Concept in Definition ABC

The unicorn is a mythological animal usually represented as a horse with a single horn on his forehead. On rare occasions it can also be a child instead of a horse.

The first representations of a unicorn on record are located in Mesopotamia, going from there to Indian and Chinese mythology. In ancient Greece it would be the historian Ctesias, around the year 400 a. C., the first to make a brief description of a one-horned horse.

In his account, Ctesias indicates that in India the wild ass had the dimensions of a horse, the white fur, purple head and a striking red and black horn on its front. Modern historians have come to the conclusion that Ctesias was describing a rhinoceros, but even so, that image was the one that remained in the imaginary popular and was used by all subsequent writers to refine the myth of the unicorn into what is today we know.

Although unicorns are often depicted as fierce warriors, they are also a symbol of purity. Related to the latter, according to

tradition, the best way to capture a unicorn was to send a young virgin to the Forest. The unicorn would be inevitably attracted to her and would rest his head on her lap, a moment that the hunter could take advantage of to capture it.

The unicorn throughout history

In Chinese tradition, the unicorn was one of the four magical creatures along with the phoenix, the dragon and the turtle, being considered a sign of good fortune. The appearance of a unicorn was associated with the birth or death of an important person. For example, it is said that one of them appeared when Confucius was born.

In the Middle Ages the canons of the unicorn as we know it today were established, becoming generally presented as a white horse with a horn of the same color on its forehead. It was also in those centuries when these animals lost part of their status as mythical beings, spreading the belief that they actually existed in some far corners of the planet.

Currently unicorns continue to maintain their status as beings of legend, appearing more or less regularly in various artistic representations such as movies and books. Their stamp of strong and majestic creatures has led them to appear on different coats of arms such as those of Scotland and the United Kingdom.

Photos: iStock - CSA-Printstock / walbyent

Unicorn Themes