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Hybrid beasts are creatures composed of parts from different animals, including humans, appearing in the folklore of a variety of cultures as legendary creatures.
Remains similar to those of mythological hybrids have been found in burial sites discovered by archaeologists. Known combinations include horse-cows, sheep-cows, and a six-legged sheep. The skeletons were formed by ancient peoples who joined together body parts from animal carcasses of different species. The practice is believed to have been done as an offering to their gods. [1]
These forms' motifs appear across cultures in many mythologies around the world.
Such hybrids can be classified as partly human hybrids (such as mermaids or centaurs) or non-human hybrids combining two or more non-human animal species (such as the griffin or the chimera). Hybrids often originate as zoomorphic deities who, over time, are given an anthropomorphic aspect.
Partly human hybrids appear in petroglyphs or cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic, in shamanistic or totemistic contexts. Ethnologist Ivar Lissner theorized that cave paintings of beings combining human and animal features were not physical representations of mythical hybrids, but were instead attempts to depict shamans in the process of acquiring the mental and spiritual attributes of various beasts or power animals. [2] Religious historian Mircea Eliade has observed that beliefs regarding animal identity and transformation into animals are widespread. [3]
Examples of humans with animal heads (theriocephaly) in the ancient Egyptian pantheon include jackal-headed Anubis, cobra-headed Amunet, lion-headed Sekhmet, and falcon-headed Horus. Most of these deities also have a purely zoomorphic and a purely anthropomorphic aspect, with the hybrid representation seeking to capture aspects of both of which at once. Similarly, the Gaulish Artio sculpture found in Bern, Switzerland shows a juxtaposition of a bear and a woman figure, interpreted as representations of the theriomorphic and the anthropomorphic aspect of the same goddess.
Non-human hybrids also appear in ancient Egyptian iconography, as in Ammit (combining the crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus).
Mythological hybrids became very popular in Luwian and Assyrian art of the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age. The angel (human with birds' wings, see winged genie) the mermaid (part human part fish, see Enki, Atargatis, and Apkallu) and the shedu all trace their origins to Assyro-Babylonian art. In Mesopotamian mythology the urmahlullu , or lion-man, served as a guardian spirit, especially of bathrooms. [4] [5]
The Old Babylonian Lilitu demon, particularly as shown in the Burney Relief (part-woman, part-owl) prefigures the harpy/siren motif.
Harpies were human sized birds with the faces of human women. They were once considered beautiful creatures but over time were then considered to be ugly and hideous. Harpies were used for torture; their most known torture was that of Phineus who was said to have offended the heavens. They would torture their victims by taking food from them and polluting what was left with their feces. They would leave just enough for their victims to stay alive.
In Archaic Greece, Luwian and Assyrian motifs were imitated, during the Orientalizing period (9th–8th centuries BC), inspiring the monsters of the mythology of the Classical Greek period, such as the chimera, harpy, centaur, griffin, hippocampus, Talos, and Pegasus.
The motif of the winged man appears in the Assyrian winged genie, and is taken up in the Biblical seraphim and Chayot, Etruscan Vanth, Hellenistic Eros-Cupid, and ultimately the Christian iconography of angels.
The motif of otherwise human figures sporting horns may derive from partly goat hybrids (as in Pan in Greek mythology and the Devil in Christian iconography) or as partly bull hybrids (Minotaur). The Gundestrup cauldron and the Pashupati figure have stag's antlers (see also Horned God, horned helmet). The Christian representation of Moses with horns, however, is due to a mistranslation of the Hebrew text of Exodus 34:29–35 by Jerome.
The most prominent hybrid in Hindu iconography is elephant-headed Ganesha, god of wisdom, knowledge and new beginnings.
Both Nāga and Garuda are non-hybrid mythical animals (snake and bird, respectively) in their early attestations, but become partly human hybrids in later iconography.
The god Vishnu is believed to have taken his first four incarnations in human-animal form, namely: Matsya (human form with fish's body below waist), Kurma (human form with turtle's body below waist), Varaha (human form with a boar's head), and Narasimha (human form with lion's head).
Kamadhenu, the mythical cow which is considered to be the mother of all other cattle, is often portrayed as a cow with human head, peacock tail and bird wings.
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.
The simurgh is a benevolent bird in Persian mythology and literature. It is sometimes equated with other mythological birds such as the phoenix and the humā, though it must be understood as a completely different mythological creature of its own. The figure can be found in all periods of Iranian art and literature and is also evident in the iconography of Georgia, medieval Armenia, the Eastern Roman Empire, and other regions that were within the realm of Persian cultural influence.
The hippocampus or hippocamp, also hippokampos, often called a sea-horse in English, is a mythological creature shared by Phoenician, Etruscan, Pictish, Roman and Greek mythology, though its name has a Greek origin. The hippocampus has typically been depicted as having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish.
Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu is an Assyrian protective deity.
A kinnara is a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. They are described as part human and part bird, and have a strong association with music and love. Believed to come from the Himalayas, they often watch over the well-being of humans in times of trouble or danger. An ancient Indian string instrument is known as the Kinnari vina. Their character is also clarified in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, where they say:
We are everlasting lover and beloved. We never separate. We are eternally husband and wife; never do we become mother and father. No offspring is seen in our lap. We are lover and beloved ever-embracing. In between us we do not permit any third creature demanding affection. Our life is a life of perpetual pleasures.
Therianthropy is the mythological ability or affliction of individuals to metamorphose into animals or hybrids by means of shapeshifting. It is possible that cave drawings found at Cave of the Trois-Frères, in France, depict ancient beliefs in the concept.
Makara is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn.
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle with its talons on the front legs.
Mythic humanoids are legendary, folkloric, or mythological creatures that are part human, or that resemble humans through appearance or character. Each culture has different mythical creatures that come from many different origins, and many of these creatures are humanoids. They are often able to talk and in many stories they guide the hero on their journey.
A legendary creature is a type of fantasy entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore, but may be featured in historical accounts before modernity.
A human–animal hybrid and animal–human hybrid is an organism that incorporates elements from both humans and non-human animals. Technically, in a human–animal hybrid, each cell has both human and non-human genetic material. It is in contrast to an individual where some cells are human and some are derived from a different organism, called a human-animal chimera.
An urmahlullu is a fictitious and mythological lion-centaur hybrid creature. They are quadrupedal felines from the waist down and humanoids from the waist up, and have appeared in the folklore and myths of several cultures of antiquity, as well as in European art of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.
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