One of the most brutal methods of exec ution ever created took the form of a hollow bull statue. Invented in A ncient Greece by Perillus, a bron ze worker in Athens, it was given as a gift to a cruel tyrant named Phalaris of Agrigentum. As well as roasting criminals alive, the dev ice doubled as a musical instr ument, conver ting the victim’s desperate cries into what Perillus described as “the tenderest, most pathetic, most melod iou s of bellow ings”. Distrustful of the inventor’s claims, Phalaris ordered Perillus to climb inside and prove the dev ice’s musical capabilities. As soon as he was inside, Phalaris shut the door and lit a fire beneath. However, rather then letting him die at the hands of his own creation, Phalaris had him removed and thrown off a cliff instead.