Legendary ancient creatures. Myth or fact?

Hydra, Minotaur, Centaurs, Sphinx, Chimera, Sirens. At first glance they all may be seen only as a part of myths and legends. Many researchers believe that all this creatures represents only a kind of attempt to explain natural phenomena, object or creatures that seemed illogical, but, what if all these creatures actually exist? Old nations were great in astronomy, travel, engineering, architecture, medicine, etc. So why they will ever tell stories about unreal creatures?

Let´s assume that they were real

Many legends are telling stories about gods, which create life on earth. We can find also theories, that these gods made many experiments, which leaded to creation of weird creatures. For example legends of Dogon people, tribe living in western Africa, who have interesting knowledge about astronomy mainly about Sirius system. Their legends are also telling us about genetically engineering. Genetically engineering is not as impossible as we may think. Before few years researchers created geep, what is an animal created from the embryos of a goat and a sheep.

We can also mention egyptian priest Manetho, who claimed that once descended on Earth beings, which created „people with wings and goat legs. Even people with horns and other with horse legs. They created also creatures which were half human and half horses. Also bulls with human heads and dogs with fish tails.“

Also Berosus, the Babylonian priest, author of the three-part file Babyloniaca noted that there was a time when „appeared men, some of whom wre furnished with two wings, others with four, and with two faces. They had one body but two heads (...) some had horses´ feet, while others united the hind quarters of a horse with the body of a man, resembling in shape the hippocentaurs. Bulls likewise were bred there with the heads of men, and dogs with fourfold bodies (...) horses also with the heads of dogs (...)men with the tails of fishes.“

Why we can´t believe in them? Many animals around the world, which are part of our everyday life, were seen as unreal. Thylacine, platypus, maned wolf, okapi and many others. Less or more, they look like a combination of different animals. So, if these can exist why not the others? Their descriptions can be find all around the world. Notes about them can be find also in Book of Mountains and Seas, where we can read about the bird, which look likes owl with human face and leg, about people with three horns or about fox with 9 tails and many others. Before various creatures you can protect yourself with fire.

We can also take a closer look on the obelisk of King Shalmaneser III, where we can see spoils of war, which is not without weird half animal-half human creatures. On these obelisk are also elephants and different normal animals. So, the ancient artist probably display objects and animals, which at that moment actually saw.

Next, as stated Arnošt Vašíček „British Museum and the Museum in Berlin offer dozens of others ancient reliefs depicting winged bulls with human heads, human-birds, sirens and other assorted monsters with strange bodies. Unique hybrids of humans nad scorpions can be found on the walls of temples in the Mexican Tule. In Egypt it  is exposed unusual sphinx with the body of a snake. Same creature feared Maori in New Zealand and is often carved into the walls of temples in Konarak nad Bhubaneswar in the Indian state of Orissa.“

What Pliny saw...

So, different nations. Nations around the whole world. Have stories and legends about weird creatures, which are similar to each other. Many people can say, that all these informations have basic in stories of travelers from far away countries or it´s only some kind of general knowledge, which comes from some Golden Age. So, saw somebody these creatures? Yes...

First we can mention information from George M. Eberhart who stated that „Pliny claims to have seen a dead Centaur, preserved in honey, taken to Rome from Arabia via Egypt during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Phlegon of Tralles saw it about sixty years later and wrote that it had a fierce face and hairy arms and fingers. Its human torso merged smoothly with its horse´s body, and its hooves were firm. The entire body had turned dark brown.“

Next, griffin. Griffin can be described as a creature with a head and wing of eagle and body of a lion. We can find griffin depicted in paintings and sculptures. But there also sightings brought to us by travelers. As informed us Marco Polo: „The people of the Island (Madagascar) report that at a certain season of the year, an extraordinary kind of bird, which they call a rukh, makes its appearance from the southern region. In form it is said to resemble the eagle, but it  is incomparably greater in size; being so large and strong as to seize an elephant with its talons, and to lift it into the air, in order to drop it to the ground and in this way kill it. When dead the bird feasts upon the carcase.“

About griffin were talking also german historian Heinrich Bunting, who stated that griffin were named in Persia as Alcra and that they „are a little bit higher and larger than lions, they have red heads, crooked legs, feathered necks, body red as blood, wings black as eagle, legs like a dragon, long tail like a lion. (...) While they are little they are accompanying king, but when they grow up they are kept in bond with chains around their necks.“

So?

Yes, in our modern world, which we know and unfortunately with only those informations that get to us through censorship, we don´t have any reason to believe to all previous mentioned informations. But different people from around the world are telling us everyday incredible stories about what they saw. Maybe somebody also at this moment heard, saw or glimpsed a shadow of one of these mythical creatures...