Basilisk or Cockatrice? The Mysterious King of Serpents | Monstrum

Follow us over to Otherwords (and tell them Dr. Z sent you!): Don’t miss future episodes of Monstrum, subscribe! A venomous snake who can kill with its gaze alone, the basilisk has terrified us for thousands of years. But it also has another name—the cockatrice. That’s right, the reptile-chicken hybrid creature and the poisonous snake are actually the same monster. Find out how a real snake likely inspired tales of a mythological serpent in the 1st century CE that over time turned into a mythological beast. Crowned “king of serpents” it temporarily grew some feathers, and eventually managed to become the literal embodiment of evil. #basilisk #cockatrice #MonstrumPBS Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka Director: David Schulte Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Producer: Stephanie Noone Illustrator: Samuel Allen Editor: Nicole Kopren Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afrai