Post by Forrest on Sept 28, 2009 13:01:21 GMT -5
Basilisk
The basilisk has garnered a place in the imagination with other monstrous beings like the dragon, unicorn, giants and other well-known fabulous beats. The basilisk is almost always included in encyclopedias or concordances of monsters and mythical beasts, even though there is very little in the way of art and literature throughout the ages that features the basilisk. The dragon, though, for example, features into so many stories, both ancient and modern, and has been depicted countless times, but the same cannot be said of the basilisk. Yet somehow the creature has prevailed and lived on in the collective imagination as an image of monstrosity.
There are two terms, both having their roots in Greek mythology, that apply to the basilisk. The evolution of the basilisk is protean, and the creature eventually becomes chimerical. It is fitting that these attributes of the basilisk come from the ancient Greek world as the etymology of the word 'basilisk,' and the origins of the creature are rooted in ancient Greece.
The word 'basilisk' is from the Greek basiliskos meaning "little king". The etymology seems to directly relate back to the original description of the basilisk. However, the knowledge of the basilisk is not based on literature from the classical period in ancient Greece. Instead, the main description we have for this beast is found in Pliny's Natural History which was written in Rome in 77 AD. This piece is a compilation of ancient (and mostly Greek) sources. Pliny lists over 60 sources, most of which have been lost. Because the basilisk has a very limited number of appearances in classical literature, Pliny's paragraph about the creature in book XIII is very important in the lore of the basilisk. After discussing another mythical creature the catoblepas, and its ability to kill people with its vision, Pliny describes the basilisk:
The basilisk serpent also has the same power. It is a native of the province of Cyrenaica, not more than 12 inches long, and adorned with a bright white marking on the head like a sort of diadem. It routs all snakes with its hiss, and does not move its body forward in manifold coils like the other snakes but advancing with its middle raised high. It kills bushes not only by its touch but also by its breath, scorches up grass and bursts rocks. Its effect on other animals is disastrous: it is believed that once one was killed with a spear by a man on horseback and the infection rising through the spear rising not only the rider but also the horse. Yet to a creature so marvelous as this - indeed kings have often wished to see a specimen when safely dead - the venom of weasels is fatal: so fixed is the decree of nature that nothing shall be without its match. (8. xxxiii)
It may seem pedantic to pick apart, piece by piece, the particulars of Pliny's description, but these particulars are quite important in the history, meaning and evolution of the basilisk. The line, and adorned with a bright white marking on the head like a sort of diadem, for example, is the aspect of the basilisk is probably what gave the creature its name. It also is one of the factors that associate it with kings. The Egyptian Horapollo wrote of the basilisk in his Hieroglyphica (c. 450 CE)1. In it he says, ".this the Egyptians call Ouraion, but the Greeks a Basilisk. They make this of gold and put it on the [heads of the] gods." (1.1) And therefore an association with royalty, even in Egypt, was apparent.
The concept of royalty being associated with the basilisk was already clear when Pliny was writing, hence the line 'indeed kings have often wished to see a specimen when safely dead.' The association with kings is also reinforced by the line that the basilisk 'does not move its body forward in manifold coils like the other snakes but advancing with its middle raised high.'
These characteristics have also led many to believe that the basilisk, and the original legends of it, has arisen from nothing more than the tales of the Egyptian cobra, whose characteristics have, from oral transmission, been exaggerated. This cobra has a white marking on its head, powerful venom (which I believe it can spit, thus not having to bite a victim to harm him), and the ability to move with its head held upright.2
When Pliny writes 'It routs all snakes with its hiss,' the concept of the basilisk as king of the serpents is conjured. It is this concept that Lucan in his Pharsalia (c. 65 AD) explores. In it, the basilisk drives off all other serpents and reigns supreme in the desert.
Releasing hisses dismaying to all these pests, its breath
lethal before its bite, the basilisk thrusts the entire
brood aside and lords it over empty sand (9.724-726)
Thomas Bulfinch also explores the concept of the basilisk as the king of the serpents. He says,
The basilisks were called kings of serpents because all other serpents and snakes, behaving like good subjects, and wisely not wishing to be burned up or struck dead, fled the moment they heard the distant hiss of their king, although they might be in full feed upon the most delicious prey, leaving the sole enjoyment of the banquet to the royal monster.3
This king-like characteristic could also be a partial explanation for the basilisk's powers. The theme of the king appears throughout literature and he often symbolizes the land itself, for good or bad. This is the theme of the king, his actions and decisions, and how they affect the land he is ruling. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, for example, Macbeth (as he is not the 'proper' ruler) and the decisions he makes are reflected in the land itself. Scotland is horribly affected. The crops die and the days become routinely gloomy. This concept is also found in the Western world's two longest epics: the Iliad and Odyssey. In the first book of the Iliad, for example, the decisions of king Agamemnon that the society deem to be 'wrong' result in a plague coming down on the Greeks and their animals (cattle and sheep). It is this concept of the king inadvertently hurting the land that the basilisk embodies.
The basilisk as an embodiment of this theme can be seen by combining its association with royalty and the powers of destruction ascribed to it. The basilisk is always found in a desert. This is not because that is where a basilisk lives, but because its breath and sight are so destructive (Pliny says 'It kills bushes not only by its touch but also by its breath, scorches up grass and bursts rocks'.) that it creates a desert! Thus this land is affected by the powers of this little king. This concept can be taken one step further: the word basileus in Greek was usually used to refer to a foreign king, whereas the term basiliskos often meant "petty tyrant." Both of these root words contain negative connotation s. Thus the theme is furthered by looking at the negative kingly qualities (tyrant or foreigner, the negative qualities, of course, hurting the land) and its dangerous powers.
However, the kingly attributes of the basilisk seem to have been overshadowed in classical literature by the power of its glance or venom. Although Lucan's Pharsalia does explore the concept of the basilisk as the king of the serpents (see above) he spends more time exploring its virulence.
Poison plays no part: he's reaped his death from a wound.
Now the men see how lazily slingshot pattes fly,
How slow is the whistling air about a Scythian arrow.
What good is it that poor Murrus spited a basilisk
with his spear-tip? In a flash, its venom shoots up the shaft
and invades his hand-which he, drawing his sword,
strides clean off from the upper-arm at a single blow;
stands and stares at the pitiful paradigm of his own demise,
safe himself, while his hand is destroyed.(9.824-833)
The basilisk has garnered a place in the imagination with other monstrous beings like the dragon, unicorn, giants and other well-known fabulous beats. The basilisk is almost always included in encyclopedias or concordances of monsters and mythical beasts, even though there is very little in the way of art and literature throughout the ages that features the basilisk. The dragon, though, for example, features into so many stories, both ancient and modern, and has been depicted countless times, but the same cannot be said of the basilisk. Yet somehow the creature has prevailed and lived on in the collective imagination as an image of monstrosity.
There are two terms, both having their roots in Greek mythology, that apply to the basilisk. The evolution of the basilisk is protean, and the creature eventually becomes chimerical. It is fitting that these attributes of the basilisk come from the ancient Greek world as the etymology of the word 'basilisk,' and the origins of the creature are rooted in ancient Greece.
The word 'basilisk' is from the Greek basiliskos meaning "little king". The etymology seems to directly relate back to the original description of the basilisk. However, the knowledge of the basilisk is not based on literature from the classical period in ancient Greece. Instead, the main description we have for this beast is found in Pliny's Natural History which was written in Rome in 77 AD. This piece is a compilation of ancient (and mostly Greek) sources. Pliny lists over 60 sources, most of which have been lost. Because the basilisk has a very limited number of appearances in classical literature, Pliny's paragraph about the creature in book XIII is very important in the lore of the basilisk. After discussing another mythical creature the catoblepas, and its ability to kill people with its vision, Pliny describes the basilisk:
The basilisk serpent also has the same power. It is a native of the province of Cyrenaica, not more than 12 inches long, and adorned with a bright white marking on the head like a sort of diadem. It routs all snakes with its hiss, and does not move its body forward in manifold coils like the other snakes but advancing with its middle raised high. It kills bushes not only by its touch but also by its breath, scorches up grass and bursts rocks. Its effect on other animals is disastrous: it is believed that once one was killed with a spear by a man on horseback and the infection rising through the spear rising not only the rider but also the horse. Yet to a creature so marvelous as this - indeed kings have often wished to see a specimen when safely dead - the venom of weasels is fatal: so fixed is the decree of nature that nothing shall be without its match. (8. xxxiii)
It may seem pedantic to pick apart, piece by piece, the particulars of Pliny's description, but these particulars are quite important in the history, meaning and evolution of the basilisk. The line, and adorned with a bright white marking on the head like a sort of diadem, for example, is the aspect of the basilisk is probably what gave the creature its name. It also is one of the factors that associate it with kings. The Egyptian Horapollo wrote of the basilisk in his Hieroglyphica (c. 450 CE)1. In it he says, ".this the Egyptians call Ouraion, but the Greeks a Basilisk. They make this of gold and put it on the [heads of the] gods." (1.1) And therefore an association with royalty, even in Egypt, was apparent.
The concept of royalty being associated with the basilisk was already clear when Pliny was writing, hence the line 'indeed kings have often wished to see a specimen when safely dead.' The association with kings is also reinforced by the line that the basilisk 'does not move its body forward in manifold coils like the other snakes but advancing with its middle raised high.'
These characteristics have also led many to believe that the basilisk, and the original legends of it, has arisen from nothing more than the tales of the Egyptian cobra, whose characteristics have, from oral transmission, been exaggerated. This cobra has a white marking on its head, powerful venom (which I believe it can spit, thus not having to bite a victim to harm him), and the ability to move with its head held upright.2
When Pliny writes 'It routs all snakes with its hiss,' the concept of the basilisk as king of the serpents is conjured. It is this concept that Lucan in his Pharsalia (c. 65 AD) explores. In it, the basilisk drives off all other serpents and reigns supreme in the desert.
Releasing hisses dismaying to all these pests, its breath
lethal before its bite, the basilisk thrusts the entire
brood aside and lords it over empty sand (9.724-726)
Thomas Bulfinch also explores the concept of the basilisk as the king of the serpents. He says,
The basilisks were called kings of serpents because all other serpents and snakes, behaving like good subjects, and wisely not wishing to be burned up or struck dead, fled the moment they heard the distant hiss of their king, although they might be in full feed upon the most delicious prey, leaving the sole enjoyment of the banquet to the royal monster.3
This king-like characteristic could also be a partial explanation for the basilisk's powers. The theme of the king appears throughout literature and he often symbolizes the land itself, for good or bad. This is the theme of the king, his actions and decisions, and how they affect the land he is ruling. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, for example, Macbeth (as he is not the 'proper' ruler) and the decisions he makes are reflected in the land itself. Scotland is horribly affected. The crops die and the days become routinely gloomy. This concept is also found in the Western world's two longest epics: the Iliad and Odyssey. In the first book of the Iliad, for example, the decisions of king Agamemnon that the society deem to be 'wrong' result in a plague coming down on the Greeks and their animals (cattle and sheep). It is this concept of the king inadvertently hurting the land that the basilisk embodies.
The basilisk as an embodiment of this theme can be seen by combining its association with royalty and the powers of destruction ascribed to it. The basilisk is always found in a desert. This is not because that is where a basilisk lives, but because its breath and sight are so destructive (Pliny says 'It kills bushes not only by its touch but also by its breath, scorches up grass and bursts rocks'.) that it creates a desert! Thus this land is affected by the powers of this little king. This concept can be taken one step further: the word basileus in Greek was usually used to refer to a foreign king, whereas the term basiliskos often meant "petty tyrant." Both of these root words contain negative connotation s. Thus the theme is furthered by looking at the negative kingly qualities (tyrant or foreigner, the negative qualities, of course, hurting the land) and its dangerous powers.
However, the kingly attributes of the basilisk seem to have been overshadowed in classical literature by the power of its glance or venom. Although Lucan's Pharsalia does explore the concept of the basilisk as the king of the serpents (see above) he spends more time exploring its virulence.
Poison plays no part: he's reaped his death from a wound.
Now the men see how lazily slingshot pattes fly,
How slow is the whistling air about a Scythian arrow.
What good is it that poor Murrus spited a basilisk
with his spear-tip? In a flash, its venom shoots up the shaft
and invades his hand-which he, drawing his sword,
strides clean off from the upper-arm at a single blow;
stands and stares at the pitiful paradigm of his own demise,
safe himself, while his hand is destroyed.(9.824-833)