%20(7685065186).jpg)
Ophiotaurus
Sign in to savethumb|Ophiotaurus Mosaic, Yorkshire Museum, York (Eboracum)In Greek mythology, the Ophiotaurus () was a creature that was part bull and part snake. Its only known appearance in an ancient work was in Ovid's Fasti. In this poem, it was the subject of a prophecy which warned that whoever burned its innards would defeat the gods. Briareus of the Hecatoncheires attempted to burn the Ophiotaurus' innards, but was foiled by birds sent by Zeus. This story was part of the larger Titanomachy that set the gods against the Titans. Various interpretations of the creature have been presented by scholars of
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Mythology
- Scholarly analysis
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Ophiotaurus Mosaic, Yorkshire Museum, York (Eboracum)In Greek mythology, the Ophiotaurus () was a creature that was part bull and part snake. Its only known appearance in an ancient work was in Ovid's Fasti. In this poem, it was the subject of a prophecy which warned that whoever burned its innards would defeat the gods. Briareus of the Hecatoncheires attempted to burn the Ophiotaurus' innards, but was foiled by birds sent by Zeus. This story was part of the larger Titanomachy that set the gods against the Titans. Various interpretations of the creature have been presented by scholars of classical Greece.
== Mythology == The term ophiotaurus is a compound derived from Ancient Greek ὄφῐς óphis, meaning "snake", and ταῦρος taûros, meaning "bull".