From reality to legend: Historical sources of Hellenistic and Islamic teratology

The article deals with the existence in Persian folklore of strange beings, namely the 'davalpa'. The 'davalp'a' deserves a particular consideration from the point of view of its possible origin. The textual evidence of some Western sources (Greek and Latin in particular) seems to point to Herodotus' 'Historiae' as a common origin.