Minoan Genius
The Minoan Genius is a legendary creature that was common in the Minoan art of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization in ancient Crete. It is portrayed sometimes with the head of a lion, or of a hippopotamus, or of other animals. It is mostly seen on Minoan seals, often in pairs as supporters of deities. It is also sometimes called a "demon", though it seems generally to be a benign figure in Minoan religion; the meaning is that of a daemon in later classical religions.
It is often portrayed with water vessels, such as ewers, so it seems to play a role as a libation bearer to deities.
Mythological connections
The connections of this mythological beast seem to be with the Egyptian hippopotamus and crocodile goddess Taweret, from which it is believed to have derived. The earliest forms of the Minoan Genius derived from the Egyptian prototypes between approximately 1800 and 1700 BC. In Egypt, Taweret was the goddess of fertility, childbirth and the protection of young children, and some scholars have thought the Genius had similar functions, although the Minoan evidence for this is limited.The other common composite mythological beast seen in Minoan art is the griffin—a widespread figure around the Ancient Near East. These may pull deities in chariots, as on the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus.
File:Cylinder seal and modern impression- Master of Animals between lions, griffins, Minoan genius MET 1999.325.223.jpg|thumb|Cylinder seal and modern impression: Master of Animals between lions, griffins, Minoan Genius. Thought to be from Cyprus
Later on, the Genius also became a deity in the Mycenaean world; its representations are found widely in continental Greece.