Oliphaunt

I prepared a new riddle for you today. I want to test you again on your knowledge about the Greek mythology. But to give you a little help, you can find some more information about my creature – the oliphaunt – in the following paragraphs.

Oliphaunt, sometimes also called Mumakil, resemble normal elephants a lot. As elephants, they have a gray and thick skin, a big body, strong legs, big sticking out ears and a long trunk. But there are a few differences too. The oliphaunts skin is so thick, that no arrows come through. That gives them high use in battles, but more about that a little later. Whereas a normal elephant only has two tusks, the oliphaunts have 4. One big pair like the elephants have, and then an additional second pair underneath and a little behind. The oliphaunts use their tusks for fighting and to protect their trunk. They have small red eyes. And last but not least there is to mention that the oliphaunts are giant. They are around eight times the size of a normal elephant.

Like already mentioned, the oliphaunts were used for war and also as pack animals. In a battle the oliphaunts brought a high advantage. They had their own war gear: a wooden tower, they got on the back. To put the towers onto their backs, the oliphaunts had to keel or lie down, then the people could fix the tower under the belly. During the fight, people could sit in the tower and use the height to throw spears and arrows onto the enemies. No footman had a chance against the oliphaunts, because they just got crushed or shot from above and also horses refused to go close to oliphaunts. Some tribes painted the oliphaunts skin partly with some color to make them more fearsome. That also helped to differ the oliphaunts from different tribes.

The oliphaunts are a status symbol, because they are also worth a lot, when they are dead. The people can use their tusks, bones and sinew, they can use the oliphaunts for making hide dyes and the meat they can eat. Especially if they salt it, it is long-lasting and keeps tribes in food for months.

But the oliphaunts also have some weaknesses. Their weak points during fights are their eyes and tendons. When you shoot an arrow into their eye they suffer great pain, go blind and can even die. When they get shot into their tendons, they can get hamstrung. Additionally, they lose their temper easily and then go crazy and in their rampages they destroy everything – enemies and masters. Especially fear and pain triggers these rampages, so oliphaunts are not that easy to control.

So now back to the riddle. Is the oliphaunt a Greek creature or not?