amphisbaena
Nov. 10th, 2009 07:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordamphisbaena - n., a mythological serpent with a head on each end of its body.
In Greek mythology, it lived in the Lybian desert, having been spawned from the blood of Medusa's head as it dripped on the sands as Perseus flew home. Although poisonous (Cato's army reportedly had trouble with them during the civil war of Caesar and Pompey) it supposedly mostly ate ants, of all things, and seems to have had cultic connections with ants in some obscure way I really wish I had time to track down now. In addition to the mythological creature, there's a real one named after it -- a genus of South American lizards with a club end to the tail, making them look two-headed. The spelling above is only the most common variant, but they all come from the Greek via Latin, constructed from amphís, both ways + baín(ein), to go. (I'm reminded of the Pushmepullyou of Dr. Dolittle.) Pronounced am-fis-BEE-neh or, sometimes, with an initial æ.
---L.
In Greek mythology, it lived in the Lybian desert, having been spawned from the blood of Medusa's head as it dripped on the sands as Perseus flew home. Although poisonous (Cato's army reportedly had trouble with them during the civil war of Caesar and Pompey) it supposedly mostly ate ants, of all things, and seems to have had cultic connections with ants in some obscure way I really wish I had time to track down now. In addition to the mythological creature, there's a real one named after it -- a genus of South American lizards with a club end to the tail, making them look two-headed. The spelling above is only the most common variant, but they all come from the Greek via Latin, constructed from amphís, both ways + baín(ein), to go. (I'm reminded of the Pushmepullyou of Dr. Dolittle.) Pronounced am-fis-BEE-neh or, sometimes, with an initial æ.
---L.
