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Four Beasts in One: The Homo-Cameleopard
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic, and is considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. - Wikipedia
28 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1836
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
10.1k books29k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
October 28, 2022
I understand the humor that Poe was going for, but I can't say that I truly felt that he pulled it off.
March 5, 2023
“Four Beasts in One: The Homo-Cameleopard” is an interesting and different type of story. It feels similar to “A Tale of Jerusalem.” I enjoyed how the narrator speaks with the reader. Poe even includes what our dialogue would be with the narrator. The story has an element of time travel since the narrator paints a picture of 3830 BC Antioch for us as we walk around and experience the city. We are treated to the sights, sounds and smells, in addition to a history lesson. The story takes a turn when we get yo see the current ruler of Antioch, who is in the shape of a homo-cameleopard. The story takes a satirical turn as the narrator describes the ruler, how he relates to his subjects, how he escapes from the local temple’s captive wild animals, and how he is crowned winner of the Olympics before they have actually taken place. It’s an odd little story. I’m sure most readers new to Poe wouldn’t know what to make of this one.
October 3, 2018
This story was strange.
November 15, 2014
I really don't have much at all to say about this one. I mean, it was very, very short. If it wasn't for this Poe Challenge, I wouldn't be writing anything down at all.
This story was definitely unique. But, I have to say I was rather bored throughout the story. It may be because it was so short and sometimes I need a bit to get into a story, or maybe it was just boring.
It was kind of like jumping into the middle of a story. Like a scene out of a book or something.
I'm not sure there was a point to the story at all. Or maybe I missed the point because I really wasn't into it.
October 9, 2020
Un rey sirio transformado camaleónicamente en un híbrido de cuatro animales sirve a Poe para crear una extraña, errátca y divagante historia en la que solo queda claro su erudición acerca de historia y mitología.
July 17, 2019
...interesting...
June 27, 2018
A fairly entertaining satire about a tyrannical ruler who has his people rightfully turn on him and corner him into a series of strange and humorous events.
May 26, 2018
mmm, did I miss something? or is it one of those boring short stories any prolific author must have in his Complete Works.
November 14, 2017
Poe has written a story that obviously has greater meaning and hidden depths here that I just don't understand. Taken at face value, the ruler mistreats his subjects until they ultimately turn on him and he flees so quickly that he wins an Olympic foot race. Fairly humorous, but not a parody that I have any familiarity with.
June 13, 2019
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:
"The masses seem dim.
And they may be, but dumb beasts
Still have teeth and claws."
"The masses seem dim.
And they may be, but dumb beasts
Still have teeth and claws."
December 10, 2023
Four Beasts in One is one of Poe’s stories that failed to wow me. As is often the case with Poe, the setup for the story was intriguing but it failed to deliver. I was hoping for something more, something that would shock me, but it’s a story that is easily forgotten.
All in all, I would not recommend this as an example of Poe at his best.
All in all, I would not recommend this as an example of Poe at his best.
July 31, 2009
excerpt verbatim:
Who is king but Epiphanes?
Say—do you know?
Who is king but Epiphanes?
Bravo!—bravo!
There is none but Epiphanes,
No—there is none:
So tear down the temples,
And put out the sun!
Who is king but Epiphanes?
Say—do you know?
Who is king but Epiphanes?
Bravo!—bravo!
There is none but Epiphanes,
No—there is none:
So tear down the temples,
And put out the sun!
October 19, 2012
This is an amusing little tale. It is funny think of a king being turned into a Cameleopard. Then wackiness ensues. I am not sure what the point of the tale was but it was charming.
October 13, 2018
Hello all. I just finished this short story. I am not sure, but I thought this could somehow be an interpretation of the "Epic of Gilgamesh." I look forward to replies.
September 24, 2022
I liked the narration style but not the casual discussion of how rulers murder specific groups of people for entertainment
January 11, 2024
He probably found this funny when he wrote it and I can appreciate that
November 2, 2023
[from EAP collection] kinda just like… okay
May 25, 2021
Очень советую почитать, и обязательно до конца - там самое главное!
November 5, 2020
The 'homo-cameleopard' created by Poe in this story is a combination of man, camel, lion, and panther that looks like a bizarre giraffe. The story is one of Poe's most successful comic efforts, although comedy seems to mask a serious statement about the relationship between despots and those they rule. In the midst of a city through which wild domesticated wild animals roam streaks an undignified ruler who seeks to associate himself with the characteristics of the camel, the lion and the panther. He assumes the skins and the behaviors of the animals and creates chaos, destruction, and death yet regains the love of the populace when he exhibits 'superhuman agility' and offers a promise of victory 'at the celebration at the next Olympiad.' One can perpetrate any number of horrors upon a people, as long as physical efforts are shown to be successful. Sova, Dawn, B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z : the essential reference to his life and work. New York: Checkmark Books. (90)
"This tale, entitled Epimanes in its early versions, is amusing when its background is understood. Poe’s combination of stories about the freaks of a mad ancient monarch and the caricatures of a nineteenth-century king of France is a happy one; the result is one of the best of the tales of the grotesque. The cardinal idea is the baseness of the ancient mob — shared by its modern counterpart. The author here tolerated anachronisms, but he carefully chose appropriately characteristic elements." https://www.eapoe.org/works/mabbott/t...
"This tale, entitled Epimanes in its early versions, is amusing when its background is understood. Poe’s combination of stories about the freaks of a mad ancient monarch and the caricatures of a nineteenth-century king of France is a happy one; the result is one of the best of the tales of the grotesque. The cardinal idea is the baseness of the ancient mob — shared by its modern counterpart. The author here tolerated anachronisms, but he carefully chose appropriately characteristic elements." https://www.eapoe.org/works/mabbott/t...
October 7, 2024
This story is about a real person who lived in 175 B.C. Poe just imagines what the person was like. It is told from the perspective of two Roman travelers that are in Syria trying to figure out the culture of these people.
October 24, 2018
So I guess the point is that word spreads fast and faulty like the old telephone game? It was interesting but felt a bit rushed.
May 10, 2020
Weird story. Not quite sure what he was shooting for with this one.
March 7, 2023
This anarchist is always happy to read tales ridiculing the follies of the so-called leaders of men. They are a special class of idiot.
October 18, 2024
Audio cuento. No entendí nada, es raro.
May 13, 2025
Hay algo en este relato que me inquieta a la vez que me fascina. En esta obra Poe explora una narración más interesante, como si nos estuviera hablando directamente a nosotros. Esto ayuda a que la obra se sienta inmersiva, y podamos sumergirnos a explorar cada recoveco de la antigua ciudad de Antioquía de Siria.
Me encanta la forma en que describe este lugar, puedo imaginarme caminando por sus calles, sintiendo sus olores, escuchando a su gente; y sobre todo, su caos.
La obra desde el comienzo me intrigó, pero en el momento en que las cosas se empiezan a torcer, la obra me atrapó. Quiero destacar un momento en específico, cuando llega su gobernante, su rey. Las descripciones físicas de este personaje me inquietan de solo imaginármelo, su aspecto de jirafa pero de rostro humano genera en mí una incomodidad palpable, y sobre todo, asco y repugnancia ante un ser deshumano, con rasgos humanos.
Toda la adoración que rodea este personaje por parte de su pueblo también me produjo un horror extraño, ver a gente fanática siempre produce ese efecto en mí, pero cuando agregas el factor de un líder extraño, tienes la receta mágica para provocar temor.
Otro punto que me parece digno destacar es la belleza de la prosa de Poe, en este caso siendo de las más intensas que he leído en su catálogo, encontrando encanto en fragmentos como este:
“¡Deleite del Universo, estás en mal trance! ¡Gloria del Oriente, corres peligro de ser comido! Conque no mires tan lastimosamente tu cola; sin duda, se arrastrará por el lodo, y eso no tiene remedio. No mires hacia atrás, hacia su inevitable degradación, pero recobra tu valor, emplea tus patas con vigor ¡y escabúllete hacia el hipódromo! Recuerda que eres Antíoco Epiphanes, ¡Antíoco el Ilustre! ¡Y también Príncipe de los Poetas, Gloria del Oriente, Deleite del Universo y el Más Notable de los Camellos Pardales! ¡Cielos, qué potencia de velocidad despliegas! ¡Qué seguridad de patas desarrollas! ¡Corre, Príncipe! ¡Bravo, Epiphanes! ¡Bien lo haces, Camello Pardal! ¡Glorioso Antíoco! ¡Corre, salta, vuela! ¡Como un proyectil de catapulta se acerca al hipódromo! ¡Sal, grita, ya está allí!”
Encuentro maravilloso este pasaje y siento que representa toda la locura que hace genial a este relato.
Me encanta la forma en que describe este lugar, puedo imaginarme caminando por sus calles, sintiendo sus olores, escuchando a su gente; y sobre todo, su caos.
La obra desde el comienzo me intrigó, pero en el momento en que las cosas se empiezan a torcer, la obra me atrapó. Quiero destacar un momento en específico, cuando llega su gobernante, su rey. Las descripciones físicas de este personaje me inquietan de solo imaginármelo, su aspecto de jirafa pero de rostro humano genera en mí una incomodidad palpable, y sobre todo, asco y repugnancia ante un ser deshumano, con rasgos humanos.
Toda la adoración que rodea este personaje por parte de su pueblo también me produjo un horror extraño, ver a gente fanática siempre produce ese efecto en mí, pero cuando agregas el factor de un líder extraño, tienes la receta mágica para provocar temor.
Otro punto que me parece digno destacar es la belleza de la prosa de Poe, en este caso siendo de las más intensas que he leído en su catálogo, encontrando encanto en fragmentos como este:
“¡Deleite del Universo, estás en mal trance! ¡Gloria del Oriente, corres peligro de ser comido! Conque no mires tan lastimosamente tu cola; sin duda, se arrastrará por el lodo, y eso no tiene remedio. No mires hacia atrás, hacia su inevitable degradación, pero recobra tu valor, emplea tus patas con vigor ¡y escabúllete hacia el hipódromo! Recuerda que eres Antíoco Epiphanes, ¡Antíoco el Ilustre! ¡Y también Príncipe de los Poetas, Gloria del Oriente, Deleite del Universo y el Más Notable de los Camellos Pardales! ¡Cielos, qué potencia de velocidad despliegas! ¡Qué seguridad de patas desarrollas! ¡Corre, Príncipe! ¡Bravo, Epiphanes! ¡Bien lo haces, Camello Pardal! ¡Glorioso Antíoco! ¡Corre, salta, vuela! ¡Como un proyectil de catapulta se acerca al hipódromo! ¡Sal, grita, ya está allí!”
Encuentro maravilloso este pasaje y siento que representa toda la locura que hace genial a este relato.
February 13, 2022
What is a homo camel leopard? Well, the Latin word for giraffe is Giraffa camelopardalis. I guess because it looks like a camel with the spots of a leopard. This story is not so much a story as it is a look in to the ancient city of Antioch and the daily life of its citizens. They go around keeping tame lions and tigers as their servants and have a wicked king who likes to persecute Jews and dress like a camel-leopard. Thus a homo (man) camel leopard (giraffe). Plus it mentions the body of a lion. So there you have it. Four beast in one. King Epiphanes likes to perambulate on all fours and makes a girass of himself until his subjects turn on him and chase him around the race track. The end. The story feels like I am watching a documentary, as the narrator explains the city of Antioch to the reader as if they are old friends. However, it feels like a documentary from the 1950s that just doesn’t quite have the facts right.
November 5, 2021
I’ve heard this was meant to be a comedy but I found it to be more of a satire of society and government. Allowing the wild, cunning, vicious tigers and animals to live among society with their nefarious ways, yet the leader attempting to imitate their ways by disguising himself as a human, camel, lion and leopard beast seemed to appease the wild part of society plus provide hideous excitement for the human society. The people followed in pure blindness to the point of presenting his accolade for only his promise to win the next competition. This guy is every American president since George Washington. That’s what I took from this story, whether Poe meant it that way or not. Perception is subjective.
October 3, 2025
Complete waste of time.
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1836] [28p] [Horror] [0.5] [Not Recommendable]
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Completa pérdida de tiempo.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1836] [28p] [Horror] [0.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1836] [28p] [Horror] [0.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Completa pérdida de tiempo.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1836] [28p] [Horror] [0.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
May 23, 2024
Wow this one was different. I'm not sure what to make of it. Poe's humor definitely has its own flavor. In this little story we have a leader named Antioch who is actually a homo-cameleopard. It's about how he relates to his subjects and how they feel about him. It seemed a sort of political humor piece, but I'm not quite sure he got there. I do have to admit though, whenever reading Poe, it's nice to know that you never know what you'll get. Obviously his dark horror is what he's famous for, but honestly, he's such a talented writer, that even if I don't like the other stories as much, I still enjoy them because of his writing style. This one made me laugh out loud a few times.
May 17, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This one was very strange and very hard to review or describe without mentioning any spoilers.
This one was for sure very unique. But to be fair every Edgar Allan Poe is sort of unique in a way or another.
For the most part this story was boring for almost the entire story. But it this might be because it was way too short and it would be better if we got more story into it and not just the brief view of the story.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
This one was very strange and very hard to review or describe without mentioning any spoilers.
This one was for sure very unique. But to be fair every Edgar Allan Poe is sort of unique in a way or another.
For the most part this story was boring for almost the entire story. But it this might be because it was way too short and it would be better if we got more story into it and not just the brief view of the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews