Images

Relief orthostat (stone slab at the base of a wall) depicting two winged griffin demons, depicted as bird-headed with a human body. From Carchemish, Turkey. Dated to the Late Hittite period, 9-7th century BCE. Museum of Anatolian Civilization...

Etruscan three-headed Demon from a pediment relief found in Orvieto (Italy). Dated to around 480 BCE. Altes Museum, Berlin.

A marble head of Polyphemus, perhaps part of a large-scale sculptural ensemble depicting the blinding of Polyphemos, similar to a group found in an imperial dining grotto at Sperlonga, south of Rome. Dated to about 150 BCE or later...

Cerberus, detail of a statue group of Persephone (as Isis) and Pluto (as Serapis). From the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods at Gortyna. Dated to the mid-2nd century CE. Cerberus was a monstrous watchdog with three heads that guarded...

A painted travertine slab showing two griffins attacking a panther. Found in tomb 58 at the necropolis Andriuolo at Paestum, dated to 340 BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Paestum. Photo taken at the "Fantastic Creatures...

Hydria with a harpy. From Vulci, Italy, dated to the 530-500 BCE. In Greek mythology, a harpy was a part-bird, part-woman monster. In earlier accounts, harpies were described as beautiful young women with wings who personified windy...

Terracotta acroterion statue of Typhon, the "Father of All Monsters". From Gabii, Italy, 6th century BCE. Typhon was the most powerful of all Greek monsters. He was a winged giant with the head, arms, and torso of a man, had pointed...

Circular antefix of a Gorgon's head made of terracota. From Taranto, dated to the end of the 6th century BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Taranto. Photo taken at the "Fantastic Creatures of Fear and Myth" exhibition at...

Bronze and ivory horse breastplate with the Gorgon's head. From Ruvo, Italy, dated to the end of the 6th century BCE. National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Photo taken at the "Fantastic Creatures of Fear and Myth" exhibition...

Aaron Burr fatally shoots Alexander Hamilton in their duel on 11 July 1804. Illustration from the book Our Greater Country: Being a History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent to the Present Time by Henry Davenport...