Blemmyae
/ˈblɛm.i.iː/noun
A mythical race traditionally described as having faces or eyes on their chests instead of heads.
Did you know?Pliny the Elder described the Blemmyae as headless beings whose faces were located on their chests, helping launch one of history’s most enduring monstrous-human myths.
Etymological Timeline
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Greek
Blemmyes
“The name of a people associated with regions south of Egypt; later writers transformed the ethnonym into a monstrous race.”
1st Century CE
Latin
Blemmyae
“An ethnonym used in Roman geographical and natural-history writing for the legendary or culturally misrepresented people.”
1st Century CE
Latin
Blemmis
“A related singular form appearing in Latin traditions for an individual member of the group.”
7th Century
Latin
Blemmyae
“A race portrayed in encyclopedic Christian literature as lacking heads and bearing faces on their chests.”
13th–15th Centuries
Medieval Latin/English
Blemmyae
“A fabulous headless people featured in bestiaries, travel narratives, and maps of the world’s imagined margins.”
Modern English
English
Blemmyae
“A name for the legendary headless people of classical and medieval geography.”