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physiognomy was discovered at Hohle Fels, in Germany. The practice of blending human and
animal anatomy in a statuette such as this one is likely indicative of the recognition of a link
between man and animal or the animal’s possession of similar, possibly desirable, character
traits.
The animal species usually represented — mammoth, bear and lion — are not
ones that would have been eaten (a common feature with this early art). The
postures of these figurines, and their ears and eyes, reveal a close attention paid
to aggressive animal behaviour. They may be material expressions of the shared
personal qualities of humans and animals, as is perhaps indicated by the small
half-human, half-animal figurine from Hohle Fels, and the larger half-lion, halfhuman
figurine found earlier at Hohlenstein-Stadel. Or they may be expressions
of the shared social qualities of single- and group-living species. 5
Statuettes such as those discussed here are evidence for the great antiquity of linking the human
and animal worlds in artistic representation. As I shall demonstrate over the course of this study,
the creation of hybrid creatures is not a practice limited to early human kind, and certainly not
representative of so-called primitive beliefs. 6 In a classical context, human-animal hybrids were
a common part of the mythological tradition: gorgons, centaurs, satyrs, sirens, and Skylla are all
prominent examples of the mingling of human and bestial form, and all of these creatures
possessed a monstrous aspect. These figures are considered lesser divine beings, not “proper”
gods or goddesses, but some of the most influential and widely worshipped deities possessed an
animal aspect as well. 7
In studies of ancient classical religion and myth, it is often stated that the Greeks and
Romans had gods for all occasions, and that each tree, rock, and stream was inhabited by
divinities, yet scholars do not seem to apply this system to the animal world. Modern studies
state that animal worship was “anathema” to the Greeks and Romans, 8 but in the related field of
Egyptology, it has been noted by A. Thomas that, for early men, the animal world was
representative of an order and hierarchy that implied a divine presence. 9 Man has also tended to
5 Sinclair 2003, 774-5.
6 In general the word “primitive” carries negative connotations. I use this word due to the content of earlier
scholarship, but I do not subscribe to a model of primitive man and/or cultures. In fact, a major point of this work is
to disassociate the iconography of human-animal hybrids from the idea of “primitive man.”
7 Monsters (such as the Minotaur), spirits, and other lesser divinities are discussed in this dissertation at the point
where their iconography is critical to an understanding of the deities and demons featured here.
8 Ray 2002, 90; Leavitt 1992, 248. Some of the literary sources from Greece and Rome seem to demonstrate a
stance against animal worship, and these sources will be evaluated over the course of this study.
9 Thomas 1989, 11.
2