where did the idea of a unicorn come from
Greek writers of natural history
title: Unicorn text: Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn was depicted in ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization and was mentioned by the ancient Greeks in accounts of natural history by various writers, including Ctesias, Strabo, Pliny the Younger, and Aelian. The Bible also describes an animal, the re'em, which some versions translate as "unicorn". In European folklore, the unicorn is often depicted as a white horse-like or goat-like animal with a long horn and cloven hooves (sometimes a title: Unicorn horn text: known as "unicorn horns". The first post-classical reference to the cleansing power of the unicorn appears in an interpretation of the "Physiologus" (dated perhaps to the 14th century), when reference is made to a large lake where animals congregate to drink: This theme became very popular, and in 1389 Father Johann van Hesse claimed to have seen a unicorn emerge at sunrise to decontaminate the contaminated water of the River Marah, so that the good animals could drink. Symbolically, the snake that poisons the water is the devil and the unicorn represents Christ the Redeemer. The origin of this legend title: Unicorn text: Europe, Asia and North Africa—or derivatives of aurochs, because the animal is always shown in profile, indicating there may have supposed to have been another horn, which is not seen. Unicorns are not found in Greek mythology, but rather in the accounts of natural history, for Greek writers of natural history were convinced of the reality of unicorns, which they believed lived in India, a distant and fabulous realm for them. The earliest description is from Ctesias, who in his book "Indika" ("On India") described them as wild asses, fleet of foot, having a horn a cubit and a half title: Unicorn text: and sound". A one-horned animal (which may be just a bull in profile) is found on some seals from the Indus Valley Civilisation. Seals with such a design are thought to be a mark of high social rank. Medieval knowledge of the fabulous beast stemmed from biblical and ancient sources, and the creature was variously represented as a kind of wild ass, goat, or horse. The predecessor of the medieval bestiary, compiled in Late Antiquity and known as "Physiologus" ("Φυσιολόγος"), popularized an elaborate allegory in which a unicorn, trapped by a maiden (representing the Virgin Mary), stood for the Incarnation. title: Unicorn horn text: Unicorn horn A unicorn horn, also known as an alicorn, is a legendary object whose reality was accepted in Europe and Asia from the earliest recorded times. This "horn" comes from the imaginary creature known as a unicorn, also known in the Hebrew Bible as a re'em or wild ox. Many healing powers and antidotal virtues were attributed to the alicorn, making it one of the most expensive and reputable remedies during the Renaissance, and justifying its use in the highest circles. Beliefs related to the alicorn influenced alchemy through spagyric medicine. The horn's purificational properties were eventually put to