Basilisk or Cockatrice? The Mysterious King of Serpents

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.

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