Web Theoi
DRAKON AITHIOPIKOS
 
Greek Name Transliteration Latin Spelling

Translation

DrakoneV
Aiqiopikoi
Drakones
Aithiopikoi
Dracones
Aethiopeum
Serpents of
Ethiopia

THE DRAKONES AITHIOPES were a breed of gigantic serpents native to Aithiopia (Sub-Saharan Africa).


Aelian, On Animals 2. 21 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :
"The land of Aithiopia (the place where the gods bathe, celebrated by Homer under the name of Okeanos, is an excellent and desirable neighbour), this land, I say, is the mother of the very largest Drakones (Serpents). For, you must know, they attain to a length of one hundred and eighty feet, and they are not called by the name of any species, but people say that they kill elephants, and these Drakones rival the longest-lived animals. Thus far the accounts from Aithiopia."


Sources:

  • Aelian, On Animals - Greek Natural History C2nd - C3rd AD