r to create the Cyclops, inhis epic, Odyssey. A feature throughout history has been imagininganimals that are the magnification of the human body to superhuman sizeand power. The Greeks Centaur (900-400 BCE) were said to have thepower and speed of a horse with the intelligence and emotions of humans(fig.4). The frieze at the Parthenon (fig. 5) shows the battle between theLapiths and the Centaurs. Stockstad detects, What should be a gruelingtug-of-war between man and beast appears instead as an athletic ballet...7Many pieces have broken off but what is left is a masterpiece of its time.Of all Greek originals which have come down to us the sculptures from theParthenon reflect this new freedom perhaps in the most wonderful way,8ascommented by E.H. Gomribrich. An influenced of the Egyptian art ,is thesphinx. Its appearance and envolved into a lions body and the wings ofan eagle with a womans head. It was a enhanced feature on the helmetAthena, the warrior goddess of Athens, and a frequent image ongravestones. The Greeks were inspired from the past, which created a newand original period. This style of art is a delicate mixture of artistic styles,and image, which blend the realism and idealism, mythology, andmonstrous beasts (fig. 6). Robert Scranton says, Greek art isnotable,...for its concentration of focus; there is almost always awell-established dominant to which all else is subordinate and related in adefinable scale.9Different cultures grab on to different attributes to construct verydifferent mythologies, but all cultures, have integrated a close observationof the animal kingdom into their artistic style, symbols, and stories. Theevolution of animals in the human imagination stretches from teachers toancestors, to protective and finally gods. Humans have developed a worldwhere animals were once beyond control, or understanding, could now beunderstood and affectionately appreciated through the arts....
