Various mythological beasties, associated with the polytheistic gods include a generic type commonly referred to as hybrids, but which I term the ‘half-and-halves’. That is to say, these mythological beasties are a composite of two (sometimes more) distinct life forms. There are the half-and-halves that are half human–half animal, and the half-and-halves that are half animal–half some other form of animal. My premise is 1) these half-and-halves weren’t mythological; neither were the gods. The gods were really extraterrestrials, and the half-and-halves among the end products of ET’s genetic engineering experiments.
There are many puzzling features in mythology, if taken as purely mythology, regarding the so-called gods. I say so-called because to my way of interpreting things, the gods weren’t mythological but flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials with advanced technology, especially in the field of bioengineering or genetic engineering. A puzzling feature regarding the ‘gods’ and related tales, or even tails, are the half-and-halves (my phrase – you probably won’t find it lasted in any index in any mythology text). But these half-and-halves, some of which I’m going to cite, are just scratching the surface of the sum total of those represented in our ancient mythologies. The interesting point is that these hybrids are universal within that collective mythology. That is, they appear across all cultures; all geographies. Anytime something supposedly mythological, is represented everywhere, it’s time to sit up and take closer notice that things might not be quite as mythological as things first appear.
So what were some of the common and relative well know examples of half-and-halves where half of the half was a human half?
* If you’re a Christian, I guess you accept the reality of Angels way back then – humans with wings (though you won’t find winged Angels in the Bible).
* The Greek mythological Centaurs had a human head on a horse’s body (#).
* Cupid (or Eros) was in Greek or Roman mythology a human (‘god’) with wings.
* The Cynocephali were a medieval dog-headed people.
* The Indian ‘god’ called Ganesha had an elephant’s head atop a human body.
* Also from India
* The Gorgons, especially the infamous Medusa, had a human head on a human body, but with serpents’ (snakes’) for ‘hair’.
* The Harpies were females having a human head on a bird’s body.
* The Persian Huma had a gender crisis being half male, half female – with wings.
* If you attach a lion’s head on a giant’s body, you would get the Humbaba of Gilgamesh fame.
* The Kurangaituku was a Maori (New Zealand
* The Lamassu (or Shedu) were winged bulls with human heads in ancient Mesopotamian or Assyrian mythology.
* The ancient Greek Lamia had a female head and upper torso, but from the waist down, she was just a snake.
* Also courtesy of the ancient Greeks, we were once presented with the Manticore – a human face on a lion.
* The Mermaids or Mermen had human heads on the body of a fish or fish-like creature.
* The Greek Minotaur had a bull’s head on a human’s body.
* Satyrs were hybrids with a human head on a goat’s body.
* The Sirens were bird-maidens with a female head and body but with bird wings and tails).
* The well known Sphinx was a human head on a lion’s body.
* The Tengu was a Japanese birdman.
* The Typhon was the father of all monsters in Greek mythology, who was a man from the waist up, and a mass of seething vipers from the waist down.
But there were other half-and-halves that had nothing to do with humans and human features. For example:
* The Ahuizotl was an Aztec dog adapted for life in the water - but with a hand at the end of its tail.
* The ancient Egyptian Amemait once possessed a crocodile head attached to the body of a lion and that in turn to the hindquarters of a hippo.
* The Anzu (also called Zu of Persian and Sumerian mythology) was depicted as a lion-headed eagle.
* If you have the body of a horse, but the head of a bull, you were probably a Bonnacon.
* The Chimera was a triple-headed, triple-bodied composite of lion, goat and dragon.
* The Cockatrice was a winged cockerel with a serpent’s tail.
* Dragon’s themselves were an amalgamation of a lizard or snake or serpent with wings.
* The Fenghuang from Chinese mythology, was a hybrid cock, swallow, swan and goose.
* The Gryphon (or Griffin
* The Hydra had a lion’s body with numerous serpent heads.
* The Japanese Kappa had a monkey-like face with the ‘arms’ and legs associated with frogs, along with the body and shell of a tortoise.
* From Hindu mythology, there was the Makara with the head of a crocodile but the body and tail of a fish.
* One can’t of course forget Pegasus, the flying winged horse.
* A Peryton had a deer’s (or stag’s) head and body but with wings; perhaps useful to Santa?
* From Arthurian mythology arose the Questing Beast with a serpent’s head but various feline body parts, but also hooves (not paws and claws).
* The Qilin was a Chinese version of the Unicorn, but with the body of a deer, hooves of a horse and the tail of an ox.
* The Simurgh from ancient Persia
* The Tarasque had a lion’s head, but the body of a serpent – with wings.
* The Yale was antelope-like but with boar tusks and an elephant’s tail.
The Biblical Book of Revelation had more anomalous hybrids within than you can shake a stick at, from seven-headed dragons to locusts with humans faces and the tails of scorpions, to a sea beast with, you guessed it, seven heads but collectively ten horns which sort of looks like a leopard with bear’s feet!
(#) I received the following comment from a friend who received a copy of the above essay. She said: “I also have no explanation (except for one) to offer for all the mythological hybrids. The one explanation I have to offer is not mine, but I can’t remember the source. It is for the centaur. I think this is meant to be a human torso on a horse’s body rather than just a human head. Centaurs have two arms and four legs. The explanation put forward for this myth is that when horse riding was first observed by people to whom it was unknown, they just didn’t think they were seeing a person sitting on a horse’s back. They didn’t know horses could be ridden. They thought they were seeing a new creature.”
My retort was that at first glance that might work as long as the rider(s) didn’t dismount. Then too, the rider isn’t at the front but in the middle of the horse, so it doesn’t entirely work. Further, you’d have a two-headed creature – one head pure human; one head pure horse. Your centaur only has one head – human. Sorry, close, but no cigar to whoever thought up that one.
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