The Brazen Bull: History's Most Horrifying Torture Device (6 photos)

The Brazen Bull stands as one of the most twisted and terrifying torture devices ever conceived—commissioned by the ancient Greek tyrant Phalaris.

Tales of this horrific creation occupy a grim place in Ancient Greek history alongside legends of martial glory, tragic love, the Argonauts, and the Olympian gods. But what was it, exactly? Let’s take a closer look.





Also known as the Bull of Phalaris, the Brazen Bull was an execution instrument used during the latter half of the 6th century BCE. The device was crafted by an Athenian bronzesmith named Perilaus, who was commissioned by Phalaris, the tyrant of Akragas in Sicily, to forge a massive bronze statue.

Phalaris earned a reputation as one of history's most ruthless rulers—an infamy cemented in large part by the monstrous creation of the bull itself…



The torture instrument was a hollow, life-sized bronze sculpture of a bull. A hatch on its side (or, by some accounts, its back) allowed the victim to be locked inside. A fire was then lit beneath the beast's belly, slowly roasting the person within. Escape was impossible.





Historical accounts suggest the bull’s snout was fitted with a complex system of pipes and openings. This converted the victim's screams into a sound resembling the furious bellowing of a bull, while smoke from the burning flesh billowed from the nostrils. It is hard to fathom just how gruesome a spectacle this must have been…



In a stroke of dark irony, the very first person to suffer inside the torture device was its creator, Perilaus. When presenting the bull, he boasted to Phalaris that his internal piping system would make the victim's screams sound like a soft, melodious bellowing. Curious to test the unique acoustics, the tyrant ordered the craftsman thrown inside.

Perilaus was trapped inside long enough to suffer, but Phalaris had him pulled out before he died—only to have him thrown off a cliff instead. Such was the tyrant’s idea of gratitude.



Phalaris was notoriously creative when it came to execution. Those who fell out of favor were routinely condemned to death—cast off cliffs or tossed into the crater of Mount Etna. Once he acquired the Brazen Bull, however, it became his preferred method for executing anyone—man, woman, child, or elder—who crossed him or earned his displeasure.

He was simply enamored with the brutal ingenuity of his new toy.



Eventually, the people revolted and overthrew the cruel ruler. And can you guess how they dealt with him?

They roasted him inside his own Brazen Bull.