Monsters and Myths….
Mythical creatures are commonplace in all forms of media, from drawings and paintings to the movies that we see in theatres. These stories about the werewolf or the centaur, these part-man part-animal entities that hold a certain appeal, have become familiar to us. There are a myriad of factors that determine our perception of corporeal forms. Historical as well as cultural contexts are integral to how these forms come to be. The most fascinating examples of these are, to me, seen in depictions of creatures and deities in different mythologies around the world. There seems to be a common trend in choosing to fill these myths with bodies that are a fusion of both humans and animal characteristics. Let’s delve deeper into some of the many depictions of animal and human hybrids so often seen in the many mythical stories, from the centaur seen in Greek myths to the jackal-headed god Anubis from Egyptian mythology. We will explore this human fascination with the portrayal of these fantastical beings. In comparing the depictions of hybrid creatures in both Greek and Egyptian mythology, we can start to get clues about what the answer might be.
The most distinguishing features between man and beast, for the Greeks, seemed to be their ability to use speech since this is easily proven fact. Even for their domesticated animals there was still a point to provide a sharp distinction between humans and beasts. There was a feeling of unease for the Greeks with these beasts because they were very aware of the many similarities shared with humans and that’s what scared them the most. Therefore there was an almost desperate need to emphasize those traits that were uniquely human
There was a simultaneous fear and admiration for the wild beast; they were also considered more far removed from humans than domesticated pets that they chose to keep. This could be a clue into understanding why certain types of animal-hybrids were predominantly considered monstrous in Greek myths; although there were a few exceptions. We could contrast these depictions with Egyptians myths who don’t seem to distinguish between wild and domesticated animals in their depiction of deities. Greek mythology used these therianthropic representations, not for their deities, but for the many lower creatures that made up the vast worlds of each myth. Throughout their stories we hear mention of centaurs, satyrs, minotaurs who serve as either friend or foe in the tales of many Greek heroes… Depictions of these hybrids in Greek myths seem to emphasize their animalistic separation from the civilized humans.
The human-animal hybrid creatures were often presented as monsters and an obstacle that the Greek hero to overcome or defeat. For centaurs in particular, the threat they posed to Greek society was their wild nature and this was a sharp contrast to the order and structure of society that the Greeks valued so much. Centaurs in particular seem to best exemplify the idea of dichotomies and boundaries between different things, not just human beast. They represent a blurring and wavering of these known boundaries of culture or species. Even for the exception of the centaur Cheiron, he was only valued because his traits were opposite to those commonly associated with centaurs and that instead annealed the values of Greek society.
By contrast, in Egyptian mythology these animal human hybrids were not ascribed to these cynical roles and had much more positive representations, as is evidenced by their usage in depicting almost all of their deities. Their most common representations portray different animal heads on human or human-like bodies; this is even seen in the famed Sphinx where this theme is flipped with it having a human face and the body of an animal. This can be thought of as a direct reflection of ancient Egyptian society; and as research has shown they had the most animal displays in art of anywhere in the world, even in popular culture they are known for their association with animals as well. For them, it was not considered an affront or insult for their deities to be depicted in this manner as they were all considered equals in the grand scheme of things. There was no reason to fear this otherness with animals that was the case for the Greeks and in Judeo-Christian beliefs. The particular animal assigned to each god or goddess was a direct reflection of the animalistic attributes that would enable these gods to perform their duties. This was the one thing in common between Greek and Egyptian mythology in their representations of their therianthropic creatures. The association from the hybrid was chosen based on the characteristics that made them so formidable, such as the strength of a bull for the minotaur or the ferociousness of a lion for the goddess Sekhmet.
The Greeks, the Romans, and furthermore Judeo-Christianism looked down upon and scorned the depiction of the Egyptian deities as theriotropic. For them, it seemed an insult to ascribe to your culture’s most revered beings with the attributes of lowly beasts; even more so to degrade humans to the level of animals.
Even still, these hybrids are an opposition to the forced dichotomy between man and beast that we’ve tried so hard to establish….
References:
Posthumus, Liane. Hybrid monsters in the Classical World: the nature and function of hybrid monsters in Greek mythology, literature and art. Diss. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
Te Velde, H. ” A Few Remarks Upon the Religious Significance of Animals in Ancient Egypt*”. Numen 27.1 (1980): 76-82. https://doi.org/10.1163/156852780X00152 Web.
Vella, Horatio CR. “The macabre element in Greek mythology: a prehistoric eastern influence.” Journal of Mediterranean Studies 1.2 (1991): 193-200.
Lawrence, Elizabeth Atwood. “The centaur: Its history and meaning in human culture.” Journal of Popular Culture 27.4 (1994): 57.
Wikipedia used for the specific hybrid-creatures mentioned and their background.