| Basilisk | |
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| "Little
king," as it was thought to be the king of serpents.
It was a deadly, extremely venomous serpent that inhabits
the Libyan desert, recorded by such Roman scholars as
Pliny, who described it as a snake wearing a crown. The
basilisk was probably a Western interpretation of the
hooded cobra of India. Basilisks grow no more that twelve
inches and have bright white markings on their heads.
They had the ability to kill with their poisonous bites,
a touch from their tails, and even by their glances. The
basilisks' breath and touch scorched plants and shattered
rocks, their hisses can immolate people, and plants wilt
whenever they pass by. They were filled with so much
poison that if a person on horseback were to attack one
with a lance, the poison would be conducted through the
lance and would not only kill the rider but the horse as
well. A basilisk could be killed if it heard the crow of
a cock or if it look at its own reflection. Weasels are
also effective agents against basilisks since they are
immune to their glances, and if bitten in battle with
one, the weasels can eat rue, a plant that doesn't wilt
in the basilisk's presence, to cure themselves. The basilisk represents Satan and the Antichrist in art, and the papacy in Protestantism. A dead basilisk could be hung in houses to keep spiders away, and they were employed in the temples of Apollo and Diana. The basilisk is often associated with the Cockatrice. |