Flaying: Difference between revisions
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Flaying is distinct from [[flagellation]] in that flaying uses a [[knife]] in an attempt to remove skin (where the [[pain]] is incidental to the operation), whereas flagellation is any [[corporal punishment]] that uses some type of [[whip]], rod or other sharp implement in order to cause physical pain (where the possible removal of some skin is incidental to the operation). In colloquial usage, the two terms are sometimes confused. |
Flaying is distinct from [[flagellation]] in that flaying uses a [[knife]] in an attempt to remove skin (where the [[pain]] is incidental to the operation), whereas flagellation is any [[corporal punishment]] that uses some type of [[whip]], rod or other sharp implement in order to cause physical pain (where the possible removal of some skin is incidental to the operation). In colloquial usage, the two terms are sometimes confused. |
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Flaying is apparently a very ancient practice. There are accounts of [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] flaying the skin from a captured enemy or rebellious ruler and nailing it to the wall of his city, as warning to all who would defy their power. The [[Aztec]]s of [[Mexico]] flayed victims of ritual [[human sacrifice]]. Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of [[traitors]] in medieval Europe. A similar mode of execution was used as late as the early [[1700s]] in France; one such episode is graphically recounted in the opening chapter of [[Michel Foucault]]'s ''[[Discipline and Punish]]'' ([[1979]]). |
Flaying is apparently a very ancient practice. There are accounts of [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] flaying the skin from a captured enemy or rebellious ruler and nailing it to the wall of his city, as warning to all who would defy their power. The [[Aztec]]s of [[Mexico]] flayed victims of ritual [[human sacrifice]]. Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of [[traitors]] in medieval Europe. A similar mode of execution was used as late as the early [[1700s]] in France; one such episode is graphically recounted in the opening chapter of [[Michel Foucault]]'s ''[[Discipline and Punish]]'' ([[1979]]). In China, a variant form of flaying known as [[Death by a thousand cuts]] was practiced as late as [[1905]]. |
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== Examples of flaying == |
== Examples of flaying == |
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Revision as of 19:56, 29 June 2006
Flaying is the removal of skin from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to maintain the removed portion of skin intact.
An animal may be flayed in preparation for human consumption, or for its hide or fur; this is more commonly called skinning.
Flaying of humans is used as a method of torture or execution, depending on how much of the skin is removed. This article deals with flaying in the sense of torture and execution. This is often referred to as "flaying alive". There are also records of people flayed after death, generally as a means of debasing the corpse of a prominent enemy or criminal, sometimes related to religious beliefs (e.g. to deny an afterlife); sometimes the skin is used, again for deterrence, magical uses, etc. (cf. scalping).
Flaying is distinct from flagellation in that flaying uses a knife in an attempt to remove skin (where the pain is incidental to the operation), whereas flagellation is any corporal punishment that uses some type of whip, rod or other sharp implement in order to cause physical pain (where the possible removal of some skin is incidental to the operation). In colloquial usage, the two terms are sometimes confused.
Flaying is apparently a very ancient practice. There are accounts of Assyrians flaying the skin from a captured enemy or rebellious ruler and nailing it to the wall of his city, as warning to all who would defy their power. The Aztecs of Mexico flayed victims of ritual human sacrifice. Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of traitors in medieval Europe. A similar mode of execution was used as late as the early 1700s in France; one such episode is graphically recounted in the opening chapter of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish (1979). In China, a variant form of flaying known as Death by a thousand cuts was practiced as late as 1905.
Examples of flaying
- According to Herodotus, Sisamnes, a corrupt judge under Cambyses II of Persia, was flayed alive for accepting a bribe.
- In Greek mythology, Marsyas, a satyr, was flayed alive for daring to challenge Apollo.
- Tradition holds that Saint Bartholomew was flayed before being crucified
- The Talmud discusses how Rabbi Akiva was flayed by the Romans for the public teaching of Torah.
- In 260 Roman Emperor Valerian was taken prisoner by Persians. Some accounts hold that he was flayed and his skin turned into a footstool.[citation needed]
- Mani, founding prophet of Manichaeism, was said to had been flayed or beheaded (c. 275).
- Pierre Basile was flayed alive and hanged 6 April 1199 for shooting and killing King Richard I of England with a crossbow.
- In 1314, the brothers d'Aulnoy, who were lovers to the daughters in law of king Philippe IV of France were flayed alive before being castrated, beheaded, and the bodies exposed on a gibbet. The extreme severity of their punishment was due to the lese majesty nature of the crime.
- In a particularly acute example of deadpan, Jonathan Swift's narrator in "A Tale of a Tub" says, "Last week I saw a woman flay’d, and you will hardly believe how much it alter'd her person for the worse".
- In the 2006 movie Silent Hill, the character of "The Red Pyramid" executes Anna by lifting her off the ground and brutally flaying her with one hand, as a way of punishing her for her abuse of Dhalia.
