In ancient Greek natural history, a type of venomous snake believed to cause extreme thirst in its victims.
From Greek 'dipsas' (thirst-snake), derived from 'dipsa' (thirst). Ancient writers like Pliny described these serpents as causing victims to die of unquenchable thirst, though the creature was likely mythologized or misidentified.
Ancient naturalists attributed bizarre and tragic symptoms to snakes they didn't fully understand—the 'dipsas' was probably a real snake with some potent venom, but the extreme thirst symptom became legendary, showing how quickly facts become fables.
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