WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Manticore

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures,

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<v Speaker 1>ideas and monsters in time. The gleam of my scarlet

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<v Speaker 1>hair mingles with the reflection of the great sands. I

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<v Speaker 1>breathe through my nostrils. The terror of solitudes. I spit

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<v Speaker 1>forth plague. I devour armies when they venture into the desert.

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<v Speaker 1>My claws are twisted like screws, my teeth shaped like saws,

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<v Speaker 1>and my curving tail bristles with darts, which I cast

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<v Speaker 1>to right and left, before and behind. See see These

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<v Speaker 1>are the words of the Manticore, as related in Gustave

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<v Speaker 1>Flaubert's eighteen seventy four dramatic poem The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

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<v Speaker 1>The monster itself, however, is no mere French literary creation.

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<v Speaker 1>It emerges from the pages and dreamscapes of antiquity and beyond.

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<v Speaker 1>By virtue of its depictions and mythic riddles. The sphinx

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<v Speaker 1>tends to enjoy far greater fame among fantastic lion human hybrids,

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<v Speaker 1>but the manticore is even more fabulous in form. While

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<v Speaker 1>it does possess the body of a lion and the

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<v Speaker 1>head of a man, it also boasts a tale of

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<v Speaker 1>fans spikes that may be launched at its adversaries like

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<v Speaker 1>venomous missiles. The monster's face makes it even more chimerical,

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<v Speaker 1>not perfectly human, but colored a deep red and possessing

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<v Speaker 1>a cavernous maw full of interlocking teeth that Pliny the

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<v Speaker 1>Elder compared to those of a comb. The Roman Pliny

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<v Speaker 1>was fighting the work of earlier Greek physician Cetasius, who

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<v Speaker 1>would have lived in Anatolia now part of Turkey during

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<v Speaker 1>the fifth century b c. E. He also states that

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<v Speaker 1>the creature's cry is like that of a flute and

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<v Speaker 1>a trumpet combined, and that above all else, it craves

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<v Speaker 1>the taste of human flesh. While the manticors popularity in

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<v Speaker 1>Western traditions and in the Christian Church would span centuries,

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<v Speaker 1>the creature's origins seemed to date back to ancient Mesopotamia,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps as a distortion of the Persian mard cora, meaning

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<v Speaker 1>man slayer. Noted scholar Dorothea McEwen also pointed to some

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<v Speaker 1>of the similarities between the manticore and the Ethiopian Sebitat,

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<v Speaker 1>a human headed lion with serpents for tales. It lacks

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<v Speaker 1>only the teeth in its resemblance to the manticor, and

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<v Speaker 1>to be sure, plenty points to Ethiopian origins for the

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<v Speaker 1>Manticor as well. However, many sources speak of the manticore

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<v Speaker 1>as a creature of ultimate Persian origins, but the manticore

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<v Speaker 1>itself seems rather unconcerned with such distinctions. All human beings

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<v Speaker 1>are equal in its eyes, creatures worthy of mockery, hunting,

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<v Speaker 1>and ravenous consumption. Thanks to my son Sebastian for suggesting

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<v Speaker 1>this episode as he was reading through the Dungeons and

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<v Speaker 1>Dragons fifth Edition Monster Manual with me and had some

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<v Speaker 1>questions about this fabulous creature. Tune into additional episodes of

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<v Speaker 1>The Monster Fact each week. As always. You can email

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<v Speaker 1>us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit

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