More than 2,000 years ago, a creature called a basilisk appeared in the ancient world as just a malicious snake of the Libyan desert. In a completely different form - like a creepy monster with the head of a rooster, the eyes of a toad, the wings of a bat and the body of a dragon gifted with supernatural power - the basilisk first appeared in Pliny the Elder (1st century). According to his story, a warrior who had the imprudence to pierce a deadly creature with a long spear fell from his horse dead: the poison entered his body through the spear shaft!
A more decisive and quick-witted warrior, described by the ancient Roman poet Mark Lucan, in this kind of situation saved his life in a terrible way: having cut a basilisk, he immediately cut off his hand that held the sword.
It should be noted that the deadly reptile of the desert was known before. Two centuries before Pliny and Lucan, Aelius Stilon mentions him as a well-known creature: “It happens in Africa that snakes gather for a feast near a dead mule. Suddenly they hear a terrible howl of a basilisk and hastily crawl away, leaving him carrion. But the Basilisk, when it is full, again utters a terrible howl and crawls away."
Africa is mentioned here for a reason. In fact, in ancient times, a small poisonous snake with a white mark on its head lived in the Libyan desert. The local population and travelers were very afraid to meet her on their way. The ancients were frightened not only by her deadly bite, but also by her amazing ability to move with her head raised, leaning on her tail. The local name of the reptile remained unknown, but the Greeks did not hesitate to christen it Basilisk, which means "king".
Of course, this is not exactly the snake mentioned by Pliny the Elder. Here is what the Roman writer said about this miracle of the desert: “The Basilisk has an amazing ability: whoever sees it dies immediately. On his head there is a white spot that resembles a diadem. Its length is no more than 30 cm. It turns other snakes to flight with its hissing and moves without bending its whole body, but lifting its middle part. Not only from touch, but also from the breath of a basilisk, bushes and grass dry up, and stones ignite …"
The deadly basilisk probably gained fame mainly in Europe, although there is some mention of it in the East. There was once a similar creature living in Iceland and known as the scoffin. His appearance and demeanor were similar to those of a basilisk. The only thing that could kill the scoffin was the look of his kindred.
The very birth of this monster, as the Greeks and Romans believed, occurred in an unnatural way: the rooster laid eggs, and snakes and toads hatched them, as a result a basilisk was born - a winged ugly monster with four rooster legs, a snake's tail and sparkling eyes, whose gaze is deadly dangerous to humans.
The transformation of the basilisk into a rooster caused some confusion: the monster began to increasingly be called cockatrice. This word has become common to all Romance languages. And although the English ear clearly hears the word "kok" - a rooster in it, in reality "cockatrice" is the result of the phonetic adventures of the Latin word "korkodilus", which in the Middle Ages meant not only and (not so much) crocodile as any monster in general.
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Jeffrey Chaucer, in his descriptions of the basilisk, tried to use a hybrid - the word "basil-kok", in order to more accurately determine the nature of the poisoner. By the way, the word "cockatrice" had acquired a different meaning by that time. It was a specific term stigmatizing women walking (because their look is fatal for the virtue of men!).
It seems that cockatrice was more accepted by Western Christians than by pagans. All records of his appearance were made by Christians, as, for example, the legend about the cockatrice, supposedly appeared in Rome during the time of Pope Leo X. An unusual creature was declared the cause of the plague that raged at that time. It was also claimed that he was pulled from a well in Vienna in 1202. 1598 - in Warsaw, in the basement of an abandoned house, another cockatrice was found - and blamed for the death of two little girls.
The poison emanating from this monster contaminated the air, killing all living things. Plants died, fruits fell from trees and rotted, the grass dried up, birds fell dead, and even a rider, if he approached an infected place, instantly died with his horse.
As the ancients believed, this information reveals the very history of the origin of the sultry desert: it turns out that it is the basilisk who is guilty of the death of all living things around and the appearance of sands. So an ordinary reptile eventually turned into a formidable monster thanks to exuberant imagination and human fears. The Greeks, having called the snake a king, attributed to it the role of ruler over reptiles: snakes, lizards, crocodiles. The Romans, however, translated the name of the basilisk into Latin, and he became a regulus, which also means "king".
One of the most curious features of the basilisk is the ability to kill all living things not only with breathing, but also with a look, like Medusa Gorgon. The basilisk also cannot be looked into the eyes, otherwise you will be petrified, and it is possible to escape from it only with the help of a mirror - in this case, the poisonous look turned against the creature itself. By the way, the Roman author Mark Annay Lucan believed that the basilisk appeared from the blood of the slain Medusa, which is quite logical, because on her head, instead of hair, a ball of snakes moved.
The main feature, fixed by the Greeks in the name of the basilisk, is royalty. Perhaps it is associated with a special mark on the creature's head or with its ability to move without lowering its head. It is no coincidence that the word "basilisk" can be translated in a certain context as "little tyrant".
Because the scribes of the bestiaries were usually people from the church environment, a natural question arose regarding the basilisk present in these texts: what is he in the eyes of the Lord, is he pleasing to him and with what to identify him? The answer was found directly in the Old Testament, where the basilisk acts as an instrument of Divine vengeance.
The book of Jeremiah (8:17) says: "I will send serpents, basilisks against you, against which there is no spell, and they will bite you, says the Lord." The hostile demonic guard of the desert is also mentioned in Deuteronomy (8, 15): "Who led you through the great and terrible desert, where snakes, basilisks, scorpions and dry places."
As a result, the basilisk in demonology has become a symbol of open revenge, tyranny and the devil's violence. As commentators wrote, "the basilisk means the devil who openly kills the careless and careless with the poison of his vileness." Including the basilisk in the list of the names of the devil, the interpreters explained that "the devil, like the asp and the basilisk, is capable of winning the victory at the first meeting, and if the asp immediately kills with a bite, then the basilisk with a glance." The result is the image of a basilisk, characteristic of the Middle Ages, where Christ tramples it.
Since the 12th century, the basilisk began to rapidly "settle" in the cities and villages of Europe. But, oddly enough, remaining the same deadly, creepy monster, the beast frightened less and less - perhaps even the most disgusting neighbor is gradually getting used to.
The definition of "beast" (not "bastard") is not a slip of the tongue. Now the monster appears in the original form of a winged serpent with the head of a rooster. The medieval basilisk has a serpentine tail (less often a dragon's), cock-wings (less often a swan's); the rest is usually also from the rooster: head, comb, two legs with spurs. On the principle of economy, he had only two deadly abilities left - a killing gaze and a poisonous breath.
It is said that England was once literally teeming with basilisks, from which there was no escape, until one brave knight hung himself from head to toe with mirrors and went on a campaign against monsters. The monsters who tried to attack him fell dead when they saw their own reflection in the mirrors. So the English land was cleared of them. By the way, such an effective way of fighting is the invention of Alexander the Great. After the monster killed many of its soldiers, the legendary commander, in order to get rid of him, raised a mirror to his face, and he died.
In addition, it was believed that a cage with a rooster, the cry of which he is afraid of, serves as an effective protection against the basilisk. They also relied on affection - the only animal that fearlessly rushed at the monster and defeated it. True, she could only defeat the monster by chewing the leaves of the rue. Images of weasels with leaves in their mouths adorned wells, interior items and even church pews.
In the church, carved figures of weasels had a symbolic meaning: for a person, the Holy Scripture was the same as rue leaves for weasel - tasting the wisdom of the biblical texts helped to overcome the devil basilisk. And in France, a protective ring was made for the bride with the right eye of caress set into it. Another practical recommendation was to look at the monster from behind a glass transparent vessel.
Some craftsmen have learned how to make stuffed basilisks - as a rule, they were made on the basis of sea rays. In the middle of the 16th century, the Swiss naturalist Konrad Gesner expressed skepticism about the existence of the basilisk in his Animal History. About him, he wrote that this is "gossip and false nonsense" and added: "Pharmacists and other vagabonds change the bodies of stingrays in many ways at their whim, cutting, twisting and stretching into the form of snakes, basilisks and dragons. I saw a traveling vagrant in Zurich who showed the figure of a basilisk, but it was made of a stingray."
But interest in the mysterious is ineradicable: the last copies of the "stuffed basilisk" were sold in America in the 30s of the XX century. Such crafts are still kept in museums in Verona and Venice.
With the advent of the natural sciences, references to the basilisk are, of course, less and less common. It is said that he was last "seen" in Warsaw in 1587. Edward Topsell, in his History of Snakes, says that a rooster with a snake tail may exist, but it has nothing to do with a basilisk. K. Brown in 1646 went even further: "This creature is not only not a basilisk, it does not exist in nature at all."
The confrontation between the basilisk and the rooster is very interesting in itself, because the legend of the birth of the basilisk is connected with the rooster. In the bestiary of Pierre de Bove in 1218, in fact, the antique version is repeated that the basilisk egg begins to form in the body of an old rooster. The rooster lays it in a secluded place on a pile of manure, where a toad incubates it. A creature with the head of a rooster, the body of a toad and a long serpentine tail hatches from the egg. According to other sources, not a basilisk is born from an egg, but a kurolisk or cockatrice, its relative. However, the kurolisk is less powerful than the basilisk; snakes and other reptiles do not obey him.
There was also such a creature in Russia, sometimes called a courtier. The courtyard, or the courtyard, was a close relative of the brownie, lived in the courtyard of the house. During the day, he looked like a snake with a rooster's head and a comb, and at night he took on an appearance similar to the owner of the house. The yardman was the spirit of the house and yard. But whether he made friends with snakes or not, this is not said in the legends.
There are many images of the basilisk on church bas-reliefs, medallions and coats of arms. In medieval heraldic books, he has the head and legs of a rooster, a bird's body and a snake's tail; it is difficult to determine whether its wings are covered with feathers or scales. It is interesting that images of this mythical creature are still found today. For example, in the city of Basel (Switzerland) there is a monument to a basilisk, and the inhabitants of the city consider him their patron.
The images of the Renaissance basilisk are extremely diverse and picturesque. Something similar is depicted in the frescoes by Giotto in the Scrovendzhi chapel in Padua. Of interest is also Carpaccio's painting "Saint Tryphonius Throwing the Basilisk". According to legend, the saint expelled the devil, therefore in the painting the basilisk is depicted as, according to the painter, the devil should be: he has four legs, the body of a lion and the head of a mule. It is curious that, although for Carpaccio the basilisk is not a mythological creature, but the devil, the name played a role, and the picture influenced the further idea of the basilisk.
The snake cock is often mentioned in literature, although he is never the main character. In addition to numerous commentaries on the Bible and bestiaries, unambiguously calling him the embodiment of the devil and vice, his image can often be found in English and French novels.
In Shakespeare's time, prostitutes were called basilisks, but the English playwright used this word not only in its modern meaning, but also referring to the image of a poisonous creature. In the tragedy "Richard III", Richard's bride, Lady Anne, wants to become a basilisk, a poisonous creature, but at the same time regal, as befits a future queen. In 19th century poetry, the Christian image of the devil basilisk begins to fade. For Keats, Coleridge and Shelley, this is more of a noble Egyptian symbol than a medieval monster. In Ode to Naples, Shelley calls on the city: "Be like an imperial basilisk, slay your enemies with invisible weapons."
Not spared the monster and modern literature. In J. K. Rowling's book "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the basilisk appears as a classic snake king, but huge - almost 20 m, which differs from the ancient prototype, but otherwise has all the qualities that were written about above.
And here is how the Russian science fiction writer Sergei Drugal describes the snake king in the story “Basilisk”: “He moves his horns, his eyes are so green with a purple tint, the warty hood swells. And he himself was purple and black with a spiked tail. A triangular head with a black-pink mouth opened wide … His saliva is extremely poisonous and if it gets on living matter, then carbon will be replaced by silicon. In other words, all living things turn to stone and die, although there are disputes that petrification also comes from the gaze of the Basilisk, but those who wanted to check this did not return …
It is interesting that modern researchers of the animal world have repeatedly described in their works the mysterious creature Tatzelwurm - a kind of dragon. It got into numerous catalogs and atlases and remarkably resembles that very ancient basilisk. And although Central Europe is called the birthplace of Tatzelwurm, not a single specimen of this strange worm or lizard has yet fallen into the hands of scientists. The reason for this is that the Basilisk Tatzelwurm hunters never returned. And this is no longer mythology and fiction, but a real reality.
Y. Pernatiev