Could Mandora a miss spell of Mandragora?

[utunnels]

Yeah, it is a plant monster with a piercing scream...

According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. 37 AD Jerusalem – c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up:

    A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this the root can be handled without fear.

For some reason, this plant is translated as "mandela" in Chinese(same as Nelson Mandela's family name), when I first came across the name, I think it was originally spelt as Mandora, but to my surprised, it is Mandrake or Mandragora/Mandrago.

[mav]

Are we talking about the Man Eater? The Mandrake definition does make some sense--and it's been used heavily in various religions and religious pieces, so the idea to use this plant as an enemy isn't completely inconceivable.

[utunnels]

"Gyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
 Its blaring screech is as excruciating to hear as a hundred hands simultaneously scratching down a chalkboard!
 I feel faint... my knees are going to buckle if I hear any more of that deafening screech!

Originally it is 100 cats, I can imagine the noise. Really reminds me of Mandrake in certain fictions.

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*Edit

Are we talking about the Man Eater?

Oh, sorry, I forgot to metion, I'm talking about the Mandora Monster...

[mav]

Ah, I should have realized that, my mistake. But now it makes even more sense! The "cat calls" sound like a nod to the screams, and its defensiveness towards its roots are no doubt the very same as the Mandrake/Mandragora mythology.

[chrono eric]

This is very interesting, I never made this connection before. I also never knew about those ancient instructions for uprooting it. I am a firm believer that every myth is rooted in truth (pun intended), and the truth of the Mandrake myth is likely because the Mandrake root contains hyoscyanine which is a potent anticholinergic hallucinogenic drug that causes death in high doses. Dogs are even more susceptible to its' toxic effects. I doubt a human could die just by handling the root though, but if a dog nibbled on it a bit he certainly could.

But I wonder where the myth that the root screams when you uproot it comes from? Hyoscyanine causes auditory hallucinations, but to my knowledge they don't resemble a scream. It is very interesting to me that it is so prevalent in ancient literature and considered to contain "magical" properties. Just like the famous Amanita "fairy-tale" mushrooms, I'm sure the "magical" properties of the Mandrake root originated in its hallucinogenic effects.