In the depths of the Indian jungles, a creature
lurks, hungry for prey.
Its head is that of a man with a long beard,
but it’s body is that of a mighty lion.
The mighty beast has a magnificent tail that
stretches out behind it.
The tail resembles that of a scorpion and
has many stings which it uses like arrows
to render its prey defenseless.
This terrible beast lurks in the reeds and
appears to its victims as an old man until
it is too late.
When it strikes, no evidence is left behind.
It is the mighty manticore.
What is a Manticore
A manticore is a mythological creature that
was said to be unconquerable.
The mighty beast is best known for its strange
but magnificent features.
It is often said that the beast had the head
of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail
of a scorpion.
They are thought to be one of the mightiest
of beasts and were capable of devouring every
animal in the jungle except for elephants.
There is no given explanation for why these
creatures were unable to defeat elephants,
only documentation that for some reason elephants
seemed to be able to evade even the most powerful
of the manticores.
The word manticore itself is an adaption of
the Persian name for the beast – martichoras.
This is thought to loosely translate to ‘man
eater.’
According to Persian lore, the creature was
able to devour any beast (except elephants
of course) without leaving any remains behind.
However, despite its dominance in the jungle,
the manticore had an especially intense hunger
for human flesh.
It was said to make due with one man if that
was all that was available, but much rather
preferred to lie in wait for a minimum of
two to three men and devour them all.
It was rumored that the manticore was able
to kill three men at once without issue and
could likely take more than that number if
the opportunity presented itself.
The Manticore According to Legend
The manticore was seen as an apex predator
that couldn’t be matched by man.
The beast was supposedly known to have incredible
speed that not even the fastest man could
compete with in a chase.
In addition to this, the body of a manticore
was similar to a lion.
This meant that the beast also had long, sharp
claws that it could use to tear apart its
victims if the opportunity arose.
The beast was supposedly capable of ripping
a man apart with one swipe of its mighty paws.
Though the claws of the beast were no doubt
intimidating, many recorded tales suggest
that the manticore rarely relied on them.
The tail of the beast resembled that of a
scorpion and had several large ‘stings’
that came off the sides and one sting that
rested at the tip of the tail.
These stings were poisonous and could be used
to prick a victim if in close proximity.
Distance, however, didn’t bring much more
safety to a potential victim of the manticore.
It was said that the mighty beast had the
ability to shoot these stings from its tail
like arrows.
When one sting had been shot, it was replaced
by another that could then be shot at the
target until the beast was successful.
These stings would inject the victim with
poison and cause them to become paralyzed.
The beast was then free to devour the victim
without a struggle.
The manticore was famed for eating its victims
whole and leaving nothing behind.
While many other beasts of the forest are
able to devour the entirety of the human body,
the manticore took its feasting a step farther.
In addition to eating all of its victims remains,
it also ate their clothing, money, and other
possessions.
Because of this, there was often little evidence
that the manticore had struck aside from trace
amounts of blood.
This is also part of the reason the beast
was feared by so many.
Whenever a person went missing and searches
failed to return any trace of their body or
possessions, the loss of the person was blamed
on a manticore attack.
It was claimed that the manticore lured people
in by laying in tall grass or reeds.
This would hide its magnificent body and show
only the head of what appeared to be a bearded
man.
Many victims were said to have ventured too
close to the beast, only to be devoured by
its three rows of sharp teeth.
It was thought that those who ventured too
close to the beast failed to notice several
key signs.
Most notable of these signs was said to be
the sound of music.
It was thought that the manticore was unable
to speak in human languages but had a voice
similar to that of a trumpet.
Because of this, the sound of music was often
seen as a warning that a manticore was nearby.
Other signs included location (seeing the
head of a man in tall grass) or the appearance
of the man they thought they were approaching.
It is often said that the head of a manticore
looked like a bearded man with blue or grey
eyes.
It is safe to say that few who saw the color
of the beast’s eyes lived to tell the story
later.
The Manticore According to Ancient Greece
Though there is no evidence of a manticore
to view in modern days, it is reported that
the beast was captured on at least one occasion
and presented to the then king of Persia as
a gift.
The manticore was given to King Artaxerxes
II while Ctesias was serving in his court
as a physician.
It was through this exchange and the witnessing
of the creature by Ctesias that the legend
of the manticore was able to spread to the
rest of the world – most notably Greece.
Once the legend of the manticore was spread
to Greece, it was met with mixed reactions.
A famed Greek author by the name of Pausanias
wrote about the ‘martichoras’ with great
skepticism in his book, ‘Description of
Greece.’
It was his opinion that the great martichoras
was nothing more than a tiger.
He hypothesized that the additional details
that spoke of the famed beast’s three rows
of teeth and scorpion-like tail were nothing
more than exaggerations that were used to
express the extreme terror that was felt by
anyone who had the misfortune of running into
one of the beasts.
Pliny the Elder (another Greek writer who
was famous for his work) did not share Pausanias’
opinion.
He included the martichoras in his writing
Naturalis Historia along with many animals
that are known to exist today.
Physical Appearance
The manticore is often described as a mighty
beast with fearsome features.
The head of the beast is often said to be
similar to that of a man.
In most accounts, the head also has a beard
and features eyes that are either blue or
grey in color.
From a distance, the head of a manticore isn’t
a terrifying sight.
It isn’t until the victim is close enough
to the beast to see its open mouth and three
rows of sharp teeth that the true nature of
the beast becomes known.
There is also great emphasis given to the
body of the beast.
The body of the manticore is always described
as being similar to that of a lion, but has
a brilliant hue of red (often recorded as
being scarlet in color).
The manticore’s body is often much larger
than that of a normal lion and is capable
of performing impressive feats.
The most notable of these feats is perhaps
is surprisingly fast and agile speed.
It is said that not even the fastest man can
match the speed of a manticore when in pursuit
of prey.
Additionally, the claws of the beast are known
to be extremely sharp.
With one swipe of it’s mighty paw, a manticore
can easily tear a man apart.
There are also some versions of the manticore
that describe the beast as having a pair of
mighty wings that allow it to fly in pursuit
of its prey at terrifying speeds.
These accounts normally describe wings that
are similar to those of a dragon.
Last, but certainly not least is the fearsome
tail of the mighty beast.
The tail of the manticore is said to resemble
that of a scorpion and has several stings
that are poisonous to all creatures – except
elephants.
If the manticore is in close proximity to
its prey, it can use these stings to stab
its prey.
It is important to note, however, that distance
does not limit the use of this impressive
feature.
If a manticore is far away from its intended
prey, it has the option of shooting these
stings at its victim similar to the manner
in which arrows are shot from a bow.
Every sting that is fired from the tail of
the creature is quickly replaced from another
so that the manticore can continue its onslaught
until it is successful and has rendered its
prey defenseless.
It is also important to note that while the
manticore has a human head, it is not able
to speak human languages.
Instead, it is said that the creature has
the voice of a trumpet.
This was considered to be one of the biggest
warnings that the creature was on the hunt.
Any sound of melody in the forest was considered
to be the sign of a manticore.
Explanation of the Myth
Many who study the story of the manticore
are inclined to write the beast off as a tiger
like Pausanias.
It is thought that the story was used to describe
the biggest and mightiest of the tigers that
inhabited the jungles of India.
It is likely that the story also originated
to explain the many missing persons who ventured
into the jungle and never returned.
It was likely easier to write off the disappearance
of loved ones as being at the hands of an
unconquerable beast instead of a vicious forest
animal.
These stories likely helped to save part of
the population by preventing too many inexperienced
travelers or hunters from going too far into
the woods alone, as well as curbing the curiosity
of young children.
