The terrifying claim about a brass bull used to execute victims in ancient Greece is a historical fact, though it is one that exists in ancient accounts and has no archaeological evidence. The device, known as the Brazen Bull or the Bronze Bull, was described by historians such as Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch. It was supposedly invented by a craftsman named Perilaus for the tyrant Phalaris of Acragas (in modern-day Sicily) in the 6th century BCE.

The brazen bull was a hollow statue made entirely of bronze, shaped like a real bull and polished to a terrifying gleam. Its mechanism was as ingenious as it was horrifying. The victim was locked inside the hollow statue through a door in the side. A fire would then be lit beneath the bull, slowly heating the bronze and roasting the victim alive. To add to the sadistic spectacle, the inventor had included a system of pipes and tubes that converted the victim’s screams into a terrifying sound, designed to mimic the bellowing of a bull, making the execution a form of public entertainment.

While the story is a chilling part of ancient history, its literal existence is a subject of scholarly debate. No physical remains of the Brazen Bull have ever been found, leading some historians to speculate that it may have been a legendary device, a symbolic narrative meant to illustrate the extreme cruelty and sadism of the tyrant Phalaris. Regardless of whether it was a real instrument of torture or a powerful symbol, the chilling tale of the Brazen Bull is a well-documented part of the historical record, a haunting testament to human ingenuity for cruelty.