Monsters, Demons, and Winged Beasts: Composite Creatures in the Ancient World

Monsters, typically imagined as fearsome hybrids often combining human and animal features, were prevalent in the art and mythology of the ancient Mediterranean world. To answer the question of why, this exhibition explores the representation of different monsters, from centaurs to Medusa, tracing their origins in cross-cultural contact across the Mediterranean and Ancient Near East, and demonstrating the ways in which the idea of the monstrous adapted over time to police the boundaries of what was considered civilized, sacred, and acceptable.