Tradition: Greek mythology
Alternative names: Ophiotaurus
Category: Cow
The Myth
The Ophiotaurus was a strange creature with the front half of a bull and the rear half of a serpent. Its name comes from the Greek words for “snake” and “bull.”
The creature was connected to a prophecy during the Titanomachy, the great conflict between the gods and the Titans. The prophecy declared that whoever burned the Ophiotaurus’s entrails in a fire would gain the power to defeat the gods.
According to Ovid’s account in the Fasti, the Ophiotaurus was born from Mother Earth. The three Fates had foretold its dangerous power, and Styx therefore imprisoned it within a dark forest surrounded by three walls.
Briareus, one of the hundred-handed Hecatoncheires, eventually killed the creature with an adamantine axe. He intended to burn its entrails so that the prophecy would grant victory over the gods.
Before he could do so, however, Zeus intervened. He sent birds to seize the entrails and prevent Briareus from completing the ritual. A kite carried them away, and as a reward for its service, Zeus placed it among the stars.
Sources
“Ophiotaurus.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiotaurus