Catoblepas

Today I am back with a new creature for the weekly mythology test. As always you will first hear some information about the creature and then it is on you to guess, if it is from the Greek mythology or not. You can find the answer at the end of the article, by pressing the solution button.

The creature I want to present you today is called the catoblepas. The catoblepas looks like a black buffalo, but it has the head of a pig. The creature's neck is very weak, that's why it cannot lift his head and always stares on the floor. The translation of his name means exactly that: to look downwards. This was good for all the other creatures, animals and humans, because his look or the breath can either kill them or turn them into stone, that opinion changes with the authors. In addition, he as a lot of dark hair, hanging into his face, bloodshot eyes and shaggy eyebrows. It is said to live in Ethiopia. Presumably the catoblepas is the result of a confusion with the gnu.

The catoblepas is mentioned in two different books. According to the book "On the nature of animals" by Claudius Aelianus, the catoblepas is a herbivore, which only eat poisonous vegetation. As a result his breath is toxic and kills, instead of turning people into stone.

The catoblepas is also mentioned in other literature. For example Leonardo da Vinci wrote about it in his notebooks.

So, now it is your turn to guess. Is the catoblepas a creature from Hellas or not? To check if you are right, click the solution button below.