The lion has been an important symbol to humans for tens of thousands of years. The earliest graphic representations feature lions as organized hunters with great strength, strategies, and skills. In later depictions of human cultural ceremonies, lions were often used symbolically and may have played significant roles in magic, as deities or close association with deities, and served as intermediaries and clan identities.
The earliest historical records in Egypt present an established religious pantheon that included a lioness as one of the most powerful cultural figures, protecting the people and especially, their rulers, as well as being assigned powerful roles in nature. As human groups moved from being isolated clans and tribes to cities, kingdoms, and countries, ancient symbols retained their importance as they assumed new roles. Lions have remained as popular symbols through modern history.
Depictions of lions in other cultures resembled this and all changed into more supportive roles as human figures began to be portrayed as deities. Similar imagery persisted and was retained through cultural changes, sometimes unchanged. Adoptions of lion imagery as symbols into other cultures without direct contact with lions could be very imaginative, often lacking accurate anatomical details or creating unrealistic characteristics. The association of lions with virtues and character traits was adopted in cultures where and when the religious symbolism had ceased.
A bronze statue of a lion from either southern Italy or southern Spain, from c. 1000–1200 years CE was put on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.[4]
Ancient Egypt
Detail of a ritual Menat necklace, exhibited at Altes Museum, Berlin, catalogue number 23733. It shows a ritual performed before a statue of Sekhmet sitting on her throne. Sekhmet is flanked by the goddess Wadjet as the cobra and the goddess Nekhbet as the white vulture, symbols of lower and upper Egypt, respectively. They were depicted on the crown of Egypt; this triad remained fundamental to ancient Egyptian religion throughout the rise and fall of other deities
An alabaster cosmetic jar topped with Bast, from the tomb of Tutankhamun (c.1323 BC—Cairo Museum)
The earliest tomb paintings in Ancient Egypt, at Nekhen, c. 3500 BC, classified as Naqada, possibly Gerzeh, culture include images of lions, including an image of a human (or deity) flanked by two lions in an upright posture. Among ancient Egyptians, from prehistoric times through well documented records, the war goddess Sekhmet, a lioness,[5] later depicted as woman with a lioness head, was one of their major deities. She was a sun deity as well as a fierce warrior and protector. Usually she was assigned significant roles in the natural environment. The Egyptians held that this sacred lioness was responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile,[5] the most significant contributing factor to the success of the culture. Sometimes with regional differences in names, a lioness deity was the patron and protector of the people, the king, and the land. As the country united, a blending of those deities was assigned to Sekhmet.[citation needed]
Similar regional lioness deities assumed minor roles in the pantheon or, when so significant in a region, continued local religious observance in their own right, such as Bast. Offspring of these deities found niches in the expanding pantheon as well.[citation needed]
During the New Kingdom the Nubian gods Maahes (god of war and protection and the son of Bast) and Dedun (god of incense, hence luxury and wealth) were depicted as lions. Maahes was absorbed into the Egyptian pantheon, and had a temple at the city the invading Greeks called Leontopolis, "City of Lions", at the delta in Lower Egypt. His temple was attached to the major temple of his mother, Bast. Dedun was not absorbed into the Ancient Egyptian religion and remained a Nubian deity.[citation needed]
Bast, originally depicted as a lioness and the "eye of Ra" in the delta region,[5] was the parallel deity to Sekhmet in the southern region. Her nature gradually changed after the unification of the country and Sekhmet prevailed throughout. At that time Bast changed into the goddess of personal protection with different responsibilities, and often was depicted as a very tame lioness or a cat. She is shown to the left atop an alabaster jar that contained precious oils and lotions. The name of the stone probably bears her named because materials sacred to her usually were stored in it..[citation needed]
The sphinx of Ancient Egypt shows the head and shoulders of a human and the body of a lioness. The statues represents Sekhmet, who was the protector of the pharaohs. Later pharaohs were depicted as sphinxes, being thought as the offspring of the deity.[citation needed]
Sculptures and reliefs of the Neo-Assyrian Empire dating to the 6th and 7th centuries BC were rediscovered and excavated in the mid 19th century. Several reliefs feature lions, including the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal, a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs with numerous small narrative scenes, now in the British Museum. A well-known detail of this group of reliefs is The Dying Lioness depicting a half-paralyzed lioness pierced with arrows. They were originally in an Assyrian royal palace in Nineveh, in modern-day Iraq.[11]
Lions have been widely used in sculpture to provide a sense of majesty and awe, especially on public buildings. Lions were bold creatures and many ancient cities would have an abundance of lion sculptures to show strength in numbers as well.[12][13] This usage dates back to the origin of civilization.[14] There are lions at the entrances of cities and sacred sites from Mesopotamian cultures; notable examples include the Lion Gate of ancient Mycenae in Greece that has two lionesses flanking a column that represents a deity,[15] and the gates in the walls of the Hittite city of Bogazköy, Turkey.[13]
Lioness used as a pendant, late sixth–fourth centuries BC, from Susa, Louvre
Lions are depicted on vases dating to about 2600 before present that were excavated near Lake Urmia.[16] In Iranian mythology, the lion is a symbol of courage and monarchy. It is portrayed standing beside the kings in artifacts and sitting on the graves of knights. Imperial seals were also decorated with carved lions. The lion and sun motif is based largely on astronomical configurations, and the ancient zodiacal sign of the sun in the house of Leo. Lion and sun is a symbol of royalty in Iranian flag and coins. Goddess Anahita was sometimes shown standing on a lion. Lion is also title of the fourth grade of mithraism.[17]
Lions have been extensively used in ancient Persia as sculptures and on the walls of palaces, in fire temples, tombs, on dishes and jewellery; especially during the Achaemenid Empire. The gates were adorned with lions.[18]
Several discoveries of lion bones in Greece, Ukraine and the Balkans have confirmed that lions lived there certainly from 5th millennium BC until the 6th century BC, while according to the written sources they survived up to perhaps the 1st or even the 4th century AD, which was previously only a suspicion by some archaeologists.[19][20][21][22][23][24] Thus the strong emphasis on lions in the earliest figurative Greek art, especially that of Mycenaean Greece from around 1600–1400 BC, reflected the world in which Greeks lived, rather than being based on stories from further east, as once thought.[25]
Lionesses often flanked the Gorgon, a vestige of the earliest Greek protective deity that often was featured atop temples of later eras. The western pediment from the Artemis Temple of Corfu is a well preserved example. The most notable lion of Ancient Greek mythology was the Nemean lion, killed barehanded by Heracles, who subsequently bore the pelt as an invulnerable magic cloak.[26]
In Socrates' model of the psyche (as described by Plato), the bestial, selfish nature of humanity is described metaphorically as a lion, the "leontomorphic principle".[33]
Biblical references and Jewish-Christian tradition
Daniel's Answer to the King by Briton Rivière, R.A. (1840–1920), 1890 (Manchester City Art Gallery)
Several Biblical accounts document the presence of lions, and cultural perception of them in ancient Israel. The best known Biblical account featuring lions comes from the Book of Daniel (chapter 6), where Daniel is thrown into a den of lions and miraculously survives.[citation needed]
A lesser known Biblical account features Samson who kills a lion with his bare hands, later sees bees nesting in its carcass, and poses a riddle based on this unusual incident to test the faithfulness of his fiancée (Judges 14). The prophet Amos said (Amos, 3, 8): "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?", i.e., when the gift of prophecy comes upon a person, he has no choice but to speak out.[citation needed]
The lion is the biblical emblem of the tribe of Judah and later the Kingdom of Judah.[36] It is contained within Jacob's blessing to his fourth son in the penultimate chapter of the Book of Genesis, "Judah is a lion's whelp; On prey, my son have you grown. He crouches, lies down like a lion, like the king of beasts—who dare rouse him?" (Genesis 49:9[37]). In the modern state of Israel, the lion remains the symbol of the capital city of Jerusalem, emblazoned on both the flag and coat of arms of the city.[citation needed]
In Christian tradition, Mark the Evangelist, the author of the second gospel is symbolized by the lion of Saint Mark – a figure of courage and monarchy. It also represents Jesus' Resurrection (because lions were believed to sleep with open eyes, a comparison with Christ in the tomb), and Christ as king. Some Christian legends refer to Saint Mark as "Saint Mark the Lionhearted". Legends say that he was fed to the lions and the animals refused to attack or eat him. Instead the lions slept at his feet, while he petted them. When the Romans saw this, they released him, spooked by the sight.
Christian tradition has associated lions with Christ's resurrection. In the Christian text Physiologus, lion cubs are said to be born stillborn and the mothers cares for them until the father returns on the third day to breathe life into them.[38]
Late antiquity mysticism
In Gnostic traditions, the Demiurge is depicted as a lion-faced figure ("leontoeides"). The gnostic concept of the Demiurge is usually that of a malevolent, petty creator of the physical realm, a false deity responsible for human misery and the gross matter than traps the spiritual essence of the soul, and thus an "animal-like" nature. As a lion-headed figure, the Demiurge is associated with devouring flames,[39] destroying the souls of humans after they die, as well as with arrogance and callousness.[40]
A lion-faced figurine is usually associated with the Mithraic mysteries. Without any known parallel in classical, Egyptian, or middle-eastern art,[41] what this figure is meant to represent currently is unknown. Some have interpreted it to be a representation of Ahriman,[42] of the aforementioned gnostic Demiurge,[43] or of some similar malevolent, tyrannical entity, but it has also been interpreted as some sort of time or season deity,[44] or even a more positive symbol of enlightenment and spiritual transcendence.[45]
A HyrcanianAchaemenid golden cup depicting lions without manes and fully exposed ears in the sculpted heads used as handles, but manes suggested in engraving on the body. Dated first half of first millennium. Excavated at Kalardasht in Mazandaran, Iran.
In a key scene of Yvain, the Knight of the Lion (French: Yvain, le Chevalier au Lion), a romance by Chrétien de Troyes, the hero is depicted as rescuing a lion from a serpent. Subsequently, the lion proves to be a loyal companion and a symbol of knightly virtue, and helps Yvain complete his altruistic ventures. In the happy end, the lion comes to dwell with Yvain and his wife Laudine at their castle.[citation needed]
A page from Kelileh va Demneh dated 1429, from Herat, a Persian translation of the Panchatantra – depicts the manipulative jackal-vizier, trying to lead his lion-king into war
In both Arab and Persian culture, the lion is regarded as a symbol of courage, bravery, royalty and chivalry. The depiction of lions is derived from earlier Mesopotamian arts. Islamic art commonly manifests its aesthetic elements predominantly in Islamic calligraphy, floral and geometric decorative patterns, since Islamic religious tradition discourages the depictions of humans and living creatures in sculptures. Through Persian arts miniatures and paintings, however, the depictions of humans and animals survives.[citation needed] In al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), lion statues as supporters and waterspouts of fountains were built around 10th-century Cordoba, such as in the palaces of Madinat al-Zahra and Munyat an-Na'ura,[46][47] as well as in the Maristan of Granada and in the Court of the Lions of the Alhambra in the 14th century.[48][49] Animal motifs were also commonly used in stone-carved decoration in Anatolian Seljuk architecture (12th–13th centuries) and images of lions were favoured in this context.[50] Examples include the lion reliefs on the Döner Kümbet tomb (c. 1275) and the lion-head carvings on the Sahabiye Madrasa (c. 1267), both in Kayseri, and two reliefs of a lion fighting a bull on the Great Mosque of Diyarbakir.[50][51]
The lion symbolism and its cultural depictions can be found in Hindu and Buddhist art of India and Southeast Asia. The lion symbolism in India was based upon Asiatic lions that once spread in Indian subcontinent as far as the Middle East.
Hindu Goddess Durga has a lion as her vahanam or divine mount
Narasimha ("man-lion") is described as the fourth incarnation (avatara) of the Hindu deity Vishnu in the Puranic texts of Hinduism, an anthropomorphic form assumed to slay a daitya (demon) named Hiranyakashipu.[53] A goddess corresponding to the appearance of Narasimha is also featured, called Narasimhi.[54]
Lions are also found in Buddhist symbolism. Lion pillars erected during the reign of Emperor Ashoka show lions and the chakra emblem. The lions depicted in the Lion Capital of Ashoka inspired artists who designed the Emblem of India.
Singh is an ancient Indian name meaning "lion", dating more than 2,000 years ago to ancient India. It was originally only used by warriors in India. After the birth of the Khalsa brotherhood in 1699, the Sikhs also adopted the name "Singh" due to the wishes of Guru Gobind Singh. Singh is used by various communities today, it is also used by more than 20 million Sikhs worldwide.[55] The appellation of the name Singh was used by the Rajputs before being adopted by the Sikhs in 1699.[56] Therefore, all "Singh"s in Indian history before 1699 are Hindu and mainly Rajputs. The lion also features as the carrier or the vehicle of Durga, the Hindu goddess of war, worshipped in and around the Bengal region.
The lion is symbolic for the Sinhalese, Sri Lanka's ethnic majority; the term derived from the Indo-Aryan Sinhala, meaning the "lion people" or "people with lion blood", while a sword-wielding lion is the central figure on the modern national flag of Sri Lanka. The entrance to Sigiriya, the Lion-Rock of Sri Lanka, was through the Lion Gate, the mouth of a stone lion. The paws of the lion is one of seven World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka.[citation needed]
Lions were never native animals of Southeast Asia in recorded history. As the result, the depiction of lion in ancient Southeast Asian art, especially in ancient Java and Cambodia, is far from naturalistic style as depicted in Greek or Persian art counterparts, since the artist who carved the lion sculpture never saw the lion before, and all were based on perception and imagination. The cultural depictions and the reverence of lion as the noble and powerful beast in Southeast Asia was influenced by Indian culture.[citation needed]
Statues of a pair of lions are often found in temples in Southeast Asia as the gate guardian. In the Borobudur Buddhist monument Central Java, Indonesia andesite stone statues of lions guarding four main entrances of Borobudur. The thrones of Buddha and Boddhisattva found in Kalasan and Mendut buddhist temples of ancient Java depicted elephant, lion, and makara. The statue of a winged lion also is found in Penataran temple East Java, as well as in Balinese temples. The Balinese winged lion often served as the guardian statue or as the pedestal of wooden column.[citation needed]
In Cambodia statues of lions flanking the temple gate or access roads are commonly found in temples of Angkor. Bakong, a stepped pyramid Hindu temple from earlier period also displays lion statues as guardians of each stage on each of the cardinal points. Khmer lion guardian statues are commonly found in Angkor Wat, Bayon, Pre Rup and Srah Srang. Just like ancient Java, the depiction of lion in ancient Khmer art is not in naturalistic style, more like a symbolic mythical animal derived from Indian Hindu-Buddhist art. The royal emblem of Cambodia depicting a pair of guardian animals; gajasingha (hybrid of elephant and lion) and singha (lion). In Thailand, a pair of lion statues are often placed in front of temple gate as guardian. The style of Thai lion is similar to those of Cambodian, since Thailand derived many of its aesthetics and arts elements from Cambodian Khmer art.[citation needed]
In Myanmar, the statue of lion called Chinthe guarding the stupas, pagodas, and Buddhist temples in Bagan, while pair of lions are also featured in the country's coat-of-arms.[citation needed]
The island nation of Singapore (Singapura) derives its name from the Malay words singa (lion) and pura (city), which in turn is from the Tamil-Sanskrit சிங்க singaसिंहsiṃha and पुर புர pura.[57] According to the Malay Annals, this name was given by a fourteenth-century Sumatran Malay prince named Sang Nila Utama, who, on alighting the island after a thunderstorm, spotted an auspicious beast on shore that his chief minister identified as a lion (Asiatic lion).[58] Recent studies of Singapore indicate that lions have never lived there.
The common motif of the "majestic and powerful" lion was introduced to China by Buddhist missionaries from India, somewhere in the first century AD.[59] Lions themselves, however, are not native to China, yet appear in the art of China and the Chinese people believe that lions protect humans from evil spirits, hence the Chinese New Yearlion dance to scare away demons and ghosts. Chinese guardian lions are frequently used in sculpture in traditional Chinese architecture. For instance, in the Forbidden City in Beijing, two lion statues are seen in almost every door entrance.
Lions feature prominently in the Tibetan culture with a pair of Snow Lions seen on the Tibetan flag. The Snow Lions are mythical creatures that are seen as protector entities. The Snow Lion symbolizes fearlessness, unconditional cheerfulness, east, and the Earth element. It is one of the Four Dignities. It ranges over the mountains, and is commonly pictured as being white with a turquoise mane.
Japan
The lion became popular in Japanese art from the 14th century onwards, under Chinese influence. The Chinese artistic form of the "dog-lion" (kara-shishi in Japanese) was almost always used, but was generally somewhat fatter, and with a shorter torso, than in China, with a short fan-like tail and a flattened face.[60]Hokusai had a "special cult of the Chinese lion, whose "spiritual form" he drew each morning".[61]
Lions (獅子, shishi) feature prominently in many kabuki plays and other forms of Japanese legend and traditional tales.[citation needed]
In narration
The lion appears in several fairy and folk tale traditions all over the world. Some tale types, according to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, show it as the hero's helper or a protagonist on its own right:
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 156, "Androcles and the Lion": a slave helps a lion by removing a thorn from its paw. Later, when the slave is put in a perilous situation against the very same lion, the lion recognizes him and spares his life in gratitude.[62][63]
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 300, "The Dragon-Slayer": in some variants, a lion appears as part of the hero's animal entourage to defeat a vicious dragon and rescue the princess.[64]
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 303, "The Twins or Blood-Brothers": this tale type sometimes merges with the previous one. Twins (or triplets) or lookalike individuals acquire two sets of fierce animals, like bears, lions and wolves. Each goes their separate ways: one defeats the dragon and the other meets a witch who petrifies his twin. Example: The Three Princes and their Beasts, Lithuanian fairy tale; The Two Brothers, German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.[65]
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband", and Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 425A, "Animal as Bridegroom": a maiden is betrothed to an animal bridegroom (a lion, in several variants), who comes at night to the bridal bed in human form. The maiden breaks a taboo and her enchanted husband disappears. She is forced to seek him.[66] Example: The Singing, Springing Lark, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm;[67]La fiancée du lion ("The Lion's Bride"), Breton folktale collected by Paul Sébillot.[68]
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 552, "The Girls who married Animals": a bankrupt nobleman or a poor farmer is forced to wed his daughters to three animal suitors, who are actually enchanted princes under a curse. In some variants, one of the suitors is a lion. Example: The Three Enchanted Princes.[69][70][71][72][73]
Aarne-Thompson-Uther type number 590, "The Faithless Mother" or "The Prince and the Arm Bands": a boy with his mother finds a magic belt (magic arm bands) that grants strength. Later, his mother conspires with her new paramour (giant or ogre) to kill her son. Two lions end up helping the youth.[74] Example: The Blue Belt, Norwegian fairy tale.
The lion also appears as a king's councillor in the German fairy tale The Twelve Huntsmen.[75]
The lion also appears as an obstacle in the hero's dangerous quest, such as a guardian of the water of life, of a garden or of a princess.[75][76][77]
Title of kings and political leaders
Various kings and political leaders in different cultures and times, famed for courage or fierceness, were entitled "the lion" – such as:
Llywelyn the Great, along with his family, were known to bear lions on their arms
During the Renaissance, animals, especially those close to man, were depicted with passion but also with scientific rigor. However, exotic animals, which were difficult to observe, were in part imagined by the painter: La Chaste au tigre (The Tiger Hunt), a Baroque painting by Rubens depicting a hunt for big cats, including lions, is a work that was partly imagined by the painter; the composition of the picture, however, allowed realism to be breathed into these invented felines.[82] For Théophile Gautier, it was essentially "lions with wigs" that were produced during Classicism.[83]
The Romantic painter worked as much on anatomical accuracy, notably by practicing the representation of real subjects held in zoos, as on the desire to depict a sentimental animal, which drew the ridicule of classical-style artists. Lion and tiger enjoy renewed interest. The Romantic period was marked by a number of great paintings, such as Eugène Delacroix's lions.[83]
In the 19th century, numerous zoological illustrations by naturalists show the lion in particular. From the same period onwards, humorous and often irreverent depictions of the "king of animals" proliferated, particularly in political cartoons and comics.[citation needed]
Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, West Front, in the Botanic Garden, Washington D.C., four protective bronze lions crouching on the American flag, sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady, installed 28 April 1912; shown in the opening credits of the House of Cards[85]
No fewer than 18 consecutive ships of the British Royal Navy bore the name HMS Lion. Various other navies have also used the name for their vessels,[citation needed] as have civil shipping companies.[citation needed]
Place names
Singapore's name is the Anglicised form of the original Sanskrit-derived Malay name Singapura, which means 'Lion City'. Malay mythology describes how the founder-prince of Singapore (then called 'Temasek') sighted a strange red and black beast with a mane when he first set ashore the island. Believing it to be a lion and a good omen (although lions were not known to exist anywhere in Southeast Asia) he renamed the island Singapura. The lion features on the Singapore national coat of arms and is also the nickname of the national football team. 'Lion City' is also a common moniker for the city-state.
Using Leon (lion) as a placename started in Ancient Greece; several locations in Greece itself had the name (Greek:: Λέων) as well as a Greek colony in Sicily.
Lviv, the major city of western Ukraine, is named for Prince Lev I of Galicia. Lev is a common Slavic name meaning "lion". The Latin name for Lviv is Leopolis, meaning "Lion City".
The name of the city of Oran in Algeria is derived from the Berber root 'HR meaning lion, from which are also derived the names of Tahert and Souk Ahras. The name is attested in multiple Berber languages, for instance as uharu and ahra. A popular Oran legend tells that in the period around 900 BC, there were sightings of lions in the area. The two last felines were killed in a mountain near the city of Oran, which is now known as La montagne des Lions ("The Mountain of Lions"). In fact, there are two giant lion statues in front of Oran's city hall, hence the twin lions' mountain is Oran's symbol.
Despite common misconception, the name of the French city of Lyon is a corruption of Lugdunum, a Latinization of Celtic for "fortress of god Lugus". The same happens with the Spanish city of León, whose name is a corruption of legio, Latin for "legion". However their coats of arms wear lions as armes parlant.
Chinese lions art varietyLion grass sculpture
Given names
Lionel traces its etymology from Latin, and means "little lion".
Leonard means "lion strength", "lion-strong", or "lion-hearted".
Modern culture
Literature
In Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, the lion is used as a metaphor to describe a human who rebels against old knowledge, to make a new morality possible. The morality of the overman.
The lion's symbolism continues in fantasy literature. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz features the Cowardly Lion, who is particularly ashamed of his cowardice because of his cultural role as the "king of the beasts".[91]Aslan, the "Greatest Lion" is the central figure in C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.[92] The word aslan is Turkish for lion. The lion is also the symbol for Gryffindor house, the house of bravery, in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
In award-winning children's picture book, Charlie and Mama Kyna, Leo, the lion, befriends and journeys home with Charlie in vivid illustrations.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, one of the main noble houses and main antagonists of the series, the Lannisters, have a golden lion on crimson as their family symbol, and in contrast to the lion being presented as a regal, noble creature in traditional folklore, it carries the undertones of pride, corruption, and lust for power of the Lannisters.
Again adhering to king of the beast role, the book The Forges of Dawn focuses on the lions (called lyons) as opposed to the other creatures of Africa. These lyons rule empires and, in the case of the antagonists, almost entire continents. They are somewhat evolved from the lions we know today. For example, lyons have more mobile dewclaws as opposed to lions who's declaws are more stationary. They also live longer and speak varied languages.
Thai lion marble guardian in Wat Benchamabopit, Thailand
The lion's role as "king of the beasts" has been utilized in a number of cartoons, from the Leonardo Lion of King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (1960–1963) series to the Disney animated feature film The Lion King (1994). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios have used a lion as their logo since 1924. At least seven different lions have played Leo the Lion, the lion seen at the start of every MGM film.[94]
The live action film Born Free (1966), based on the true story from the bestselling book of the same title, covered the story of the Kenyan lioness Elsa, and the efforts of Joy Adamson and her game-warden husband George to train Elsa for release back into the wild.
Roar (1981) features numerous untrained lions, three of which were credited as actors. The lions did as they pleased on-set, so they also share writing and directing credits.[95]
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) is a movie set in 1898. It is based on the true story of two lions in Africa that killed 130 people over a nine-month period, during the construction of a railroad bridge across the Tsavo River, in what is now Kenya. The local natives named the two lions, both males, "The Ghost" and "The Darkness".[96]
In 2005, the Kenyan lioness Kamuniak captured international attention when she adopted oryx calves, an animal species normally preyed upon by lions. She fought off predators and lion prides who attempted to eat her charges. Kamuniak's story was captured in the Animal Planet special Heart of a Lioness.[97]
Modern symbolism
A WWI British enlistment poster depicting Britain as "The Old Lion" and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India as "The Young Lions"
The lion is a popular mascot or symbol, for businesses, government entities, sports, and other uses; for example:
Horus, also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history, and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists. These various forms may be different manifestations of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality. He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner falcon or peregrine falcon, or as a man with a falcon head.
The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. The word is derived from Latin serpens, a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind and represent dual expression of good and evil.
A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle.
According to Greek mythology, the Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimæra was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature from Lycia, Asia Minor, composed of different animal parts. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, occasionally depicted with dragon's wings, and a tail that might end with a snake's head. It was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of monsters like Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
Bastet or Bast is a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty. Her name also is rendered as B'sst, Baast, Ubaste, and Baset. In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros.
In ancient Egyptian religion, Apis or Hapis, alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh, was a sacred bull or multiple sacred bulls worshiped in the Memphis region, identified as the son of Hathor, a primary deity in the pantheon of ancient Egypt. Initially, he was assigned a significant role in her worship, being sacrificed and reborn. Later, Apis also served as an intermediary between humans and other powerful deities.
Wadjet, known to the Greek world as Uto or Buto among other renderings including
Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu is an Assyrian protective deity.
Chinese guardian lions, or imperial guardian lions, are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament, but the origins lie deep in much older Indian Buddhist traditions. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi. They are known in colloquial English as lion dogs or foo dogs / fu dogs. The concept, which originated and became popular in Chinese Buddhism, features a pair of highly stylized lions—often one male with a ball which represents the material elements and one female with a cub which represents the element of spirit— that were thought to protect the building from harmful spiritual influences and harmful people that might be a threat. Used in imperial Chinese palaces and tombs, the lions subsequently spread to other parts of Asia including Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Tibet, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia.
In Abrahamic and European mythology, medieval literature and occultism, the language of the birds is postulated as a mystical, perfect divine language, Adamic language, Enochian, angelic language or a mythical or magical language used by birds to communicate with the initiated.
The serpopard is a mythical animal known from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian art. The word "serpopard" is a modern coinage. It is a portmanteau of "serpent" and "leopard", derived from the interpretation that the creature represents an animal with the body of a leopard and the long neck and head of a serpent. However, they have also been interpreted as "serpent-necked lions". There is no known name for the creature in any ancient texts.
The dharmachakra or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Buddhism. The symbol also finds usage in Hinduism, particularly in places that underwent religious transformation, and in Jainism and in modern India.
Makara is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn.
Sculpture in the Indian subcontinent, partly because of the climate of the Indian subcontinent makes the long-term survival of organic materials difficult, essentially consists of sculpture of stone, metal or terracotta. It is clear there was a great deal of painting, and sculpture in wood and ivory, during these periods, but there are only a few survivals. The main Indian religions had all, after hesitant starts, developed the use of religious sculpture by around the start of the Common Era, and the use of stone was becoming increasingly widespread.
The Snow Lion is a celestial animal of Tibet. It is the emblem of Tibet, representing the snowy mountain ranges and glaciers of Tibet, and may also symbolize power and strength, and fearlessness and joy, east and the earth element. It is one of the Four Dignities. It ranges over the mountains, and is commonly pictured as being white with a turquoise mane. In Journey to the West published in 1592, Snow Lion is depicted as one of monster-spirits.
Kore is the modern term given to a type of free-standing ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period depicting female figures, always of a young age. Kouroi are the youthful male equivalent of kore statues.
Confronted animals, or confronted-animal as an adjective, where two animals face each other in a symmetrical pose, is an ancient bilateral motif in art and artifacts studied in archaeology and art history. The "anti-confronted animals" is the opposing motif, with the animals back to back.
Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Deities depicted with horns or antlers are found in many religions across the world. In religions that venerate animal deities, horned bulls, goats, and rams may be worshiped as deities or serve as the inspiration for a deity's appearance. Many pagan religions include horned gods in their pantheons, such as Pan in Greek mythology and Ikenga in Odinala. Some neopagan religions have constructed these deities as the Horned God, representing the male part of their duotheistic theological system.
Lady Justice is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia.
↑ Kind, Claus-Joachim (2014). "Löwenmensch, Mammut und eine Frau. Die älteste Kunst der Menschheit auf der Schwäbischen Alb und die Nachgrabungen am Hohlenstein im Lonetal". Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg – Nachrichtenblatt der Landesdenkmalpflege. 40. doi:10.11588/nbdpfbw.2011.1.12105.
↑ Matthews, Kevin (2007). Lion Gate. Great Buildings Online.
↑ Gesché‐Koning, N. & Van Deuren, G. (1993). Iran. Bruxelles, Belgium: Musées Royaux D'Art et D'Histoire.
↑ طاهری, صدرالدین (September 2012). "کهن الگوی شیــر در ایران، میانرودان و مصر باستان" [The Archytype of Lion, in Ancient Iran, Mesopotamia & Egypt]. نشریه هنرهای زیبا- هنرهای تجسمی (in Persian). 4 (49). doi:10.22059/jfava.2012.28523.
↑ Douglas, N. (1927). Birds and Beasts of Greek Anthology. Florence: Norman Douglas.[pageneeded]
↑ Alden, Maureeen (2005). "Lions in Paradise: Lion Similes in the Iliad and the Lion Cubs of IL. 18.318-22". The Classical Quarterly. 55 (2): 335–342. doi:10.1093/cq/bmi035. JSTOR4493342.
↑ Bartosiewicz, L. (June 2009). "A lion's share of attention: Archaeozoology and the historical record". Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 60 (1): 275–289. doi:10.1556/aarch.59.2008.2.28.
↑ Cohen, A. (2010), Art in the era of Alexander the Great: Paradigms of manhood and their cultural traditions, Cambridge University Press, pp. 68–69, ISBN978-0-5217-6904-4.
↑ Uhm, D.P. van (2016). The Illegal Wildlife Trade: Inside the World of Poachers, Smugglers and Traders. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.[pageneeded]
↑ Thomas, N.R. 2014: A lion's eye view of the Greek Bronze Age. Annales liégeoises et PASPiennes d’archéologie égéenne. 11–14 décembre 2012. 375–392.
↑ Virgil. "Book V, Line 352". Aeneid. ..my task to offer consolation to our friend for the downfall he did nothing to deserve." With these words he gave Salius the hide of a huge Gaetulian lion, weighed down with gilded claws and mane.
↑ Horace. "Book I, Ode XXIII". Odes of Horace. You shun me, Chloe, like a fawn that is seeking its timorous mother in the pathless mountains, not without a vain dread of the breezes and the thickets: for she trembles both in her heart and knees, whether the arrival of the spring has terrified by its rustling leaves, or the green lizards have stirred the bush. But I do not follow you, like a savage tigress, or a Gaetulian lion, to tear you to pieces. Therefore, quit your mother, now that you are mature for a husband.
↑ Pliny the Elder. "Book VIII – Chapter: Wonderful feats performed by lions". Natural History. It was formerly a very difficult matter to catch the lion, and it was mostly done by means of pit-falls. In the reign however, of the Emperor Claudius, accident disclosed a method which appears most disgraceful to the name of such an animal; a Gaetulian shepherd stopped a lion, that was rushing furiously upon him, by merely throwing his cloak over the animal; a circumstance which afterwards afforded an exhibition in the arena of the Circus, when the frantic fury of the animal was paralyzed in a manner almost incredible by a light covering being thrown over its head, so much so, that it was put into chains without the least resistance; we must conclude, therefore, that all its strength lies in its eyes. The circumstance renders what was done by Lysimachus less wonderful, who strangled a lion, with which he had been shut up by command of Alexander.
↑ Robert Louis Stevenson (1879). Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. "Your father and mother?" cried the priest. "Very well; you will convert them in their turn when you go home." I think I see my father's face! I would rather tackle the Gaetulian lion in his den than embark on such an enterprise against the family theologian.
↑ von Gall, Hubertus (1978). "The Lion-headed and the Human-headed God in the Mithraic Mysteries". Etudes mithriaques: actes du 2e congres international, Teheran, du 1er au 8 septembre 1975. Bibliotheque Pahlavi. p.511. ISBN978-90-04-03902-5.
1 2 Otto-Dorn, Katharina (1978). "Figural Stone Reliefs on Seljuk Sacred Architecture in Anatolia". Kunst des Orients. 12 (1/2): 103–149. JSTOR20752481.
↑ Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S., eds. (2009). "Kayseri". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-530991-1.
↑ Badam, G. L. & Sathe, V. G. (1991). "Animal depictions in rock art and palaeoecology – a case study at Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh, India". In Pager, S. A.; Swatrz Jr., B. K. & Willcox, A. R. (eds.). Rock Art – The Way Ahead: South African Rock Art Research Association First International Conference Proceedings. Natal: Southern African Rock Art Research Association. pp.196–208.
↑ "Early History". Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 14 April 2006.
↑ Aarne, A.; Thompson, S. (1961). The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Helsinki: Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Academia Scientiarum Fennica.
↑ Uther, Hans-Jörg (2008). Handbuch zu den "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" der Brüder Grimm: Entstehung – Wirkung – Interpretation. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN978-3-11-019441-8.[pageneeded]
↑ Uther, Hans-Jörg (2008). Handbuch zu den "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" der Brüder Grimm: Entstehung – Wirkung – Interpretation. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp.448–449. ISBN978-3-11-019441-8.
↑ Uther, Hans-Jörg (2008). Handbuch zu den "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" der Brüder Grimm: Entstehung – Wirkung – Interpretation. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp.200–201. ISBN978-3-11-019441-8.
↑ Schwabe, Claudia (2019). Craving Supernatural Creatures: German Fairy-Tale Figures in American Pop Culture. Wayne State University Press. p.157. ISBN978-0-8143-4197-1. ProjectMUSEbook65930.
↑ Sébillot, Paul. Contes des landes et des grèves. Hyacinthe Caillière Editeur, Rennes, 1900. pp. 117–127.
↑ von Hahn, Johann Georg. Griechische und Albanesische Märchen 1–2. München/Berlin: Georg Müller. 1918 [1864]. pp. 139–145 and 363.
↑ Kretschmer, Paul. Neugriechische Märchen. 1919. pp. 77–84.
↑ Hoogasian-Villa, Susie. 100 Armenian Tales and Their Folkloristic Relevance. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. 1966. pp. 440–441.
↑ Kunos, Ignacz. Forty-four Turkish fairy tales. London: G. Harrap. [undated] pp. 102–116.
↑ Fansler, Dean Spouill. Filipino Popular Tales. The American folk-lore society. 1921. pp. 171–178.
↑ Aarne, A.; Thompson, S. (1961). The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Helsinki: Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Academia Scientiarum Fennica. pp.215–217.
1 2 De Blécourt, W. (2012). "A Quest for Rejuvenation". Tales of Magic, Tales in Print: On the Genealogy of Fairy Tales and the Brothers Grimm. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p.98. ISBN9781526129703. JSTORj.ctv6p4w6.8.
↑ Marzolph, U.; van Leewen, R. (2004). The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia. Vol.I. California: ABC-Clio. pp.81, 131, 262 and 401. ISBN1-85109-640-X.
↑ As-Salab, A. M. (2011). Omar Al Mokhtar Lion of the Desert (The Biography of Shaikh Omar Al Mukhtar). Al-Firdous. ISBN978-1874263647.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Superbrands:An Insight into more than 80 of Australia's Superbrands – Volume II. Sydney: Stephen P. Smith. 1999. ISBN0-9577000-0-8.
↑ Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2001). "Flags". Encyclopedia Iranica. Vol.10. Costa Mesa: Mazda. Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
von Krenner, Walther G., Jeremiah, Ken, Creatures Real and Imaginary in Chinese and Japanese Art: An Identification Guide, 2015, McFarland, ISBN9780786497287, google books
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