Hippalectryon
Encyclopedia
A hippalectryon is a type of fantastic hybrid creature
of Ancient Greek folklore, half-horse
and half-rooster
, with yellow feathers. The front half is that of a horse, the rear half a rooster's wings, tail and legs.
The oldest representation currently known dates back to the 9th century BCE, and the motif grows most common in the 6th century, notably in vase painting
and sometimes as statues, often shown with a rider. It is also featured on some pieces of currency. A few literary works of the 5th century mention the beast, though no myths related to it are currently known.
, Aristophanes
describes the hippalectryon as a yellow-feathered, awkward-looking creature. The appearance of the creature is consistent amongst the known artistic representations. It involves a horse front part, including the head, withers and the front legs; the hind part is that of a rooster, including the wings, tail and legs.
A text attributed to Hesychius of Alexandria
mentions three different types of hippalectryons: a giant rooster; a giant vulture; and a creature close to griffin
s as painted on fabrics from Persia. Some confusion might have arisen, as some texts also refer to hippalectryons as plain horses, a coat-of-arms, or as sea monsters. Before Aeschylus
, no specific term appears to refer to representations of hippalectryons.
from Knossos
, dating back to the 9th century BCE.
Hippalectryons become a common theme from 575 to 480 BCE, often depicted with an unarmed rider, typically a young boy.
The motif might not be an ancient Greek invention: an analysis of Aristophanes' works suggests that it could have originated in the Middle East, and the costumes worn by the people featured on pottery with hippalectryons seem to be Asian, though this particular point is a matter of debate.
Hippalectryons are displayed almost exclusively on black-figure
vases from Attica, and could constitute an alternative representation of Pegasus
.
Hybrids
are a popular and common theme in archaic Greek sculpture and vase painting. Most hybrids appear to have reached Greece from the East, although no early representation of a hippalectryon in Egyptian or Middle Eastern art has yet been found.
Hippalectryons have been found on engraved stones from the Late Period of ancient Egypt
. Though they differ from 6th century Attic and Ionic representations, the horse head and the rooster legs and tail are featured.
' The Frogs
, hippalectryons were often painted on shields. A red-figure
vase featuring Athena waving a shield sporting a hippalectryon has been found; the theme probably was credited with apotropaic and prophylactic virtues. Roosters are prophylactic as they are a symbol of solar power that routs demons with its singing at sunrise. Horses, especially winged horses, are a funerary symbol as they guide the souls of the dead. The grotesque and ugly hybrid supposedly induced laughter, thereby driving evil away.
The Hippalectryon described in Aeschylus
' Myrmidons was probably sculpted to commemorate a naval high deed. In The Frogs, Aristophanes
states that the motif was painted on galleys in ancient times, indicating that it could have been credited with magical powers to protect ships.
Aeschylus is the first to mention them: in Myrmidons, he describes a ship featuring a "fire-coloured horse-chanticleer".
Hippalectryon is one of Aristophanes' favourite insults. He uses it in Peace
(421 BCE), The Birds
(414) and in The Frogs
(405), in which Dionysus
and Euripides
mock Aeschylus for mentioning it. He furthermore mentions that in his time (end of the 5th century BCE), most inhabitants of Athens had never heard of hippalectryons.
English translation, published in 1729:
Hippalektiones appear in The Battle of the Labyrinth
. They are thought to be extinct, but there are some at Geryon
's Ranch.
Hybrid (mythology)
Hybrids are mythological creatures combining body parts of more than one real species.They can be classified as partly human hybrids , and non-human hybrids combining two or more animal species...
of Ancient Greek folklore, half-horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
and half-rooster
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, with yellow feathers. The front half is that of a horse, the rear half a rooster's wings, tail and legs.
The oldest representation currently known dates back to the 9th century BCE, and the motif grows most common in the 6th century, notably in vase painting
Pottery of Ancient Greece
As the result of its relative durability, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because there is so much of it it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society...
and sometimes as statues, often shown with a rider. It is also featured on some pieces of currency. A few literary works of the 5th century mention the beast, though no myths related to it are currently known.
Etymology
The term "hippalectryon", also transcribed "hippalektryon", comes directly from Ancient Greek "ἱππαλεκτρυών", a compound word that comprises ἵππος (híppos, "horse"), and ἀλεκτρυών (alektryốn, "rooster"). The name is thus a plain description of the hybrid creature.Description
In The BirdsThe Birds (play)
The Birds is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs...
, Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
describes the hippalectryon as a yellow-feathered, awkward-looking creature. The appearance of the creature is consistent amongst the known artistic representations. It involves a horse front part, including the head, withers and the front legs; the hind part is that of a rooster, including the wings, tail and legs.
A text attributed to Hesychius of Alexandria
Hesychius of Alexandria
Hesychius of Alexandria , a grammarian who flourished probably in the 5th century CE, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived...
mentions three different types of hippalectryons: a giant rooster; a giant vulture; and a creature close to griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
s as painted on fabrics from Persia. Some confusion might have arisen, as some texts also refer to hippalectryons as plain horses, a coat-of-arms, or as sea monsters. Before Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
, no specific term appears to refer to representations of hippalectryons.
Ceramic and sculpture
The oldest known representation of a hippalectryon is an askosAskos (pottery vessel)
Askos is the name given in modern terminology to a type of ancient Greek pottery vessel used to pour small quantities of liquids such as oil. It is recognisable from its flat shape and a spout at one or both ends that could also be used as a handle...
from Knossos
Knossos
Knossos , also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square...
, dating back to the 9th century BCE.
Hippalectryons become a common theme from 575 to 480 BCE, often depicted with an unarmed rider, typically a young boy.
The motif might not be an ancient Greek invention: an analysis of Aristophanes' works suggests that it could have originated in the Middle East, and the costumes worn by the people featured on pottery with hippalectryons seem to be Asian, though this particular point is a matter of debate.
Hippalectryons are displayed almost exclusively on black-figure
Black-figure pottery
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...
vases from Attica, and could constitute an alternative representation of Pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
.
Hybrids
Hybrid (mythology)
Hybrids are mythological creatures combining body parts of more than one real species.They can be classified as partly human hybrids , and non-human hybrids combining two or more animal species...
are a popular and common theme in archaic Greek sculpture and vase painting. Most hybrids appear to have reached Greece from the East, although no early representation of a hippalectryon in Egyptian or Middle Eastern art has yet been found.
Hippalectryons have been found on engraved stones from the Late Period of ancient Egypt
Late Period of Ancient Egypt
The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
. Though they differ from 6th century Attic and Ionic representations, the horse head and the rooster legs and tail are featured.
Numismatics
Five coins featuring a hippalectryon, or possibly Pegasus, were found in 1868 in the Volterra treasure, amongst 65 very old pieces of currency .Symbolism
According to a study of AristophanesAristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
' The Frogs
The Frogs
The Frogs is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus, in 405 BC, and received first place.-Plot:...
, hippalectryons were often painted on shields. A red-figure
Red-figure pottery
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously dominant style of Black-figure vase painting within a few decades...
vase featuring Athena waving a shield sporting a hippalectryon has been found; the theme probably was credited with apotropaic and prophylactic virtues. Roosters are prophylactic as they are a symbol of solar power that routs demons with its singing at sunrise. Horses, especially winged horses, are a funerary symbol as they guide the souls of the dead. The grotesque and ugly hybrid supposedly induced laughter, thereby driving evil away.
The Hippalectryon described in Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
' Myrmidons was probably sculpted to commemorate a naval high deed. In The Frogs, Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
states that the motif was painted on galleys in ancient times, indicating that it could have been credited with magical powers to protect ships.
Occurrences in Greek texts
Hippalectryons are not associated with any known myth or legend. As a consequence, they are scarcely mentioned by Greek authors.Aeschylus is the first to mention them: in Myrmidons, he describes a ship featuring a "fire-coloured horse-chanticleer".
Hippalectryon is one of Aristophanes' favourite insults. He uses it in Peace
Peace (play)
Peace is an Athenian Old Comedy written and produced by the Greek playwright Aristophanes. It won second prize at the City Dionysia where it was staged just a few days before the ratification of the Peace of Nicias , which promised to end the ten year old Peloponnesian War...
(421 BCE), The Birds
The Birds (play)
The Birds is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs...
(414) and in The Frogs
The Frogs
The Frogs is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus, in 405 BC, and received first place.-Plot:...
(405), in which Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
and Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
mock Aeschylus for mentioning it. He furthermore mentions that in his time (end of the 5th century BCE), most inhabitants of Athens had never heard of hippalectryons.
Popular culture
Hippalectyons are seldom mentioned in modern works. There might be an occurrence in Mother GooseMother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
English translation, published in 1729:
Hippalektiones appear in The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Battle of the Labyrinth is a 2008 fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology; it is the fourth novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan...
. They are thought to be extinct, but there are some at Geryon
Geryon
In Greek mythology, Geryon , son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. A more literal-minded later generation of Greeks associated the region with Tartessos in southern...
's Ranch.
External links
- Hippalektryon on Theoi
- Hippalektryon by Harvey Alan Shapiro : Art, Myth, and Culture, Greek Vases from Southern Collections on Perseus gallery,
- Hippalektryøn on Summagallicana