only the look of another manticore (or its reflection) can turn it into stone. In the series “Grimm” (s3e11 “The Good Soldier” and s4e12 “The Gendarme”), the manticores are depicted as dangerous and deadly creatures, deprived of the fear of death. The image of Manticore is also found in modern animation. For example, in the animated American TV series The Amazing Flopjack Misadventures, in one of the episodes the manticore is presented in the image of a lion with a man’s face and small wings, which becomes meek if you tickle it. Manticore met in computer games of the Disciples, Dark Souls and Might and Magic series in Heroes of Might and Magic III and Might and Magic 7 and looked like a lion with a scorpion tail and wings (it 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“