#dog-headed men

[maverick-werewolf]

Werewolf Fact #75 - Cynocephali (dog-headed men)

This month's folklore fact is a long-awaited one from over on the Patreon: the cynocephali or "dog-headed men."

Some depictions of cynocephali (the one above is from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493) are mistaken for werewolves fairly frequently; there are several differences of note, including but not limited to the fact that they are otherwise very, very human (normal hands and feet, no tail, etc) and that their ears are not always shaped like a wolf's/pointing directly upright. They often are, however, so don't take the ear shape as a surefire thing, either. When in doubt, make sure the depiction is actually meant to be showing a werewolf before using it for, I don't know, a royalty-free image in your werewolf publication (I've seen several). The cynocephali do not shapeshift, nor are they associated with wolves. They have nothing to do with werewolves. Yes, it was just a plot to make you click this link and read about cynocephali.

Cynocephali, or singular cynocephalus, is a term derived from the original Greek word "kynokephaloi," meaning "dog-headed." They have other names as well, which mean a range of things such as "dog-faced" and "half-dog." They were mentioned in assorted accounts and tales of travelers in Africa and India, appearing in sources as old as ancient Greece, and some similar beings can be found in other cultures, such as China. Likewise, depictions of and discussions of such beings continue into the Middle Ages. This same term was later used to refer to baboons, to which no-fun modern day scholars now attribute all cynocephali legends (although we do have at least one Ottoman depiction of a cynocephalus battling a monkey).

There are many quotes across various sources and time periods about these beings, including but not limited to this one from the fifth century BC Greek historian Herodotus, Histories 4. 191. 3 (trans. Godley) [source: Theoi]

"For the eastern region of Libya, which the Nomads inhabit, is low-lying and sandy as far as the Triton river; but the land west of this, where the farmers live, is exceedingly mountainous and wooded and full of wild beasts. In that country are the huge snakes and the lions, and the elephants and bears and asps, the horned asses, the Kunokephaloi (Cynocephali) (Dog-Headed) and the Headless Men that have their eyes in their chests, as the Libyans say, and the wild men and women, besides many other creatures not fabulous."

Some stories of the cynocephali are also frightfully specific as to how they live, rear livestock, grow fruit, weave baskets, wage war, and much more, even including details of their society, clothing, how long they live, etc. It's all quite interesting. If you'd like to read more specific quotations, you can find many on one of my favorite websites, Theoi.

Sources seem to dispute one another as to whether they bark, do not bark but only howl, only shriek, or whatever other sounds they may make, and there is also a range of descriptions including elements such as if they have beards and whether hair covers their bodies as well as the dog-head. Overall, probably the majority of sources say they wear the skins of animals as opposed to having fur, but there are those that also call them hairy all over.

Please note that I will not be covering/discussing any gods from ancient Egypt in this post, because despite what some modern day scholars like to discuss, I don't consider them "cynocephali." They were wolf-headed deities, not dog-headed (or even jackal-headed), and are overall only related to cynocephali legends by proxy and by modern scholars always putting everything into blasted categories for their next thesis. There were some dog-headed deities in ancient Egypt, and Anubis, Wepwawet, Duamutef, etc, were not among them, and even then, we can't really assert that the dog-headed deities among the ancient Egyptians are actually related to other legends and records of cynocephali.

With that out of the way, let's continue...

One of my personal favorite stories involving a dog-headed man is a version of the tale of Saint Christopher, though these depictions and this tale are not seen as canon by churches and has been proscribed in Eastern Orthodoxy (where such depictions were generally most common). Some of these depictions still survive, however. Some sources believe that Byzantine depictions of a dog-headed Christopher come from mistaking "Cananeus" (meaning "Canaanite") for "caninus," i.e. canine.

In the story about a dog-headed Saint Christopher, there lives Reprebrus (among other variations of his name; ultimately, they all essentially mean "reprobate"), who is captured by Romans in battle and made to serve among them. Reprebrus was said to be of "enormous size," with the head of a dog, said to be typical of his kind. He was later baptized and martyred. However, in another version (this one from Germany), Saint Christopher is depicted as a giant cynocephalus who ate human flesh and performed many atrocities. He meets the Christ child later and carries him across a river, as in tradition (the name Christopher means "bearer of Christ") and repents for his sinful behavior. He is baptized and becomes human, dedicating himself to serving Christianity and became a soldier saint.

There are far more fascinating details in the story than I relayed here in extreme simplicity, but that's a very simple view (the story is actually very specific about different regions and even the unit in which he served).

Other depictions of cynocephali exist in certain Christian traditions, with Ahrakas and Augani sometimes being depicted with dog heads in Coptic Christian tradition, in the life and legend of Saint Mercurius.

Bestiaries also got pretty wild with the creatures depicted therein, many of which were also mentioned in classical sources (such as the Herodotus quote earlier in this post). The image above is from between 1357 and 1371, in a work called The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, or simply Mandeville's Travels, the memoirs of a man who traveled across the Middle East, India, and even as far as China. Medieval bestiaries also recorded all the same creatures shown here: a monopod or sciapod, a cyclops, a blemmy, and a cynocephalus, each different civilizations of beings said to dwell across the world (and often cited in multiple sources over considerable spans of time, which generally cite the same or similar regions for each civilization, which I've always found very interesting).

Mentions of the cynocephali span across centuries, such as in works by scribe Paul the Deacon, a Benedictine monk, and they are even mentioned in the Nowell Codex, a surviving Old English work containing Beowulf (as well as a work of the life of Saint Christopher and Wonders of the East, among others). They are also acknowledged in the works of multiple noteworthy explorers, including but not limited to Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Ibn Battuta, and Piri Reis.

With that, I think that's a decent overview! Hope you enjoyed the post.

And stay tuned for news and updates on a major [werewolf/fantasy/adventure/horror/epic] book release later this year!

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[briefbestiary]

A darkness dwelling mythical race. They have been depicted both with and without armor and weapons.

[andromeddog]

dog metaphor

[notbecauseofvictories]

completely and entirely forgot that Vetinari and Carrot get together to gleefully "reward" Samuel Vimes and also ruin his blood pressure forever.

[throwmethroughawindow]

the way i want to climb this man like a tree!!!!!😍😍😍😍 god I am so in deep w the Logan Howlett x Reader fics rn. He’s actually fucking PERFECT!!!

Give me your fic recs PLEASE😩😩😩😩😩💖

[tomialtooth]

Adler is a dog guy because he loves the obidence, affection and deference dogs show their masters regardless of how they are treated. A dogs owner is their entire world, they are reliant on them for everything and this is probably appealing for Adler and his need for control. Having a dog strokes his ego both because a dog is obedient and affectionate to it's master, which Adler thinks he is owed and because it affirms his sense of American masculinity. Adler would be one of those dog people that hate cats because you have to respect a cat's boundaries in order for it to love you and you can't control them like you can dogs. Adler likes Bell for the same reason he likes dogs.

[sugarcarnation]

love love love how similar these two panels are. makes me insane

[couldtheycatchkira]

[mythologypaintings]

Psyche in the Underworld (Psyché aux Enfers)

Artist: Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher (French, 1818-1887)

Date: 1865

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Description

Hillemacher chose the mythological tale of Psyche’s venture into the Underworld for his Paris Salon painting of 1865. Although Psyche was a mere mortal, her beauty incurred the jealousy of the goddess Venus who set Psyche a series of ordeals, including forcing her into the Underworld to obtain a portion of Persephone’s beauty. Here Psyche is crossing the river Styx, after which she will encounter Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades who lurks on the right hand side of the painting. Cerberus guards the gates of Hades and allows the dead to enter, but never leave. Psyche knows to feed Cerberus a small cake in order to return to the surface.

[imaginal-ai]

"Puppy Love"

[sad-emo-dip-dye]

I need to be institutionalized

[luna-the-cretar]

Hi. Still haven’t gone to bed yet. Brain required me to look up geckos before I can rest because I’ve been racking my brain, trying to figure out what kind of lizard Sarnax could be. Because I had it in my brain that he was probably some kind of gecko, just based on appearances, and well. I had to research geckos real quick. And it turns out there’s a lot, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Sarnax is probably one of the two in particular that caught my eye.

Appearance wise, he looks most like a Crested Gecko (again, from the few that caught my eye, tho there’s probably one he looks like more). From the ridges at the top of his head (albeit, not in the right spot), to the long smooth tail

HOWEVER, in my heart, I want him to be a Moorish Gecko (also known as a crocodile gecko)

THEY LOOK LIKE TINY CROCODILES. And given 2/3 loa lizardfolk, it’d give him SOME connection to Kremy and Briggsy. And also. They’re cute.

[ladyhedoniste]

One thing I've discovered in the course of running my Vampire the Masquerade game is that there are way way way more people that want to play this game than run it. I could lose 60% of my players and still have a full table next week if I made some calls.

[sweet-chimera]

OH GODS SHE DOESN'T KNOW HER OWN TYPE. JUST KNOWS YES WHEN SHE SEES IT.

[ryehouses]

anyway I walk dogs on my lunch break 2-3 times a week and it's usually amazing, bc it gets me up and moving and wiggly dog time in the middle of the day

sometimes, though. sometimes. sometimes I pack bond immediately and try my wife's patience attempting to sneak another largish dog into our already largish dog home.

[sillywillykarma]

MY LITTLE CHUUYA..