sciapodes

Updated: May 1, 2025

Then, again, some of the classical authorities, as Pliny and Solinus, had admitted into their geographical accounts legends of strange tribes of monstrous men, strangely different from normal humanity. Among these may be mentioned the Sciapodes, or men whose feet were so large that when it was hot they could rest on their backs and lie in the shade.

Joseph Jacobs - The Story of Geographical Discovery: How the World Became Known

There was to be seen one of the curiosities of Carthage a mosaic representing fabulous monsters, men without heads, and men with only one leg and one foot a huge foot under which, lying upon their backs, they sheltered from the sun, as under a parasol. On account of this feature they were called the sciapodes.

Louis Bertrand - Saint Augustin