Satan is often shown in popular depictions with horns on its head, furry legs and cloven hooves of a goat. But just why is the devil depicted with horns and hooves?
It turns out that historians don’t agree on when this depiction of the devil became popular and where it came from. The devil’s appearance is not described in the bible (opens in new tab), Marina Montesano, a professor of Medieval History at Italy’s university of Messina, wrote for National Geographic.
He was later identified with the serpent or snake in the Garden of Eden who persuaded Eve to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; but there’s no mention of his horns and hooves anywhere in the bible. And for the most part, the goatlike depiction doesn’t show up in medieval or even Renaissance images of the devil. But by the 19th century, the idea of a horned devil with cloven hooves was firmly established.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
