[Religion and Art in Ancient Greece by Ernest Arthur Gardner]@TWC D-Link book
Religion and Art in Ancient Greece

CHAPTER IV
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The delight in winged figures generally, which was mainly decorative in early times, also finds its origin in Oriental woven stuffs.

Greek sculpture adopted and translated into stone or bronze some of these mixed types--notably the human-headed bird and the human-headed winged lion; these it identified as the Siren and the Sphinx of Greek myth, and associated them with the mysteries of the tomb.

To some other forms, that of the Centaur and the Satyr and the Triton, it also gave considerable scope.

But all these, if not human, are hardly to be regarded as divine; they are mostly noxious, and, even if benignant, do not attain the rank of gods.

Perhaps a nearer approach to divine character is to be found in the river-gods, who are often represented as bulls with human heads or as human with bull's horns; but here, too, we have only to deal with minor deities.


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