The cynocephalus, or dog-headed man, is a popular medieval monster that is identified as both a Jew and a Muslim in literature and painting. In the Middle Ages, human-animal hybrids are often connected to religious monsters, which are found in oppositional scenes with Christ, representing the cosmic struggle between evil and good, darkness and light. Hybrid monsters “operate [as a] major locus of the experience of horror,” thanks to their appearance as human and monster.

XREF: Connects to broader study of medieval monster lore, bestiary traditions, and how human-animal hybrids were used to define the boundaries of the human and the religiously orthodox. QUESTION: Why were dog-headed men specifically assigned to both Jews and Muslims — what made the cynocephalus a fitting emblem for both religious others?

Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imag…, loc. 217