Brazen Bull Torture Device, Invention & Purpose

Brazen Bull Torture Device, Invention & Purpose

The Brazen Bull

What was the brazen bull? The brazen bull was a contraption of torture and execution used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans to punish their enemies. This life-sized bull-shaped statue of brass or bronze was hollow so that victims could be locked inside its stomach and then roasted alive. Flute-like pipes would carry the victim's screams through the bull's nostrils, creating lowing animalistic music while the smoke of the scorched flesh billowed out as puffs of incense.

What was the brazen bull? The brazen bull was a contraption of torture and execution used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans to punish their enemies. This life-sized bull-shaped statue of brass or bronze was hollow so that victims could be locked inside its stomach and then roasted alive. Flute-like pipes would carry the victim's screams through the bull's nostrils, creating lowing animalistic music while the smoke of the scorched flesh billowed out as puffs of incense.

In the Roman Tradition

As self-proclaimed inheritors of the traditions of Greek antiquity, Ancient Rome also used the brazen bull to punish and execute its enemies. For instance, when the Great Persecution systematically aimed to end the practice of Christianity in the Roman Empire between 303 and 313, the brazen bull was one of many inventive methods of execution—such as being torn apart by dogs or lions—allegedly employed. Early Christian martyrs like St Antipas, St Pelagia the Virgin, St Eustace, and his wife and two sons were said to have been roasted alive inside the brazen bull.

Purpose of the Brazen Bull

According to the historical record, the brazen bull device—a red-hot monster—was meant to torture and ultimately executed people. The theatrical nature of slowly roasting victims within the brazen bull's metallic stomach and their screams transformed into melodic bellows by flutes in the bull's nostrils undoubtedly struck fear into the populace and deterred them from acting out.

The sadic cruelty of this bull torture of Ancient Greece quickly became legendary, as well as the well-deserved demise of Phalaris and Perillos within it as victims of their own barbarism. It remained firmly rooted in the public's imaginations long after classical antiquity. For instance, the brazen bull captured the attention of writers and scholars such as the 14th-century Italian writer Dante Alighieri or the 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard.

Why was the brazen bull made?

According to the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, the brazen bull was made by Perillos of Athens for the tyrant Phalaris to execute his enemies. The ruler was known for his cruelty, and the slow, painful death provided by the brazen bull seems to have appealed to his sadism.

How did the brazen bull work?

The hollow brazen bull had a door at its belly into which a victim or more could be placed and was made of metal. The device would heat up like an oven and effectively roast whoever was inside by lighting a fire underneath. Pipes leading from the belly up through the nostrils would carry the victim's screams, making it sound like the bull was lowing.

What does the Brazen Bull do?

The brazen bull was an instrument of torture and execution. Roasting those placed within its hollow belly provided a slow and painful death. The people outside could hear this through the pipes in the nostrils.

What happened to the person who made the brazen bull?

Court sculptor Perillos of Athens is said to have invented the brazen bull for the tyrant Phalaris. To demonstrate its effectiveness, Phalaris had Perillos locked inside and roasted alive. Half-dead, his body was removed from the bull and thrown down the cliffs.

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