All Lion-Bodied Composite Creatures

Lion-Bodied Composite Creatures gathers the legendary hybrid beings of ancient and medieval tradition that combine a lion's body with the parts of other animals or a human. The griffin pairs a lion's body with the head and wings of an eagle, a combination associated since antiquity with the gold deposits of Central Asia. The sphinx, in its Greek form, joins a lion's body to a human head and a bird's wings, cast as a treacherous riddling being in Greek myth. The manticore adds a human face and a venomous, spine covered scorpion's tail to a lion's body in ancient Persian legend. The chimera, also from Greek tradition, joins a lion's body to a goat's head and a serpent's tail in a single fire breathing monster. Each of these beings is a documented hybrid built around the same lion foundation.