Human-Animal Transformation

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Black-figure painting on an amphora dating to the VI century B.C., from Cerveteri, now in the State Museums (Staatliche Museen), Berlin, Germany.
The image shows some young men, wearing horse masks, with other boys, who on their turn wear headdresses with animal elements, riding them. It is not clear whether the picture had reference to some ritual context or to a kind of theatrical play, however, it is a testimony of the presence of animal disguises in the Greek world. The mythical figures of the Centaurs or Sileni derived probably from ritual masquerades of this kind.


[Source: http://library.artstor.org/library/]