|
Ichneumon (medieval Zoology)
In medieval literature, the ichneumon or echinemon was the enemy of the dragon. When it sees a dragon, the ichneumon covers itself with mud, and closing its nostrils with its tail, attacks and kills the dragon. The ichneumon was also considered by some to be the enemy of the crocodile and the asp, and attack them in the same way. The name was used for the ''pharaoh's rat'', mongoose, or Egyptian mongoose (''Herpestes ichneumon''), which attacks snakes; it can also mean ''otter''. The ichneumon is shaped similarly to a ferret, although much slimmer in its shape, and the head is elongated. Also, it is an animal that can move swiftly and is able to jump a couple of yards with a single leap. Etymology Ichneumon ( ἰχνεύμων) means "tracker" in Greek. Cockatrice, a name for another mythical beast, derives from ''calcatrix'', a Latin translation of "trample" or "tread on". The ichneumon was one of the few who could look at a cockatrice without turning to stone. Primary sources ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herpestes Ichneumon Египетский мангуст, или фараонова крыса, или ихневмо́н
''Herpestes'' is a genus within the mongoose family (biology), family Herpestidae. Several species in the family are known as slender mongooses. It is the type genus of the family, and comprises 5-6 living species, each with several subspecies. Fossil remains of three prehistoric species were Excavation (archaeology), excavated in France, and described in 1853. Characteristics The living ''Herpestes'' species are sexually dimorphic, with females smaller than males. They range in weight from . They share several characteristics, including the shape of the cheek teeth and of the tympanic bullae, and the presence of the first upper molar (tooth), molar teeth. They are all solitary animal, solitary. Males have one chromosome less than females, as one Y chromosome is translocated to an autosome. Classification The scientific name ''Herpestes'' was proposed by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1811 for mongoose species in the south of the Old World, commonly called "Ichneumon" at the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliny The Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic (''Natural History''), a comprehensive thirty-seven-volume work covering a vast array of topics on human knowledge and the natural world, which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. Among Pliny's greatest works was the twenty-volume ''Bella Germaniae'' ("The History of the German Wars"), which is Lost literary work, no longer extant. ''Bella Germaniae'', which began where Aufidius Bassus' ''Libri Belli Germanici'' ("The War with the Germans") left off, was used as a source by other prominent Roman historians, including Plutarch, Tacitus, and Suetonius. Tacitus may have used ''Bella Ger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medieval European Legendary Creatures
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asp (reptile)
Asp is the modern anglicisation of the word "''aspis''", which in Ancient history, antiquity referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile delta, Nile region. The specific name (zoology), specific epithet, ''aspis'', is a Greek (language), Greek word that means "viper".Gotch AF. 1986. ''Reptiles – Their Latin Names Explained''. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. . It is believed that ''aspis'' referred to what is now known as the Egyptian cobra. __TOC__ Historic representation Throughout History of ancient Egypt#Early dynastic period, dynastic and Egypt (Roman province), Roman Egypt, the asp was a symbol of royalty. Moreover, in both Ancient Egypt, Egypt and Ancient Greece, Greece, its potent venom made it useful as a means of execution for criminals who were thought deserving of a more dignified death than that of typical executions. In some stories of Perseus, after killing Medusa, the hero used Talaria, winged sandals to transport her head to K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he has also become known for #Journals and notes, his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and palaeontology. Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomised the Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist ideal, and his List of works by Leonardo da Vinci, collective works comprise a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary Michelangelo. Born out of wedlock to a successful notary and a lower-class woman in, or near, Vinci, Tuscany, Vinci, he was educated in Florence by the Italian painter and sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio. He began his career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynegetica (Nemesianus)
The Cynegetica is a didactic Latin poem about hunting by Nemesianus, Marcus Aurelius Nemesianus. (He is also named in some modern literature as Marcus Aurelius ''Olympius'' Nemesianus - a nonexistent poet by the name of Olympius Nemesianus was invented in the Historia Augusta, and he and his name were conflated with the real poet). The poem is usually dated to 283/284 A.D. - as it refers to the reign of the Roman Emperors Carinus and Numerian (AD 283 - 284). Structure and Synopsis The following structural division of the poem is proposed by Toohey ;I Proem (lines 1- 102) :Nemesianus announces that his poem's theme is hunting and the "battles of the countryside" (''proelia ruris''). He is inspired by Castalius (i.e. Apollo), the Muses and Dionysus, Bacchus to set off on untested ground. Nemesianus briefly refers to various clichéd mythological themes (the myths of Niobe, Semele, Pentheus, Dirce, Hippodamia (mythology), Hippodamia, the Daughters of Danaus, Danaides, Biblis, Myrrh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nemesianus
Marcus Aurelius Nemesianus was a Roman poet thought to have been a native of Carthage and flourished about AD 283. He was a popular poet at the court of the Roman emperor Carus (Historia Augusta, ''Carus'', 11). Bogus name "Olympius" A bogus poet by the name of Olympius Nemesianus was mentioned in the Historia Augusta, where he was given authorship of two otherwise-unattested and probably imaginary works, ''Halieutica'' on fishing and ''Nautica'' on boating. It is likely that a gloss on the Historia Augusta noted the name "Cynegetica" in the margin in Greek letters, probably because the copyist recognized the name Nemesianus and wanted to use his limited knowledge of Greek; a later copyist moved it into the text of the Historia Augusta, and the name Olympius was conflated with the genuine Nemesianus.The Poet Nemesianus and the Historia Augusta. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 August 2022. Justin Stover and George Woudhuysen https://www.cambridge.org/core/ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see things at great distance as if they were nearby was also called "Strabo". (; ''Strábōn''; 64 or 63 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek geographer who lived in Anatolia, Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is best known for his work ''Geographica'', which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime. Additionally, Strabo authored historical works, but only fragments and quotations of these survive in the writings of other authors. Early life Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amasya, Amaseia in Kingdom of Pontus, Pontus in around 64BC. His family had been involved in politics s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cockatrice
A cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or snake, serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans", it was featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries. They are created by a chicken egg hatched by a toad or snake. Legend Origins The first English mention of the cockatrice was in the 14th-century John Wycliffe translation of the Bible. The word was used for the translation of various Hebrew words for asp and adder in the Book of Isaiah Isaiah 11, 11, Isaiah 14, 14 and Isaiah 59, 59. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives a derivation from Old French , from medieval Latin , a translation of the Greek , meaning tracker. The twelfth-century legend was based on a reference in ''Pliny's Natural History'' that the ichneumon lay in wait for the crocodile to open its jaws for the ''Trochilus (crocodile bird), trochilus'' bird to enter and pick its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Chinese dragon, Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, Snake, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of Reptile, reptilian, mammalian, and Bird, avian features. Etymology The word ''dragon'' entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French , which, in turn, comes from Latin (genitive ), meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from , (genitive , ) "serpent". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichneumon , the enemy of the dragon in medieval literature
{{disambig ...
Ichneumon may refer to: * ''Ichneumon'' (genus), a genus of wasps * ''Ichneumon'', species of wasps in the family Ichneumonidae * Ichneumon, an alternative name for the Egyptian mongoose * Ichneumon (medieval zoology) In medieval literature, the ichneumon or echinemon was the enemy of the dragon. When it sees a dragon, the ichneumon covers itself with mud, and closing its nostrils with its tail, attacks and kills the dragon. The ichneumon was also considered by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferret
The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to interbreed with European polecats and produce hybrid offspring. Physically, ferrets resemble other mustelids because of their long, slender bodies. Including their tail, the average length of a ferret is about ; they weigh between ; and their fur can be black, brown, white, or a mixture of those colours. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males being considerably larger than females. Ferrets may have been domesticated since ancient times, but there is widespread disagreement because of the sparseness of written accounts and the inconsistency of those which survive. Contemporary scholarship agrees that ferrets were bred for sport, hunting rabbits in a practice known as rabbiting. In North America, the ferret has become an increasingly pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
