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JUNE 2007

Mystical Realities:
Mythic Creatures At The AMNH


By Jan Aaron

When faced with phenomenon they could not explain, early human imagination went into overdrive creating, misidentifying, and speculating to create mythology.

But a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, (AMNH) scientifically traces the origins of the world’s most famous mythic creatures. Entitled “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, & Mermaids”—at the museum until January 6—it deftly combines nature and myth with paleontology and anthropology and amusing models of mythical creatures with authentic fossils to explore the origins of the mystifying myths.

“This museum has a long history of studying and presenting great stories about the natural word and the culture of humanity,” said AMNH president Ellen Futter at a press preview prior to the opening. She added that this exhibition extends that tradition even further by looking at the intersection of nature and culture, those moments when people glimpse something fantastical in nature.

The first section of the exhibit explores the terrifying monsters of the sea, imaginary beasts that rose from the waves and evolved into sailors’ tales. A 1565 map of Iceland is resplendent with monsters like the hippocampus, which combines a horse with a scarlet mane and webbed feet and a fish tale. But these mythic creatures are actually interpretations of real creatures glimpsed but not understood. A sea serpent might actually have been a large school of fish riding a wave.

Some sea creatures pop up in cultures around the world. “Mermaids, for instance, were probably born in the minds of lonely sailors,” said Laurel Kendall, one of the show’s curators.

In the section dealing with creatures of the land visitors can touch a real narwhal tusk, which, for centuries, Europeans accepted as proof of the unicorn’s existence. In a video, scholar Adrienne Mayor explains she studied maps where Greeks claimed giants’ remains, which may have been, bones belonging to mastodons.

The exhibit introduces visitors to little-known imaginary beasts like the Japanese kappa, a green monkey-faced creature that munched on children and cucumbers. Kappas lived in ponds but occasionally strolled on land. Bowls of water on their heads were their source of power. Wayfarers meeting a Kappa late at night were advised to bow; when the Kappa bowed back, water would spill from its bowl and powerless, he would run back to his pond.

In addition, the exhibit has several interactive stations. At one of the most entertaining, visitors can build their own dragon by engaging a touch-tone screen.

Among the many other highlights are a richly embroidered Chinese imperial dragon robe, a 120-foot-long Chinese parade dragon, and life-size models of mythical creatures including a 10-foot long unicorn and an enormous kraken with a wingspan of nearly 20-feet rising from the sea. An excellent teacher’s guide is available for classroom visits. (For more information: Tel. 212-769-5100 or visit www.amnh.com#

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