The martikhora(s) or manticore is a mythical animal described in the Indica of Ctesias of Cnidus and a few other
classical sources.
The creature is said to derive its name from the Persian
words for “man-eater.” It lives in the forests of India, has a lion-like body
and a human face, and a tail that shoots lethal, meter-long stingers. It is
also said to be able to mimic human speech.
Some believe the martikhora is an
exaggerated description of a man-eating Bengal tiger, which was hunted in early
India in the same manner as Ctesias attributes to martikhoras.
The people of
Spain integrated the manticore into their mythology and transformed the creature
into a child-snatching werewolf.
The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder describes
the manticore as living in Ethiopia, but he also quotes Ctesias, who said the
beast was found in India. Ethiopia and India were often confused in ancient
accounts. Here is what Ctesias had to say about the creature:
[§15] The martikhora is an animal found in this country. 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 thirty meter. 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 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 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.
Aelian, a Greek military writer who lived in second-century Rome, has a similar account of the manticore, based on Ctesias but with more details:
There is in India a wild beast, powerful, daring, as big as the largest lion, of a red colour like cinnabar, shaggy like a dog, and in the language of India it is called Martikhoras (Manticore) [Persian mardkhora ‘man-slayer’]. Its face however is not that of a wild beast but of a man, and it has three rows of teeth set in its upper jaw and three in the lower; these are exceedingly sharp and larger than the fangs of a hound. Its ears also resemble a man's except that they are larger and shaggy; its eyes are blue-grey and they too are like a man's, but its feet and claws, you must know, are those of a lion. To the end of its tail is attached the sting of a scorpion, and this might be over a cubit in length; and the tail has stings at intervals on either side. But the tip of the tail gives a fatal sting to anyone who encounters it, and death is immediate. If one pursued the beast it lets fly its stings, like arrows, sideways, and it can shoot a great distance; and when it discharges its stings straight ahead it bends bends its tail back; if however it shoots in a backward direction, as the Sakai (Sacae) do, then it stretches its tail to its full extent. Any creature that the missile hits it kills; the elephant alone it does not kill. These stings which it shoots are a foot long and the thickness of a bulrush. Now Ktesias asserts (and he says that the Indians confirm his words) that in the places where those stings have been let fly others spring up, so that this evil produces a crop. And according to the same writer the Martikhoras for a choice devours human beings; indeed it will slaughter a great number; and it lies in wait not for a single man but would set upon two or even three men, and alone overcomes even that number. All other animals it defeats: the lion alone it can never bring down. That this creature takes special delight in gorging human flesh its very name testifies, for in the Greek language its means androphagos (man-eater), and its name is derived from its activities. Like the stag it is extremely swift.
Now the Indians hunt the young of these animals while they are still without stings in their tails, which they then crush with a stone to prevent them from growing stings. The sound of their voice is as near as possible that of a trumpet.
Ktesias (Ctesias) declares that he has actually seen this animal in Persia (it had been brought from India as a present to the Persian King)--if Ktesias is to be regarded as a sufficient authority on such matters. At any rate after hearing of the peculiarities of this animal, one must pay heed to the historian of Knidos.
A mythical creatures website offers a few more details:
Most commonly known as Manticore, this beast comes from the forests of India. It has the body of a lion, the face of a man with three rows of teeth and a notorious scorpion tail. Its tail is lined with poisonous stings that it throws at its victims immediately. It shoots by facing away from its enemy and flicking its tail backwards. The stings are one meter in length and are poisonous to all except the elephant. It creates newborn Manticores from the ground producing them quickly. Hunters kill the young of the Manticore before they grow their poisonous tail and crush its tails with a stone to prevent that from happening. The Manticore makes a sound like a trumpet and is vermilion red in colour.
The Manticore was detailed by Pliny the Elder from ancient Greece in his book Historia Naturalis (77 AD) which derived from a description from King Artaxerxes Mnemon (404 – 359 BC). The Manticore also featured in medieval bestiaries and art. It has the Biblical connection as being the representative creature for the prophet Jeremiah. In Churches it is seen as a scaled covered woman. Later in Spanish folklore, the Manticore developed into a child-stealing Werewolf.All in all, a wondrous creature....
