Catoblepas

The catoblepas (pl. catoblepones; from the Greek καταβλέπω, (katablépō) "to look downwards") is a legendary creature from Ethiopia, described first by Pliny the Elder and later by Claudius Aelianus.

Description

It is said to have the body of a buffalo and the head of a wild boar. Its back has scales that protect the beast, and its head is always pointing downwards due to its head being heavy. Its stare or breath could either turn people into stone, or kill them. The catoblepas is often thought to be based on real-life encounters with wildebeest, such that some dictionaries say that the word is synonymous with "gnu".

Ancient and medieval descriptions

Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 8.77) described the catoblepas as a mid-sized creature, sluggish, with a heavy head and a face always turned to the ground. He thought its gaze, like that of the basilisk, was lethal, making the heaviness of its head quite fortunate.

Claudius Aelianus (On the Nature of Animals, 7.6) provided a fuller description: the creature was a mid-sized herbivore, about the size of a domestic bull, with a heavy mane, narrow, bloodshot eyes, a scaly back and shaggy eyebrows. The head was so heavy that the beast could only look down. In his description, the animal's gaze was not lethal, but its breath was poison, since it ate only poisonous vegetation.

Catoblepas (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the catoblepas (/kəˈtoʊblᵻpəs/ or /kæˈtɒblᵻpəs/) is an Aberration.

Publication history

The catoblepas is based on the catoblepas, an Ethiopian legendary creature from Greek myth.

The catoblepas first appeared in The Strategic Review #7 (April 1976), and then in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement (1976).

The catoblepas appeared in the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977).David M. Ewalt, in his book Of Dice and Men, discussed several monsters appearing in the original Monster Manual, describing the catoblepas as looking like "an overweight buffalo with stumpy legs, a giraffe-like neck, and a warthog's head". The creature was further developed in "The Ecology of the Catoblepas (or, looks can be very deceiving)" in Dragon #73 (May 1983).

The creature appeared as the nekrozon in the D&D Master Rules set (1985), and later in the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991).

The catoblepas appeared in the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), and later reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).