Amphisbaena

Anfisbena on a shield.

The amphisbaena (from the Latin: amphisbaena and this from the Greek: ἀμφίσβαινα 'which goes in two directions', from amfis, 'both sides' and bainein, 'to go') is a mythological creature represented as a serpent with a head at each end of its body. In Greek mythology, the Amphisbaena was born from the blood that dripped from the head of the gorgon Medusa when Perseus flew over the Libyan desert with her in her hand. Cato's army then found her on their march along with other snakes. The amphisbaena fed on the corpses left behind. Poets such as Nicandro, John Milton, Alexander Pope, Jorge Luis Borges and Lord Alfred Tennyson have mentioned the amphisbaena, and Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Isidore of Seville and Thomas Browne have done so as a mythological and legendary creature, the latter discrediting its existence..

Similar figures exist in other mythologies, such as pre-Columbian Central American and African mythologies, with different meanings. This animal appears in numerous medieval European bestiaries, almost always being located in Africa.

A 1912 novel by Henri de Régnier is entitled Amphisbène. It is also cited by Jorge Luis Borges in his Manual of fantastic zoology (1957), in The book of imaginary beings (1967) and in his short story There are more things, from The Book of Sand.

Appearance

Snake bicephalus of Aztec mythology similar to amphisbene.

Older descriptions of the amphisbaena basically describe it as a snake (perhaps an Indian sand boa) but with a head on each end. Thus, Pliny the Elder stated in his Naturalis Historia (I century):

The amphisbene has twin heads, that is, one also at the end of the tail, as if it is not enough to pour poison through a mouth.

However, medieval and later representations often show it with two or more scaled legs, specifically chicken feet, and feathered wings. Some even represented her with horns on her front head and small round ears on the back, or with horns on both. These horns were long and curved upwards or slightly spiraled. While some medieval bestiaries showed her with the second head at the end of the tail, others did so with two "necks" of the same size, so it could not be determined which was the rear of her. Many descriptions of the amphisbaena said that her eyes shone like candles or lightning, but the poet Nicandro seems to contradict this by describing her as "always cloudy-eyed" . He also said that "at each end protrudes a blunt chin, each one far from the other" .

Thomas Browne, referring to the classic descriptions, detailed:

While one cried the other laughed, while one was silent the other spoke, while one was awake the other was asleep; thus it is affirmed in three notable examples of Petrarca, Vicencio and the other History of Scotland Buchanan.

Skills

• Regenerative — if the amphisbene was cut into two pieces, both sides could rejoin.
• Poisonous fangs — the amphisbene is poisonous, as indicated by Pliny the Old: "The amphisbene has twin heads, that is also at the end of the tail, as if it is not enough to pour poison through a mouth. »
• Effective duplicity — your heads can perform more than one task at a time, as Sir Thomas Browne explains: “... while one cried the other laughing, while one was silent the other spoke, while one was awake the other was asleep; this is said in three notable examples of Petrarca, Vicencio and the other History of Scotland Buchanan. »
• Speed — according to some sources, the amphisbene can move very quickly and, in the case of those who had no legs, it could slip in both directions, as Isidoro of Seville says: "It can move in the direction of each head with a movement circulates. » The Nicandro poet, however, describes it as «lent of movement».
• Rodar — holding the jaws of his two heads or holding the neck of one in the mouth of the other, the amphisbene could roll like a ring similar to the Uroboros, and thus was represented by medieval artists.
• Hot blood — unlike most snakes, the amphisbene apparently was not affected by the cold, as indicated by Isidoro of Seville: "Unique among the serpents, the amphisbene appears in the cold. »

Uses

• Pregnancy — Pregnant women wearing an amphisbene around their necks would allegedly have safe pregnancies; according to this, powerful women would wear bracelets with the shape of an amphisbene.
• Arthritis — wearing a dead amphisbene or your skin would cure arthritis.
• Sabañones — wearing the skin of an amphisbene would reduce these hand-made tumefactions caused by the cold.
• Cooled — wearing a dead amphisbene or your skin would be a cure for the cold.
• Tala — sticking the skin of an amphisbene to a tree before cutting it would make it fall easier and keep the wooder warm.

References in heraldry

As well as a legendary creature referred to by ancient historians and a monster from Greek mythology, the amphisbaena is a heraldic term indicating, for example, in the coat of arms of Gwilt: «on a golden sotuer, intertwined with two azure amphisbaenas with tongues gules a rose with purple tips and seeds ». That is, a rose with thorns and purple petals entwined by blue amphisbaenas with red tongues, with a yellow X in the background.