Hybrid beasts in folklore  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

The Minotaur (1885) by George Frederic Watts

A griffin is mythical beast having the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. (from The Stones of Venice )

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demigod

Hybrid (mythology)Hybrids are mythological creatures combining body parts of more than one real species. They can be classified as partly human hybrids (such as mermaids or centaurs), and non-human hybrids combining two or more animal species (such as the griffin). Hybrids are often zoomorphic deities in origin who acquire an anthropomorphic aspect over time.

Mythology

• Centaurs are half man, half horse.
• The Chimera, according to Homer, have the foreparts of a lion, the middle of a goat and the hindquarters of a serpent.
• A Griffon has the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.
• Minotaurs are half man, half bull.
• The Satyrs are half goat and half man.
• The Sphinx is a lion that has the head of a man.
• The Naga has the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake, similar in form to a mermaid.
• The Mermaid has the upper body of a human(usually a woman) and the lower body of a fish.

Literature

• A Hippogriff is a cross between a horse and a Griffon.
• Youwarkee is half bird, half girl.
• A Quetzal is a part bird part human creature.

See also

• The Book of Imaginary Beings by Borges
• Animal worship
• Bestiary
• Liminal being
• Legendary creature
• List of hybrid creatures
• Monster
• Power animal
• Shapeshifting
• Therianthropy
• Theriocephaly