WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Redux: 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 plain

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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 CE. He also states that the

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>taste of human flesh. While the Manticor's popularity in Western

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>as a distortion of the Persian mard cora, meaning man slayer.

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<v Speaker 1>Noted scholar Dorothea McEwen also pointed to some of the

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

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<v Speaker 1>headed lion with serpents for tales. It lacks only the

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

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<v Speaker 1>plenty points to Ethiopian origins for the Manticor as well. However,

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<v Speaker 1>many sources speak of the manticore as a creature of

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<v Speaker 1>ultimate Persian origins, but the manticore itself seems rather unconcerned

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<v Speaker 1>with such distinctions. All human beings are equal in its eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>creatures worthy of mockery, hunting, and ravenous consumption. Thanks to

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<v Speaker 1>my son Sebastian for suggesting this episode as he was

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<v Speaker 1>reading through the Dungeons and Dragons fifth Edition Monster Manual

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<v Speaker 1>with me and had some questions about this fabulous creature.

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<v Speaker 1>Tune into additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week.

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<v Speaker 1>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your

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<v Speaker 1>Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more

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