Animals, Monsters, and the Human

Greek vase painters were fond of representing hybrids who had been born as a mix of animals, such as the Chimaera and Pegasus, but also represented "unnatural hybrids, "creatures who were once human but who had been transformed by gods into animals(Actaeon, Callisto) by showing them as animals with lingering human features. I argue that unnatural hybrids articulate the principle that the gods created mortal creatures in particular forms at the beginning of time and that those forms were expected to remain unchanged and limited; the meta of metamorpheo implies passage between forms, rather than the invention of new forms.

I’ll also look at another figure beloved by painters whose story runs contrary to this: Scylla, transformed by Circe’s potion into a new physically hybrid form—human above the waist but canine below. This relatively late story suggests there is another generative power in the cosmos beyond that of the gods: magic.

This paper explores the figure of the centaur as a mode of figuration arising from the prolonged humanencounter with proximate others, both animals and other humans who are similar to but not identical tothe subject. Ancient centaurs can be deployed to frame the constantly shifting polarities of nature andcivilization. I explore the adaptability of the centaur by contrasting the early terracotta and bronze centaurs of the Archaic period with the centaurs in paradoxographic literature. I am deliberately moving beyond Foucault’s treatment of the threat of the anomalous and Kristeva’s emphasis on the Abject. Much more applicable is Freud’s understand of the
Unheimlich, with its emphasis on the recognition that lies below consciousness. We
recognize the centaur and gaze at it as at a companion. The centaur that looks back is the animal with whom we are locked in battle.

From wild creatures to beasts of burden, the mosaic pavement in the synagogue at Huqoq (c. 400CE) in eastern Lower Galilee is teeming with animal life. In their complex and varied use of animals in narrative and non-narrative scenes, the Huqoq mosaics continue to challenge conventional scholarly assumptions concerning the limited range of imagery used in synagogue mosaics. At the same time, the incorporation of animals in heraldic compositions in the nave of the Huqoq synagogue participates in an iconographic tradition that is familiar from other synagogue mosaics in Galilee. The heraldic imagery in the Huqoq synagogue employs iconography associated with imperial commemoration in unusual visual formulations that complicate our understanding of animal and human relationships. This paper explores the presentation of animals within these heraldic compositions as potent symbols of power which amplify the emphasis on the heroic within the mosaic pavement as a whole.

The central bema in the main church of Seleucia Pieria, the port city of ancient Antioch, was surrounded by a mosaic-inlaid ambulatory. Although only fragments of the late 5th c. composition were recovered, the design appears to have featured a continuous procession of animals, punctuated by tufts of vegetation. The range of represented species is remarkable; it includes even a large elephant. Unlikeearlier mosaics of staged hunts, the creatures are notably peaceful, and given their location, presumablyendowed with Christian meaning. It is possible that the assemblage was intended to represent paradiseas a time before sin and violence, but it seems more likely that it was primarily designed to evokewonder. Drawing upon Rafe Neis’s analysis of the functions of the menagerie, as well as uponcontemporary studies of surprise, this paper will argue for the liturgical utility of awe.

Christianity, developed in the territory of today's Egypt, between 3rd - 8th centuries AD by the local Christian community of the so-called Copts, took a lot of symbols and decorative elements from ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman paganism and also from Byzantine and ancient far Eastern arts.
These symbols and figures have many similarities, especially in formal features, but they had different meanings and religious symbolism. Decorative elements and scenes on clothing could also serve as magical protection. In addition to protective symbols, motifs intended to ensure a prosperous long life for the wearer can also be found on late antique textiles and clothing.
The paper deals with possible interpretations of the meaning, symbolic or protective role of animal medallions, human figures with hybrid features on late antique Egyptian textiles in the collection of the Silesian Museum in Opava in the Czech Republic and other Czech museums, in the overall global context.