The hyena hate sign likely inspired the dog-headed man monsters of medieval lore
Evidence
The hyena ( yena) is another anti-Semitic âhate signâ identified with the Jew, offering âone of the most straightforward allegoriesâ of the Jew as the devil found in these texts. The hyena resembles the dog-headed man in its identification as a canine, and the hyenaâs voice resembles a human. In the stories told about cynocephalie in battle against Christian soldiers, they are often described as whinnying, barking, and howling, as hyenas do. I would postulate that the hyena, a popular symbol of Jews, inspired the Jewish dog-headed men of medieval lore. The cynocephalus is an old monster, one long associated with evil. â Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 216
Categorization
- QUESTION: If the hyena (a canine-voiced devourer) generated the dog-headed man, is there a parallel genesis chain behind the giant and demon figures the reader studies?
- DEFINE: Clarifies the âhate signâ mechanism by which bestiary animal allegories attached to religious others.