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De Rebus In Oriente Mirabilibus
or , also known as the ''Letter of Pharasmanes to Hadrian'', is a short Latin text in the form of an epistolary periplus describing the natural and human marvels encountered by the writer on journeys through Mesopotamia, Arabia and Egypt. It is a pseudepigraphal work attributed to King Pharasmanes II of Iberia. It was written between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD. may originally have been written in Greek, but no Greek fragment survives. There are seven surviving Latin manuscripts, plus four known lost manuscripts. In addition, it was translated into Old English before the year 1000. Two illuminated manuscripts of the English text survive. By around 1300 an Old French translation appeared. It is known from a single manuscript. Although originated as a letter describing journeys (with distances between places), its complex transmission has resulted in numerous variations across manuscripts. The original of some passages cannot be accurately reconstructed. The nature of the subjec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvels Of The East, Fol
''Marvels'' is a four-issue miniseries comic book written by Kurt Busiek, painted by Alex Ross and edited by Marcus McLaurin. It was published by Marvel Comics in 1994. Set in the 1939 to 1974 time period, the series examines the Marvel Universe, the collective setting of most of Marvel's superhero series, from the perspective of an Everyman character, news photographer Phil Sheldon. The street-level series portrayed ordinary life in a world full of costumed superhumans, with each issue featuring events well known to readers of Marvel comics, as well as a variety of minute details and a retelling of the most famous events in the Marvel universe. ''Marvels'' won multiple awards and established the careers of Busiek and Ross, who would both return to the "everyday life in a superhero universe" theme in the Image Comics (later Homage Comics and currently DC Comics) series, ''Astro City''. Warren Ellis's ''Ruins'' returned to this theme in 1995 with a twisted story of an alternate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphisbaena
The amphisbaena (, , or , plural: amphisbaenae; ) is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. The name of the creature is alternatively written amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, amfivena, amphivena, or anphivena, and is also known as the "Mother of Ants". Its name comes from the Greek words ', meaning "both ways", and ', meaning "to go". Mythology According to Lucan, the amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from the Gorgon Medusa's head as Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in his hand: in ''Pharsalia'' (IX, 719), the Roman poet names it along with other serpents that Cato's army encountered in Libya. Amphisbaena fed on the corpses left behind. Although it is a legendary creature, it has been referred to by various Greek and Latin authors, scientists as well as poets: Nicander, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Isidore of Seville and later Thomas Browne, the last of whom debunked its existence ( book three chapt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bearded Women
A bearded lady (or bearded woman) is a woman with a naturally occurring beard normally due to the condition known as hirsutism or hypertrichosis. Hypertrichosis causes people of either sex to develop excess hair over their entire body (including the face), while hirsutism is restricted to females and only causes excessive hair growth in the nine body areas mentioned by Ferriman-Gallwey score, Ferriman and Gallwey. Background A relatively small number of woman, women are able to grow enough facial hair to have a distinct beard. The condition is called hirsutism. It is usually the result of polycystic ovary syndrome which causes excess testosterone and an over-sensitivity to testosterone, thus (to a greater or lesser extent) results in male pattern hair growth, among other symptoms. In some cases, female beard growth is the result of a hormonal imbalance (usually androgen excess), or a rare genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis. In some cases, a woman's ability to grow a beard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Headless Men
Various species of mythical headless men were rumoured, in Ancient history, antiquity and later, to inhabit remote parts of the world. They are variously known as ''akephaloi'' (Koine Greek, Greek ἀκέφαλοι 'headless ones') or Blemmyes (; ) and described as lacking a head, with their facial features on their chest. These were at first described as inhabitants of ancient Libya or the Nile system (Aethiopia). Later traditions confined their habitat to a particular island in the Brisone River, or shifted it to India. Blemmyes are said to occur in two types: with eyes on the chest or with the eyes on the shoulders. Etymology Various etymologies had been proposed for the origins of the name "Blemmyes", and the question is considered unsettled. In antiquity, the actual tribe known as the Blemmyes were said to be named eponymously after King Blemys (Βλέμυς), according to Nonnus's 5th century epic ''Dionysiaca'', but no lore about headlessness is attached to the people i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropophagi
An anthropophage or ''anthropophagus'' (from , "human-eater", plural ) was a member of a mythical race of cannibals described by the playwright William Shakespeare. The word first appears in English after 1460. Origin The Anthropophagi might have been inspired by the Scythian tribe of the Androphagi described by the Ancient Greek author Herodotus of Halicarnassus. Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopædia says "Many, some say most, of the ''Savages'' are ''Anthropophagi''." In literature The most famous usage of the Anthropophagi appears in William Shakespeare's ''Othello'': Shakespeare makes yet another reference to the cannibalist ''anthropophagus'' in the ''Merry Wives of Windsor'': T.H. White also features the Anthropophagi as Robin Hood's enemies in his novel '' The Sword in the Stone'': American novelist Rick Yancey incorporates the myths of the Anthropophagi in his 2010 release '' The Monstrumologist''. Pop culture In popular culture, the ''anthropophagus'' is som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
