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Basilisk

 

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Basilisk


 
 



In EuropeEurope

Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth....
an bestiariesBestiary

A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts....
 and legendLegend Overview

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history...
s, a basilisk (, from the GreekGreek language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family....
 ßas???s??? basilískos, "little king"; Latin Regulus) is a legendLegend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history...
ary reptileReptile

Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane....
 reputed to be king of serpentsSerpent (symbolism)

Serpent is a word of Latin origin which is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit term serp, that is normally substituted...
 and said to have the power of causing deathDeath

Death is the full cessation of vital functions in the biological life....
 by a single glance. According to the Naturalis HistoriaNaturalis Historia

Naturalis Historia or "Natural History" is an encyclopedia written by Pliny the Elder. ...
of Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author and natural philosopher of some import...
, the basilisk of CyreneCyrene

Cyrene can refer to:* The USS Cyrene, a motor torpedo boat tender...
 is a small snake, "being not more than twelve fingers in length", that is so venomVenom

Venom or zootoxin is any of a variety of poisons used by several groups of animal species, for the purpose of defense...
ous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal; its weakness is in the odour of the weaselWeasel

Weasels are mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family....
, which according to Pliny, was thrown into the basilisk's hole, recognisable because all the surrounding shrubs and grass had been scorched by its presence.

Basilisk is also the name of a genus of small lizards, (family CorytophanidaeCorytophanidae

Corytophanidae is a family of lizards also called casque head lizards....
). The Green Basilisk, also called plumed basiliskPlumed basilisk

The plumed basilisk is a species of lizard native to Latin America....
, is a lizard that can run across the surface of water.

Accounts

There are three descriptions to the image of the basilisk: a huge multi-limbed lizard, a giant snake, or a three-foot high cockerel with a snake's tail and teeth, all of which are shared with the cockatriceCockatrice

A cockatrice is a legendary creature, "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans"....
. It is called "king" because it is reputed to have on its head a mitreMITRE

The MITRE Corporation is a not-for-profit organization chartered to work in the public interest....
- or crown-shaped crestSagittal crest

A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull of many mammalian and prim...
. Stories of the basilisk place it in the same general family as the cockatrice. The basilisk is fabulously alleged to be hatched by a cockerel from the egg of a serpent (the reverse of the cockatrice, which was hatched from a cockerel's "egg" incubated by a serpent's nest). In Medieval Europe, the description of the creature began taking on features from cockerels.

One of the earliest accounts of the basilisk comes from Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author and natural philosopher of some import...
's Natural History, written in roughly 79 AD. He describes the catoblepasCatoblepas

The catoblepas is a legendary creature from Ethiopia, described first by Pliny the Elder and later by Claudius Aelianus....
, a monstrous cow-like creature to whom "there is not one that looketh upon his eyes, but hee dyeth presently.", and then goes on to say,

The like propertie hath the serpent called a Basiliske: bred it is in the province CyrenaicaCyrenaica Overview

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya....
, and is not above twelve fingers-breadth long: a white spot like a starre it carrieth on the head, and setteth it out like a coronet or diademe: if he but hisse once, no other serpents dare come neere: he creepeth not winding and crawling by as other serpents doe, with one part of the bodie driving the other forward, but goeth upright and aloft from the ground with the one halfe part of his bodie: he killeth all trees and shrubs not only that he toucheth, but that he doth breath upon also: as for grasse and hearbs, those hee sindgeth and burneth up, yea and breaketh stones in sunder: so venimous and deadly is he. It is received for a truth, that one of them upon a time was killed with a launce by an horseman from his horseback, but the poison was so strong that went from his bodie along the staffe, as it killed both horse and man: and yet a sillie weazle hath a deadly power to kill this monstrous serpent, as pernicious as it is [for may kings have been desirous to see the experience thereof, and the manner how he is killed.] See how Nature hath delighted to match everything in the world with a concurrent. The manner is, to cast these weazles into their holes and cranies where they lye, (and easie they be to knowe, by the stinking sent of the place all about them:) they are not so soone within, but they overcome them with their strong smell, but they die themselves withall; and so Nature for her pleasure hath the combat dispatched.


The Venerable BedeBede

Bede , also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or Beda , , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of S...
 was the first to attest to the legend of the birth of a basilisk from an egg by an old cockerel, then other authors added the condition of SiriusSirius

Sirius is the brightest star in the night-time sky, with a visual apparent magnitude of −1.47....
 being ascendant. Isidore of SevilleIsidore of Seville

----Saint Isidore of Seville was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and has the reputation of being one o...
 defined the basilisk as the king of snakes, due to its killing glare and its poisonous breath. Alexander Neckham was the first to say that not the glare but the "air corruption" was the killing tool of the basilisk, a theory developed one century later by Pietro d'AbanoFacts About Pietro d'Abano

Pietro d'Abano, also known as Petrus de Apono or Aponensis, was an Italian physician, philosopher, and astrologe...
.

Theophilus PresbyterTheophilus Presbyter

Theophilus Presbyter was a Benedictine monk and author of a Latin text containing detailed descriptions of various medieval ...
 gives a long recipe in his book for creating a basilisk in order to convert copperCopper

Copper is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Cu and atomic number 29....
 into "SpanishSpain

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a European parliamentary monarchy....
 goldGold

Gold is a highly sought-after precious metal that for many centuries has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelry...
" (De auro hyspanico).

Albertus MagnusAlbertus Magnus

Albertus Magnus , also known as Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, was a Dominican friar who became f...
 in the De animalibus wrote about the killing gaze of the basilisk, but he denied other legends, such as the rooster hatching the egg. He gave as source of those legends Hermes TrismegistusHermes Trismegistus

Hermes Trismegistus or Mercurius ter Maximus in Latin, is the syncretism of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian Thot...
, who is credited also as the creator of the story about the basilisk's ashes being able to convert silverSilver Overview

Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag ....
 into goldFacts About Gold

Gold is a highly sought-after precious metal that for many centuries has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelry...
: the attribution is absolutely incorrect, but it shows how the legends of the basilisk were already linked to alchemyAlchemy

Alchemy refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, bot...
 in XIII century.

Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat , and diplomat....
 featured a basilicok (as he called it) in his Canterbury Tales. According to some legends, basilisks can be killed by hearing the crow of a rooster or gazing at itself through a mirror. The latter method of killing the beast is featured in the legend of the basilisk living in WarsawWarsaw

Warsaw is the capital of Poland and its largest city....
, killed by a man carrying a set of mirrors (the most famous version of the legend was written by Artur Oppman).

Stories gradually added to the basilisk's deadly capabilities, such as describing it as a larger beast, capable of breathing fire and killing with the sound of its voice. Some writers even claimed that it could kill not only by touch, but also by touching something that is touching the victim, like a sword held in their hand. Also, some stories claim their breath is highly toxic and will cause death, usually immediately. The basilisk is also the guardian creature of the Swiss city BaselBasel

Basel is Switzerland's third most populous city ....
.

The basilisk was, however, believed to be vulnerable to roosters. Travellers in the Middle Ages sometimes carried roosters with them as protection.

Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci Overview

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was a talented Italian Renaissance Roman Catholic polymath: architect, anatomist, sculptor,...
 included a basilisk in his BestiaryBestiary

A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts....
, saying it is so utterly cruel that when it cannot kill animals by its baleful gaze, it turns upon herbs and plants, and fixing its gaze on them withers them up.

In his Notebooks, he describes the basilisk:

This is found in the province of CyrenaicaCyrenaica Overview

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya....
 and is not more than 12 fingers long. It has on its head a white spot after the fashion of a diadem. It scares all serpents with its whistling. It resembles a snake, but does not move by wriggling but from the centre forwards to the right. It is said that one of these, being killed with a spear by one who was on horse-back, and its venom flowing on the spear, not only the man but the horse also died. It spoils the wheat and not only that which it touches, but where it breathes the grass dries and the stones are split.


Then Leonardo says the following on the weaselWeasel

Weasels are mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family....
:
"This beast finding the lair of the basilisk kills it with the smell of its urine, and this smell, indeed, often kills the weasel itself."

Euhemeristic accounts


Some have speculated a euhemeristicEuhemerus

Euhemerus was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedonia....
 (rationalized, in the manner of Euhemerus) explanation for the basilisk, in particular that reports of cobraCobra

Cobras are venomous snakes of family Elapidae, of several genera....
s may have given birth to the stories of the monster. Cobras can maintain an upright posture, and, as with many snakes in overlapping territories, are often killed by mongooseMongoose

A mongoose is any member of the Herpestidae family of small, vaguely cat-like carnivores....
s. The king cobraKing Cobra

The King Cobra is the longest of the venomous land snakes, growing up to 18.5 feet in length....
 or Hamadryad has a crownlike symbol on its head. Another family of eleven species of cobras can incapacitate from a distance by spitting venom, and may well have been confused by similar appearance with the Hamadryad. The Egyptian cobra lives in the desert and was used as a symbol of royalty.

Modern reuse

Reuse in modern fantasy

For basilisks in the Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game currently published by Wizards of the Coast....
fantasy role-playing gameRole-playing game

A role-playing game is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create s...
, see Basilisk (Dungeons & Dragons)Basilisk (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the basilisk is a reptilian magical beast that turns creatures to stone...
.



Basilisks have been re-imagined and employed in modern fantasyFantasy

Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting....
 fiction for books, movies, and role-playing gameRole-playing game

A role-playing game is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create s...
s, with wide variations on the powers and weaknesses attributed to them. Most of these depictions describe a reptile of some sort, with the power to kill its victims with a direct stare and petrify through an indirect one, such as in J. K. RowlingJ. K. Rowling

name = J.K. Rowling| image = JKRowling.jpg...
's book Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K....
. A large, snake-like Basilisk was featured in the book, and was portrayed as a much larger, more serpentine creature than the true mythological character. It was described as coming from a chickens egg, hatched under a toad. According to an encyclopedia page found by Hermione GrangerHermione Granger

Hermione Jane Granger is a fictional character in J.K....
, "Spiders flee before it...the cry of a rooster is fatal to it". Additionally, FawkesFawkes

In the fictional Harry Potter series of novels and films, Fawkes is Albus Dumbledore's pet phoenix....
 the PhoenixPhoenix (mythology)

In ancient Egyptian mythology and in myths derived from it, the phoenix or phnix is a mythical sacred firebird....
 saving Harry from being killed by the Basilisk is a variation on the original lore. In the Harry Potter books, Phoenix tears are said to be the only cure for Basilisk poison. The book's Basilisk can also been seen in Chris Columbus's movie with the same titleHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second film in the popular Harry Potter series, was released on November 15...
, but appears much more serpentine, resembling an enormous snake more than anything else.
A basilisk was recently featured as a boss in the PSPPlayStation Portable

The PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment....
 video game and have been featured in the MMORPGMMORPG

A Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game is an online computer role-playing game in which a large number of player...
 World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Blizzard Entertainment....
since its launch in 2004 and as a miniboss in in the Well of the Souls.

Reuse in science


Like the words "vampireVampire bat

Vampire bats are bats that feed on blood....
s" and "lemuresLarvae

In Roman mythology, the larvae or lemures were the spectres or spirits of the dead; they were the malignant version of...
", biological science reuses mythological concepts to name animal species. Basilisk in science refers to the genus Basiliscus of South AmericaSouth America

South America is a continent situated in the western hemisphere and, mostly, the southern hemisphere, bordered on the west b...
n "lizardLizard

Lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, which they share with the snakes ....
", containing four species.

See also

  • Basilisco chiloteBasilisco Chilote

    The Basislico chilote is a creature from Chilota mythology originating in southern Chile....
  • CockatriceCockatrice

    A cockatrice is a legendary creature, "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans"....


External links