the.com/catoblepas
a buffalo so heavy-headed it kills you by simply looking up at last
means A legendary African beast, described by ancient writers as a sluggish, heavy-headed creature whose downward-hanging head must be lifted to kill—either by a deadly gaze or poisonous breath.
from From Greek 'katōblepōn,' literally 'that which looks downward'—from 'kata' (down) and 'blepein' (to look). Pliny the Elder and the Greek geographer related tales of this Ethiopian creature whose head was so heavy it always drooped toward the ground, which the ancients counted a mercy, since its eyes were said to kill anyone who met them.
- ancient source
- Described by Pliny the Elder in 77 AD
- deadly gaze
- Its stare or breath reportedly kills onlookers
- head trouble
- Neck too weak to lift its huge head
- likely origin
- Probably exaggerated tales of the wildebeest
- medieval fame
- Starred in bestiaries beside dragons and basilisks