The term human–animal hybrid or animal–human hybrid refers to an entity that incorporates elements from both humans and non-human animals.[1][2][3][4][5][6] For thousands of years, these hybrids have been one of the most common themes instorytelling about animals throughout the world. The lack of a strong divide between humanity and animal nature in multiple traditional and ancient cultures has provided the underlying historical context for the popularity of tales where humans and animals have mingling relationships, such as in which one turns into the other or in which some mixed being goes through a journey.[7] Interspecies friendships within the animal kingdom, as well as between humans and their pets, additionally provides an underlying root for the popularity of such beings.[1]
In various mythologies throughout history, many particularly famous hybrids have existed, including as a part of Egyptian and Indian spirituality.[2][7] According to artist and scholar Pietro Gaietto, "representations of human-animal hybrids always have their origins in religion". As well, "successive traditions they may change in meaning but they still remain within spiritual culture" in his view.[2] The entities have also been characters in fictional media more recently in history such as in H.G. Wells' work The Island of Doctor Moreau, adapted into the popular 1932 film Island of Lost Souls.[4] In legendary terms, the hybrids have play varying roles from that of trickster and/or villain to serving as divine heroes in very different contexts, depending on the given culture.[7]
For example, Pan is a deity in Greek mythology that rules over and symbolizes the untamed wild, being worshiped by hunters, fishermen, and shepherds in particular. The mischievous yet cheerful character has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat while otherwise being essentially human in appearance, with stories of his encounters with different gods, humans, and others being retold for centuries on after the days of early Greece by groups such as the Delphian Society.[8]Specifically, the human-animal hybrid has appeared in acclaimed works of art by figures such as Francis Bacon.[6] Additional famous mythological hybrids include the Egyptian god of death, named Anubis, and the fox-like Japanese beings that are called Kitsune.[7]
