"Hic sunt… canes". Cynocephali at the end of the world: The Ancient Greeks' relationship with the border of civilisation in relation to Egypt and India.

Delia, Giuseppe

Abstract

This paper aims to reflect on the ancient Greeks’ perspective about unknown lands
and what sort of monsters lived there. In mythological, historical, and geographical accounts
of the landscape, population, and fauna of exotic territories, it is possible to trace the extent of
the Greeks’ explorations around the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, and Africa. The paper focuses on
the descriptions of the fantastic beasts that dwelled just across the limits of Greeks’ knowledge
(i.e., Greeks’ collective mind). In those stories, monsters may represent the atavic fears of the
unknown and the struggle against the wild nature outside civilisation. From the remote areas
of mainland Greece or its northern borders, imaginary creatures appeared in Anatolia, the Near
East, Southern Italy, Egypt, and as far as India, spreading with the Greeks’ travels and trades.
Those beings took various shapes and body parts from several wild animals, essentially creating
the idea that hybrid wildlife haunts far and wild lands in people’s imagery. One of the most
successful monsters found in stories and depictions since the origin of the Greek civilisation up to
our times is the Cynocephalus (i.e., the dog-headed man). Cynocephali in myths, depictions, and
travellers’ reports, also thanks to the role and widespread presence of images of Anubis, seem to
have fascinated people and authors’ minds. This fascination grew to the extent that Cynocephali
became the symbol of what lives outside the safe boundaries of civilisation, ending up around
the edges of world maps. Ultimately, it came to represent the dangers of what lies outside our
houses’ comfort.

Citation

Delia, G. (2020, March). "Hic sunt… canes". Cynocephali at the end of the world: The Ancient Greeks' relationship with the border of civilisation in relation to Egypt and India. Presented at Innovative Approaches to Archaeology, Oxford

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: Innovative Approaches to Archaeology
• Start Date: Mar 23, 2020
• End Date: Mar 25, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 31, 2022
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 6, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Innovative Approaches to Archaeology: Proceedings of the Graduate Archaeology at Oxford Conference 2020
• ISBN: 9781407359915
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407359915
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3781414