The fact that a creature so inexplicable as an ant-lion combination should apparently be blatantly referenced in the bible drew considerable attention, and gave rise to speculations on the nature and habits of the beast.
The Physiologus, a 4th century anonymous Greek text which became an important reference in Medieval documentation of natural history, describes the ant-lion as a rather pathetic creature. In this text, the ant-lion is the tragic result of a comically absurd situation- the mating of a male lion with a female ant.
The unlikely pair's offspring has the front quarters of its father and the nether quarters of its mother. Since lions are strict carnivores, while ants are (according to the Physiologus) strict herbivores, the ant-lion's head is instinctively drawn to meat, while its ant-like internal organs are ill-equipped to digest it. Therefore, the misbegotten creature almost certainly starves to death soon after birth ("for lack of prey").
Medieval bestiaries, which relied heavily on the biblically-derived Phisiologus, often repeated the fallacy, characterizing the ant-lion as part lion and part ant, though the concept of lions and ants literally mating, and the complete incompatibility of the creature's parts were often dismissed as simply too fantastic.
For all the information you could ever need on the fantastical ant-lion and the factual insect which bears its name, head for the Ant-Lion Pit !
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
