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Throughout history the relationship between man and beast has been intertwined. As afood source, working resource and companion the way we co-exist, manipulate andintegrate animals into our lives has been altered, defined and re-defined.

So, at what point did the boundaries become so blurred that the myths and legends of

beast and man become the popular and often frightening lore that most are familiar with?And why have such tales not lost their potency over time.

It seems to be a human trait to search, learn and interpret all that we can about the worldand universe that we inhabit. Even if that accrued knowledge drifts into whimsy.

In this Essay I shall endeavor to bring some clarity to the altered beasts we create, andwhy.

From a very early age we are exposed to images and stories that make no scientificsense. They are in our books, films and television programmes. Images that are used tointrigue, astound and very often terrify. Some of my earliest memories are of creaturescreated in folklore and immortalised in print or film. Usually demonised and defeated byheroes or circumstance. It is strange that we as a race spend so much energy creatingthese monsters only to vilify and exterminate them. One of the saddest elements of beinghuman is that we destroy, in anger or ignorance all that we hold dear. Our search for truthis our blessing, and the curse of almost every living thing, real or not.

Back to the subject in hand...

...where do these monsters come from? In Greek and Egyptian mythology hybridisation

was very matter of fact. Purely in the sense that mixtures of beast and man wereaccepted. Many were deified. In Egyptian mythology two ofthe most recognisedhybrids are Anubis andHorus (pictured below).

Anubis, a crossbetween man and

jackal was linked to theunderworld. Horus,man and kestrel was

the God of the air.Whilst Anubis has morenefarious undertones itis interesting that theEgyptians believedstrongly that theunderworld was thenext step in their lifecycle, as such he wasrevered and not feared.

This was common inEgyptian lore. Whilstthe images of gods like

CG Arts and Animation / Anatomy / Unit 1 / Year 1. Simon J Bloyce / Metamorphosis Essay

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Seth were terrifying (man and crocodile) their place in the balancing of the Universe wasclearly defined, and thus accepted by commoner and Pharaoh alike.

This was not the case in all the ancient civilisations. In Greece, hybridisation seemed moreof a curse than a blessing. Notable examples are those of the Minotaur and Medusa (bothpictured below).

A Prince in exile and a beauty so exceptional that she was an affront to the very Godsthemselves. Interesting that in a similar age and Geographical proximity (by modernstandards) that there can be such a difference in perception.

It is also interesting that the Greek, then Roman view on hybridisation as something to befeared is the enduring perception.

Earliest memories of cinema reinforce this view, admittedly “Clash of the Titans 1981” is amodern retelling of Greek myth with the brilliant Ray Harryhausen bring Medusa to life inall her ‘petrifying’ glory. A woman with the body of a snake, a hater of man, hair of livingwrithing serpents and the ability to turn all who gaze upon her into stone.

It is small wonder then thatthose Godly abominations areso enduring. And small wonderthat they terrify us still. Clashof the Titans was a huge boxoffice hit in 1981, so much sothat it was remade in 2010,with the stop-motion animationbeing replaced (to lessereffect) by CG.


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The Minotaur was also immortalised in ink and film, having to bear his shame everonward. Firstly (to my knowledge at the time) in Terry Gilliams quite brilliant Time Banditsin 1981 (pictured below)and later in 2005 in, “TheChronicles of Narnia: TheLion the Witch and the

Wardrobe” (bottom right)

Unlike Medusa howeverthe Minotaur has beenreplicated time and timeagain in computergames.Most notable inclusionsfor me are, “The ElderScrolls” series developed byBethesda and the massivelypopular MMORPG (MassivelyMultiplayer Online Role PlayingGame). Seen as a behemoth,an unbelievable powerhouseusing brute force to destroy,interestingly, man.

These ideas are fairly established, what is more interesting are subjects like Lycanthropy.The idea that under a full moon man, infected by another of their crossed species turnsinto the Werewolf to feed and multiply.

From a film point of view, this is a very difficult change to present with any authority, thatsaid, it has been done successfully many times.

Pictured left is a scene fromJohn Landis’ 1981 horror/blackcomedy spectacle, “AnAmerican Werewolf in London”.A scene where the maincharacter (David Naughton) isvisited by himself in a dream,forcing him to comes to termswith his new affliction.

A transition which manywerewolves find difficult to dealwith. The juxtaposition between


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the “calmness” of man to the brutality and violence of the beast is continually covered as akey issue, which of course it is. Perhaps it is this notion that makes this beast so enduring.As men we are always trying to find the balance between civility and masculinity. Throw inthe added stresses of teenage life and you have the recipe for hirsute comedic brilliance.

In Rod Daniels “Teen Wolf” (1985) Michael J Foxbears the burdens of both. But here the wolfbecomes accepted in his world to such a degreethat he feels better as the beast than he does ashimself. Any teenage boy would rather lose theirown identity at this troubling time, and theopportunity for excessive body hair cannot beoverlooked.

Here we see Russell Tovey, midchange as the character,“George” in BBC Threes quitebrilliant, “Being Human”. Herethe denials of his new identityare played out to delicious

extent. A mild mannered, middleclass polite boy struggling todeny the beast within makes forcompelling viewing, and whenhe finally comes to terms with,and revels in the advantages

that the beast brings, well, then that’s is when the story really starts.

It is rare, in my experience for the sufferer of the metamorphic change to be at ease withtheir alterations, however in David Cronenberg’s, “The Fly” (1986) Jeff Goldblum isperfectly happy (at least at first) with his advantaged genetic state. He falls headfirst into

patterns of behaviour that his mild mannered pre-fly self might have found incapable ofembracing, but Brundlefly lets rip.

Very few modern mysteries remain, the human thirst forknowledge has exterminated grey areas of doubt on our tinyplanet with the same voracity that we use to exterminateeverything that lives, there are some however.

Sasquatch (pictured left) is the Native American moniker forthe ‘missing link’ that is said to inhabit the mountain regionsin the North of the country. Whether the image on the left istrue, or an elaborate hoax is immaterial in this context.


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What is important, is that despite our incessant need to understand we also want tobelieve. Perhaps these two polar opposite states are interlinked, forming a perpetual cyclethat satisfies all the criteria that seems to blight humanity. Suspect, investigate, capture,study and destroy.

In conclusion, perhaps this is a good time to address the negativity that runs through thisessay. It has been interesting to take nostalgic trips through films and television that haveinspired me throughout my life. On reflection, I find it saddening that the more unpleasantextremes of thought and behaviour have such an impact on our imaginations. Humanbeings it seems create only to dissect and destroy. We fear that which we don’tunderstand, but our pursuit of the knowledge of that which scares and stupefies only leadsto more fear. Perhaps this is why we do it. A diversionary tactic to stop us killing eachother. If there is one thing that history has taught me, it is that we are able to unifyourselves against a common foe, even if that foe is entirely of our own making.


anatomy_essay_20_10_2011_01

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