Terrestrial mixanthropes

1. Horse mixanthropes: Cheiron and Demeter Melaina The juxtaposition of these two personalities is intended chiefly to demonstrate a cardinal truth about divine mixanthropy: that a single animal species cannot be considered to have an absolute and permanent symbolic meaning. A horse element (the example treated here) can carry completely different associations and significance, depending on context. We cannot use mixanthropic deities to build up a vocabulary of animal symbols in ancient thoug..