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Μαντιχορας Mantikhoras Mantichora Manticore
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Manticore, Der Naturen Bloeme manuscript

c. 1350, National Library of the Netherlands

THE MANTIKHORAS (or Manticore) was a fabulous man-eating Persian monster

with the body of a lion, the face of a man, and a spike-tipped arrow-shooting tail.
The name "Manticore" was reputedly derived from a Persian word meaning "man-
eater."
The Manticore also appeared in Medieval bestiaries, derived from the Greek and
Roman writers.

Ctesias, Indica (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 72) (trans. Freese) (Greek
historian C4th B.C.) :
"The Martikhora is an animal found in this country [India]. It has a face like a
man's, a skin red as cinnabar, and is as large as a lion. It has three rows of teeth,
ears and light-blue eyes like those of a man; its tail is like that of a land scorpion,
containing a sting more than a cubit long at the end. It has other stings on each
side of its tail and one on the top of its head, like the scorpion, with which it
inflicts a wound that is always fatal. If it is attacked from a distance, it sets up its
tail in front and discharges its stings as if from a bow; if attacked from behind, it
straightens it out and launches its stings in a direct line to the distance of a
hundred feet. The wound inflicted is fatal to all animals except the elephant. The
stings are about a foot long and about as thick as a small rush. The Martikhora [a
Persian word meaning man-eater] is called in Greek Anthropophagos (man-
eater), because, although it preys upon other animals, it kills and devours a
greater number of human beings. It fights with both its claws and stings, which,
according to Ktesias, grow again after they have been discharged. There is a
great number of these animals in India, which are hunted and killed with spears
or arrows by natives mounted on elephants."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. 21. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd
A.D.) :
"The beast described by Ktesias in his Indian history, which he say is called
Mantikhoras (Manticore) by the Indians and man-eater (Androphagos) by the
Greeks, I am inclined to think is the tiger. But that it has three rows of teeth
along each jaw and spikes at the tip of its tail with which it defends itself at close
quarters, while it hurls them like an archer’s arrows at more distant enemies."
Aelian, On Animals 4. 21 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :
"There is in India a wild beast, powerful, daring, as big as the largest lion, of a
red colour like cinnabar, shaggy like a dog, and in the language of India it is
called Martikhoras [Persian mardkhora ‘man-slayer’]. Its face however is not that
of a wild beast but of a man, and it has three rows of teeth set in its upper jaw
and three in the lower; these are exceedingly sharp and larger than the fangs of
a hound. Its ears also resemble a man’s except that they are larger and shaggy;
its eyes are blue-grey and they too are like a man’s, but its feet and claws, you
must know, are those of a lion. To the end of its tail is attached the sting of a
scorpion, and this might be over a cubit in length; and the tail has stings at
intervals on either side. But the tip of the tail gives a fatal sting to anyone who
encounters it, and death is immediate. If one pursued the beast it lets fly its
stings, like arrows, sideways, and it can shoot a great distance; and when it
discharges its stings straight ahead it bends bends its tail back; if however it
shoots in a backward direction, as the Sakai do, then it stretches its tail to its full
extent. Any creature that the missile hits it kills; the elephant alone it does not
kill. These stings which it shoots are a foot long and the thickness of a bulrush.
Now Ktesias asserts (and he says that the Indians confirm his words) that in the
places where those stings have been let fly others spring up, so that this evil
produces a crop. And according to the same writer the Martikhora for a choice
devours human beings; indeed it will slaughter a great number; and it lies in wait
not for a single man but would set upon two or even three men, and alone
overcomes even that number. All other animals it defeats: the lion alone it can
never bring down. That this creature takes special delight in gorging human flesh
its very name testifies, for in the Greek language its means man-eater
(androphagos), and its name is derived from its activities. Like the stag it is
extremely swift.
Now the Indians hunt the young of these animals while they are still without
stings in their tails, which they then crush with a stone to prevent them from
growing stings. The sound of their voice is as near as possible that of a trumpet.
Ktesias declares that he has actually seen this animal in Persia (it had been
brought from India as a present to the Persian King)--if Ktesias is to be regarded
as a sufficient authority on such matters. At any rate after hearing of the
peculiarities of this animal, one must pay heed to the historian of Knidos."
"Apollonios [a philosopher of the C1st AD who travelled to India] asked the
question, whether there was there an animal called the Martikhoras; and [the
Indian sage] Iarkhas replied: ‘And what have you heard about the make of this
animal? For it is probable that there is some account given of its shape.’
‘There are,’ replied Apollonios,’tall stories current which I cannot believe; for they
say that the creature has four feet, and that his head resembles that of a man,
but that in size it is comparable to a lion; while the tail of this animal puts out
hairs a cubit long and sharp as thorns, which it shoots like arrows at those who
hunt it.’ …
And larkhas answered his questions thus: ‘ ... I never yet heard in this country of
an animal that shoots arrows." - Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 3.45
Eusebius, Treatise Against Hierocles 21 (trans. Jones) (Greek rhetorician C4th
A.D.) :
"He [Apollonios of Tyana] also asked them [the Brahmans of India] . . . if they
had among them a four-footed animal called a Martikhora, which had a head like
that of a man, but rivals a lion in size, while from its tail projects hairs like thorns
a cubit long, which it is accustomed to shoot out like arrows at those who hunt it
. . . [and] Iarkhas said that they never had existed at all."
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 8. 75 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia
C1st A.D.) :
"Aethiopia produces . . . many monstrosities : . . . Ctesias writes that in the
same country is born the creature that he calls the Mantichora, which has a triple
row of teeth meeting like the teeth of a comb, the face and ears of a human
being, grey eyes, a blood-red colour, a lion’s body, inflicting stings with its tail in
the manner of a scorpion, with a voice like the sound of a pan-pipe blended with
a trumpet, of great speed, with a special appetite for human flesh."
Pliny, Natural History 8. 45 :
"Juba states that in Aethiopia the Mantichora also mimics human speech."

Greek Name Transliteration Latin Spelling Translation

Μαρτιχορας Martikhoras Martichora Marticore
Μαρτιοχορας Martiokhoras Martichora Marticore
Ανδροφαγος Androphagos Androphagus Man-Eater
Sources:
○ Ctesias, Indica - Greek History C5th B.C.

○ Pausanias, Guide to Greece - Greek Geography C2nd A.D.

○ Aelian, On Animals - Greek Natural History C2nd - C3rd A.D.

○ Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana - Greek Biography C2nd A.D.

○ Pliny the Elder, Natural History - Latin Natural History C1st A.D.

○ Eusebius, Against Hierocles - Greek Rhetoric C4th A.D.

○ Photius, Myriobiblon - Byzantine Greek Scholar C9th A.D.

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