On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears Read Online Free PDF Page A

and mouths wide open to spew poisonous breath. “They came down from the nearby mountains and likewise made for the water.” After an hour of fighting, the monsters had killed thirty servants and twenty soldiers. Alexander could see that his men were overwhelmed by the strangeness and resilience of the dragons, so he leaped into the fray and told them to follow his monster-slaying technique. Covering himself with his shield, he used nets to tangle the enemy and then struck at them viciously with his sword. Seeing his success, the soldiers rallied and finally drove back the dragons. But then came the giant crabs and crocodiles. Spears and swords were ineffectiveagainst the impenetrable shells of these enormous crabs, so the soldiers used fire to kill many of them and drive the rest back to the forest. Alexander lists the subsequent parade of foes:

     
    Alexander and his army fight a parade of monsters in India. Scene from the
Romance of Alexander
, France (Rouen), c. 1445. Royal MS 15 EVI. From Alixe Bovey,
Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts
(University of Toronto Press, 2002). Reprinted by permission of the British Library.
It was now the fifth watch of the night and we wanted to rest; but now white lions arrived, bigger than bulls; they shook their heads and roared loudly, and charged at us; but we met them with the points of our hunting spears and killed them. There was great consternation in the camp at all these alarms. The next creatures to arrive were enormous pigs of various colors; we fought with them too in the same way. Then came bats as big as doves with teeth like those of men; they flew right in our face and some of the soldiers were wounded.
     
    As if this onslaught were not enough, the men were astonished next to see an enormous beast, larger than an elephant, emerge from the forest. The behemoth, first appearing in the distance, headed for the lake to drink but then saw Alexander’s encampment. It turned quickly, revealing three ominous horns on its forehead, and began charging toward the men. Alexander ordered a squadron of soldiers to meet the earth-shaking juggernaut head-on, but they were overrun. After engaging the monster in difficultbattle for some time, the soldiers managed finally to kill it, but only after the creature had taken seventy-six Macedonian warriors to a bloody end.
    Still shocked and shaken, the tattered army watched with horror as oversized shrews skulked out of the darkness and fed upon the dead bodies strewn around the beach. Dawn mercifully broke and vultures began to line the bank of the lake. The ordeal was over.
    “Then I was angry,” Alexander says, “at the guides who had brought us to this dreadful place. I had their legs broken and left them to be eaten alive by serpents. I also had their hands cut off, so that their punishment was proportionate to their crime.”
EMBELLISHING
     
    Alexander’s letter is almost certainly apocryphal, but it has formed an important part of the legend and mythology of Alexander. 3 Most of the letter’s descriptions of frightening creatures come from a book about India written by Ctesias in the fifth century BCE , so, although the events of the letter are fabulous, the monsters were a commonplace in the ancient belief system. An ancient Greek or Roman citizen would have had no trouble believing this story of Alexander’s difficulties in exotic India. In fact, the Roman natural philosopher Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE ) reinforces the point a few centuries later, when he writes, “India and regions of Ethiopia are especially full of wonders…. There are men with their feet reversed and with eight toes on each foot. On many mountains there are men with dog’s heads who are covered with wild beasts’ skins; they bark instead of speaking and live by hunting and fowling, for which they use their nails.” 4
    The story of Alexander’s monster battle at the sweet water lake may be wholly invented by ancient writers, or it may be