Eng 06

1. Half human half animal
Sea creatures
With nearly three-quarters of the Earth covered by water, it's no
wonder that the thought of the half human half animal creatures
existed, even in the water.
Traditions concerning creatures half-human and half-fish of in other
words, a mermaid or a merman, in form have existed for thousands of
years, and the Babylonian deity Era or Oannes, the Fish-god, is
represented on seals and in sculpture, as being in this shape over
2,000 years B.C. He is usually depicted as having a bearded head with
a crown and a body like a man, but from the waist downwards, he has
the shape of a fish covered with scales and a tail.
Female mermaids and male mermen are imaginary beings living in the
water with the upper bodies of humans and the lower bodies of fish.
The Greeks called these beings nereids if they were female and tritons
if they were male. Japanese folklore features a mermaid called Ningyo,
and Polynesian mythology includes a half-human and half-porpoise
creator god called Vatea.
Often mentioned in European legends, they also occur occasionally in
the folklore of seagoing peoples all around the world. Although
mermaids are usually portrayed as being charming and lovely, they are
also associated with danger. Their dual nature reflects humankind's
relationship with the sea, which can be either a beautiful and
bountiful place or a realm of fear and disaster.
In European folklore, mermaids were associated with sirens, beautiful
creatures whose singing lures sailors to their doom. Mermaids were
commonly pictured as floating on top of the waves, singing or combing
their long hair and gazing into mirrors. Seeing a mermaid was
considered bad luck, as mermaids often appeared before storms or other
disasters and were believed to carry drowned men away to their kingdom
at the bottom of the sea. Although encounters with mermaids and mermen
often ended badly for humans, in some legends, these sea creatures
married human partners and took completely human form to live on land.
Land creatures

2. Half man half horse, a centaur was a creature which was half man and
half horse.
The upper part of the body, the head, arms and the torso were human
and the rest of the body, starting from the waist, were the body of a
horse.
Not all centaurs were savage brutes. One such exception was Chiron,
who became a teacher of medicine, music, hunting, and archery. The son
of the god Cronos (Saturn), Chiron taught gods and heroes, including
Jason, Achilles, Hercules, and Asclepius. Chiron was accidentally
wounded by one of Hercules' poisoned arrows. As the son of a god, he
would live forever and suffer from the injury forever. Chiron
therefore asked Zeus to let him die. Zeus granted his request and
placed him in the heaven as a star in the constellation Sagittarius,
the archer.
Centaurs usually represented wild and bestial behavior in Greek
literature and art. They appeared on many vases, and their fight with
the Lapiths was depicted in sculptures in various temples. Because of
their drunken behavior, centaurs were sometimes shown pulling the
chariot of Dionysus (Bacchus), the god of wine and revelry. At other
times, they were pictured being ridden by Eros, the god of love,
because of their lustful ways. In Christian art of the Middle Ages,
centaurs symbolized the animal nature of a man.
The Centaurs were so popular because they were totally unpredictable
and wild. There were the good and the bad ones; some of them would
often be drunk and violent, eating raw flesh and drinking too much
wine. They were usually followers of God Dionysus, who always wanted
drunk and festive followers and servants. Since they were savages,
they used to live far away from people, creating their own colonies.
Not all centaurs were bad.
As well as bad centaurs there were good centaurs.
Two of the most Fannys good centaurs was Cheiron and Pholos, and they
were just as famous as the bad centaurs and also often talked about.
The first one was Cheiron, a centaur – scholar who aimed at finding
harmony in nature, so he decided to learned many things about
medicine, arts, philosophy and liberal arts. He also learned about
disciplines and sciences that were usually very irrelevant and
uncommon with the centaurs.
Cheiron was mostly known as the tutor of the God Apollo, and as an
advisor to many people and deities usch as Peleus.

3. Sky creatures
Half Eagle - Half Man
The Karura is a mythical bird-man creature of Hindu lore. The gold-
colored "Garuda" had a human body but the wings and face of an eagle.
In early Hindu literature, Garuda appears as the mount (avatar) of
Lord Vishnu, and is thus semi-divine. In Tibetan tradition, Garuda
(Khyung) is a mythical bird, similar to an eagle, but of gigantic
proportions, able to block the sunlight with its size. In Japan, Karua
is an enormous fire-breathing eagle-man with golden feathers and magic
gems crowning its head.
Garuda (Sanskrit: Garuda), the eagle, is a lesser Hindu god, the mount
(vahanam) of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism. Garuda
is depicted as having a golden body, white face, red wings, and an
eagle's face and wings but a man's body. He is ancient,he is huge, and
he can block out the sun.
In Thailand it is known as Krut. Garuda is the Malay form of the
Phoenix. The Japanese also know the Garuda, which they call the
Karura, although recent characters modeled on it retain the spelling
Garuda. These three forms are local pronunciations of this Sanskrit
name.
Thailand and Indonesia have the Garuda as their national symbols; the
Indonesian national airline is Garuda Indonesia. The Garuda is also
known in Thailand as Krut Pha, which is actually a form of Krut, means
Krut with stretched wings. Krut Pha in Thailand is a sign of Royal
family.