Brazen Bull: A Multi-Tasker

What kind of person builds a torture device and then decides to demonstrate it to a tyrant?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan travel back to ancient Akragas in Sicily to uncover the story of the Brazen Bull, one of history’s most infamous torture devices. We follow the legend of Perillos, the craftsman who supposedly created the hollow bronze bull for the tyrant Phalaris, complete with a system of pipes designed to transform the screams of the person trapped inside into the sound of a bull.

We look at the story of Perillos becoming the first victim of his own creation, the legends surrounding Phalaris and his eventual downfall, and the strange journey of the Brazen Bull from Akragas to Carthage and eventually back to Sicily. Then we move through the centuries and examine the people who were supposedly executed in similar fashion, including Saint Eustace, Saint Antipas of Pergamum, Saint Pelagia of Tarsus, and the Roman usurper Burdunellus.

But how much of the Brazen Bull story is actually true? Was it a genuine torture device used by Phalaris, a legend that grew over the centuries, or some bizarre combination of both?

And because this is Torture: A Dark History, we're not going to let an ancient tyrant, a giant metal cow, and several thousand years of horrifying history stop us from making some incredibly inappropriate jokes along the way. Expect dark history, twisted humor, and more discussion about ancient ovens than anyone probably needs.

If you love ancient history, torture history, true crime, macabre history, and the disturbing things real people have done to one another, step inside the Brazen Bull and find out how one of history's most infamous torture devices became a legend.

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Thank you to Crime Scenes & Cupcakes for starting off the episode today.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/brazen-bull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxh0yuRVwpc

https://historydaily.org/brazen-bull

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazen_bull

https://study.com/academy/lesson/brazen-bull-torture-device-purpose.html

https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medieval-torture-devices/brazen-bull-torture-device/

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