Hybrids in Mythology

Mythological creatures have been part of story telling for as long as we know, many involving a mixture of an animal and a human (human hybrid). Evidence has been found as far back as when people were living in caves with prehistoric cave drawings sometimes illustrating these mythical creatures. The drawing below was created 35000 years ago. It shows a human arm and hand, but with a deers head, wearing a shawl or cloak.

LATERZA, M., 2012. Prehistoric Cave Paintings. In: Tutt' Art. 27 July 2012 [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2012/07/prehistoric-cave-paintings-35000-years.html

Mythical creatures were around in early civilisation such as in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman times. All of these countries told stories as part of their mythology to explain their religious and cultural backgrounds. Example of each and shown below:

Ancient Egyptian Hybrids          

Anubis
Anubis was the God of embalming and the dead. Anubis is the Greek version of his name, the Egyptians called him Anpu. He had a man's body with a jackal's head. It was thought that he looked over the dead because jackals were seen in graveyards. Anubis was thought of as the God of embalming because he treated Osiris' dead body to help reserve it after he was murdered by Seth. This made people think that he would look over them during the mummifying process and many priests would wear a mask of Anubis when carrying out mummification.

 ANON, 2010. Ancient Gods. In: Precious Treasures. 30 December 2010 [1 November 2015].
Available from: http://precious-treasuress.blogspot.co.uk/2010_12_01_archive.html

Ra
Ra, meaning sun, was the God of the sun. He is one of the most widely known of all the Egyptian gods. People believed that when the sun went down Ra was eaten by Nut, the goddess of the sky, and when the sun came up people believed he had been reborn. Ra had the body of a man, with a hawk's head and a big round disk to represent the sun. He is usually shown with a scepter in one hand and a ankh in the other.

ANCIENT EGYPT, 2012. Ra Egyptian God of the Sun. In: Ancient Egypt. 
2012 [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.ancient-egypt.
info/2012/02/ra-god-of-sun-ra-god-facts-card-ancient.html

Tawaret
Tawaret, meaning 'the great one', was the goddess of maternity and childbirth, protecting all women and children during these times. She had the head of a hippopotamus, the arms and legs of a lion, the tail of a crocodile and the stomach and breasts of a pregnant woman. All three of the animals combined to create Tawaret were fierce animals that would kill to protect their young. People would worship Tawaret in their own homes by keeping a amulet (objects in the shape of the god/goddess that were believed to give power to the owner).

MARK, 2011. Taweret (Taueret, Taurt, Toeris, Ipy, Ipet, Apet, Opet, Reret) 
[1 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.liberallifestyles.com/?p=2409

Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx was carved into a giant statue out of stone in the shape of a lion with a human head. It is positioned outside the ancient Egyptian king's (Khafra) pyramid to protect it. There are many legends that have been told about the Sphinx, for example some people think there are secret passageways underneath the Sphinx, however these have not been found yet. The start of a story about the Sphinx has been written on a slab of stone in between it's paws about a prince who, after a long tiring day, had fallen asleep next to the Sphinx and had dreamt that he had been told by the Sphinx to remove the sand from all around him and in return he would become the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. 

BRITISH MUSEUM, 1999. What is the Great Sphinx? [1 November 2015]. 
Available at: http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pyramids/about/sphinx.html

Greek Hybrids

Minotaur

Minotaur started off as one mythical creature but turned into a race of mythical creatures. The original Minotaur was called Asterius and he was the son of the Queen of Crete, Pasiphae, and a bull. This is why he has the body of a monstrous man and the head of a bull. In some creations of the later Minotaurs they have the body and head of a bull, but the original was a human hybrid. 

ZABODNAR, 2015. The Foreign Minotaur. In: GRST 202 Blog. 2 May 2015 [1 November 2015]. Available from:
https://pages.vassar.edu/grst-202-52-2015b/2015/05/02/100/

Centaur - Chiron

A Centaur was a creature in Greek mythology with the upper half of a man's body and the lower half (waist down) of a horse. The father of the Centaur race was called Centaurus and was the love child of Ixion, the king of the Lapiths, and Hera, Zeus' wife. The most well-known Centaur is Chiron because of his intelligence and being the tutor of Asklepios, the god of medicine, and some heroes, including Hercules. He was married the the nymph Chariklo and it is believed that he lived in the forests of Mt. Pelion. He is most commonly seen wearing a cloak holding a branch over his shoulders with hunted animals hung on it. 

EY, 2011. Every Man His Own Horse. In: 1/72 Multiverse. 12 March 2011 [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://72-multiverse.blogspot.com.au/2011_03_01_archive.html

Medusa
Medusa was one of the monsters in greek mythology as anyone who looked into her eyes immediately turned into stone. She is one of the Gorgon sisters and daughter of the children of the goddess of Earth, Gea, and the god of the Ocean, Oceanus. She has the face of an ugly woman (however she is not always represented as ugly) and she has snakes instead of hair. She was turned into this monster because she married and fell in love with Poseidon even though she vowed to a life of celibacy.

GREEKMYTHOLOGY.COM, 2015. Medusa [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Medusa/medusa.html

Ancient Roman Hybrids

Centaur
Some human hybrids were found in both Greek and Roman mythology, for example the image below of a Centaur was found in a roman mosaic in a palace and  . The man in the mosaic has a human upper body and from the waist down he had a horse's body.

ATSMA, A., 2015. Kentauroi Thessalioi [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiThessalioi.html

Faun
Fauns were first described in Greek and Roman mythology. They are hybrids that are a cross between a human and a goat. They have human upper bodies and faces, with the lower body and ears of a goat and hair placement around the face like a goat. They live in fields and are the inventors of the pan flutes which are flutes made out of reed of bamboo. In Roman Mythology there was a god called Faunus and a goddess called Fauna and the Fauns were their followers.

TANABE, J., 2015. Fauns and Faun Mythology. In: Wizzley. 24 September 2015 [1 November 2015]. Available from:
https://wizzley.com/fauns-and-faun-mythology/

Harpies
Roman poet Virgil described Harpies in the Aeneid. They are described as 'having beautiful faces of virgins and bird-like bodies' with talons for hands and giant wings. In Greek mythology Harpies were described as 'snatchers' because they used to snatch food and people's belongings.

KRECKER, J., 2010. Magical Creatures in Virgil's Aeneid [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://epicplantsandanimals.pbworks.com/w/page/23261860/Magical%20Creatures%20in%20Virgil's%20Aeneid

Horoscope Human Hybrid - Sagittarius
A horoscope is the forecast of a person's future, typically including a delineation of character and circumstances, based on the relative positions of the stars and planets at the time of that person's birth. - Oxford dictionaries. If a person was born between November 22nd and December 21st then their star sign is Sagittarius. Sagittarius has the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, a centaur, and holds a bow and arrow. The arrow represents the person's dreams and ambitions and the horse part of the body represents how they are ever restless and eager to gallop off in search of new opportunities. 

CORDELIA, 2006. TDB and the Galactic Center [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://www.cieltanner.ch/enigma/sagittarius.html

References:
THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 1999. The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/main.html

ANCIENT EGYPT, 2012. Ra Egyptian God of the Sun. In: Ancient Egypt. 2012 [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.ancient-egypt.info/2012/02/ra-god-of-sun-ra-god-facts-card-ancient.html

MARK, 2011. Taweret (Taueret, Taurt, Toeris, Ipy, Ipet, Apet, Opet, Reret) [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.liberallifestyles.com/?p=2409

LEMIEUX, E., 2012. How were ancient Egyptian amulets used?. In: WCMA Blog. 15 August 2012 [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://wcma.williams.edu/blog/amulets/

BRITISH MUSEUM, 1999. What is the Great Sphinx? [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pyramids/about/sphinx.html

ANON, 2015. The Minotaur of Greek Mythology [1 November 2015]. Available from:
http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/minotaur-greek-mythology.html

PINSENT, J., 1970. Myths & Legends of Ancient Greece. New York: Grosset & Dunlap

CARTWRIGHT, M., 2012. Cantaur [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://www.ancient.eu/centaur/

GREEKMYTHOLOGY.COM, 2015. Medusa [1 November 2015]. Available from:

http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Medusa/medusa.html

LYLE, J., 2009. Zodiac Symbols and their Meanings. In: The Astrology Room. 23 January 2009 [1 November 2015] Available from: http://www.theastrologyroom.com/guides/zodiac-symbols-and-their-meanings

KRECKER, J., 2010. Magical Creatures in Virgil's Aeneid [1 November 2015]. Available from: http://epicplantsandanimals.pbworks.com/w/page/23261860/Magical%20Creatures%20in%20Virgil's%20Aeneid