It is beyond
doubt that many creatures that have been found in mythology
do not exist at all. These creatures, such as flying horses
and mermaids, have been termed as mythical creatures, which
simply means creatures of myths. The presence of these mythical
creatures in mythology is multifaceted, as the roles they play
vary drastically from one creature to another. Some of these
creatures come in the form of gods, whilst others come in the
shape of demons. Most of them are however, neutral creatures
that roam the cosmos harmlessly, but yet play a huge part in
the course of mythology.
There are
mainly two kinds of mythical creatures. The first kind are those
who manifested the mortal characteristics of animals that really
existed. They also possessed abilities or aspects, that endowed
upon the creature exceptional features, such as that of Pegasus,
the horse who was able to fly with wings that grew out from
the sides of his body.
Another
famous example of the horse is the Unicorn, who was widely believed
in, in Europe. The unicorn had a spiral horn, which grew out
from its forehead. It had the unique ability to be able to purify
water with its horn, and thus unicorn horns, which were usually
animal tusks, were greatly prized in medieval times.
And there
were giants: gigantic human beings who stood many feet tall.
Giants are largely associated with the primeval world, around
the time of creation. In fact in many mythologies, giants have
a direct part to play in the creation of the world. To take
the tale of creation from Chinese mythology, it talked of the
giant Pangu, who broke out from a cosmic egg, and who later
died to form the earth.
The
hallmark of the creatures of the mythical world was perhaps
the dragons. Dragons appeared often both in Eastern and Western
mythologies, being in the family of reptiles, like those of
snakes and lizards. These hulking creatures were able to blow
fire from their mouths, and were covered in a thick protective
skin that acted as armour. However, there lies a large difference
between the views of dragons across the different cultures.
In Western
mythologies, dragons were usually seen as evil creatures that
sought to pillage villages and to amass large amounts of treasures
for itself. However, quite a different view was taken in Eastern
mythologies, where especially in Chinese mythology, the Dragon
was seen in fact as a sign of good luck and of favorable things
to come. The Emperor, who was seen as the Son of God himself,
wore a robe, which featured the embroidery of a dragon.
The
second type of creatures was perhaps more common than the first.
They were the creatures that not necessarily possessed exceptional
ability, but were made out of two or more animals in their body.
The Greek world is filled with such creatures, such as Centaurs,
with the upper body of a human, and with the lower body of a
horse. There were also the fauns, who had a human body and two
trotters of a goat in the place of legs.
The more
important examples of this sort of creatures were those who
had unique abilities. Such was the Gorgon, Medusa, who was a
woman with the lower body of the snake, and with snakes in place
of hair. She was able to turn people into stone when she gazed
at them. Another creature was the Chimera, also out of Greek
mythology, which was made up of a lion, a serpent, and a goat.
In fact,
many of the Egyptian gods such as Seth, Horus and Thoth were
hybrids of humans and bird-like creatures. In Indian mythology,
the god Ganesh had an elephant's head on a human body, which
was caused when Shiva, the destroyer, cut off his original head
while mistaking him for a stranger denying him entrance into
his own house.
In some
sense, the creation of mythical creatures by mythology has been
an essential aspect in the foundation of many mythologies. Not
only as cornerstones in the telling of tales, but also as the
elements that thicken the mythological world, giving the mortal
world more depth and vibrancy.
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Heroes
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