Humanity is a very interesting material to observe. What representatives of a particular epoch live by, what their ideals, goals and aspirations are, is an interesting food for thought and, sometimes, plays a more important role than state or political transformations and cataclysms. Folklore, which eventually turned into literature and music, sometimes presents very interesting facts in which, as in a mirror, the realities of a particular time interval are displayed.
At all times, the images of monsters displayed not only platitudes in the form of fear of death or the possible consequences of a “wrong”, sinful life, but also those negative character traits that humanity vainly sought to get rid of in itself.
If we consider the very beginning of the emergence of mankind as a biological species, then we had relatively few natural enemies. Few wondered why the human eye is most sensitive to green and yellow colors. And the answer is very simple - our distant ancestors should have noticed their natural enemies with yellow skin in green foliage (the ancestors of modern large cats, such as jaguars and lions), which were natural predators. And of course, the first monsters depicted on the walls of the caves were either giant cats or creatures with cat heads. The fear of a natural predator was so great that, perhaps, one of the first gods were not only the Sun and the Moon, but also representatives of the feline. The oldest sculpture found depicts a lion-man; it is more than 40 thousand years old. And let's not forgetthat we still consider the lion "the king of beasts" without thinking about the reasons; although lions are not at the top of the food chain.
The ancient world gave us many images of monsters - from Medusa the Gorgon and Scylla to the Minotaur and Cerberus. Many researchers tend to think that issues of sex and eugenics played an important role in their appearance. And indeed, if you look at the pedigree of these monsters, you can see that they were all obtained as a result of the mating of people, gods, animals and other monsters, which are abundant in ancient Greek (and along with it, ancient Roman) mythology. That is, the appearance of these monsters allegorically speaks of what the very disordered sexual relations lead to, for which the culture of both ancient Greece and ancient Rome was famous. Closely related relationships, or incest, have a very negative effect on the gene pool of a population. And then societies had not only the estate, but also the clan structure and the choice of future spouses, that is, sexual partners,was often determined even before their birth.
The monstrology of the Middle Ages was rife with religious beings. The religious obscurantism of that period left an indelible mark on the consciousness of mankind. Devils, demons, ghouls, werewolves - all these "heroes" somehow arose not without the influence of the church. However, there were also monsters of a different kind. Since about the 12th century, so-called "bestiaries" - books with beautiful illustrations depicting fairy-tale creatures from a unicorn to a basilisk, have come into fashion. The fantasy of the authors of bestiaries, it seems, was not limited to anything. The paucity of scientific knowledge, the isolation of the then society gave abundant food for imagination. And, surprisingly, the popularity of these books (despite their high cost and limited access) was so great that many of them were perceived by society as quite scientific works. Until now, historians of science are surprisedhow the leading philosophers of the time, promoting the beginnings of materialism, could refer to these fantastic works as serious literature.
The transition from the Middle Ages to the New Time spawned a special group of monsters, mostly bloodsucking vampires. And this has a very serious foundation. The abundance of wars during that period, epidemics, a catastrophic decline in population - all this left its mark on human culture. Such historical figures as Count Dracula and Lady Bathory could not help but leave traces in human memory.
But the real peak of the growth in the number of monsters falls on the Newest time. Given the progress in the development of science and the increase in the speed of communication, the spread of new ideas began to go just by leaps and bounds. And now, it would seem, we are faced with a paradox - how can the progress of the natural sciences influence human superstitions and prejudices? Why is the number of invented evil creatures growing and multiplying every year? The answer to this question is very trivial and simple: with the growth of knowledge about the world around us, mankind is faced with questions and problems that it had no idea about before. And natural human laziness takes this process to a qualitatively new level. As soon as Schiaparelli discovered channels on Mars, Robert Wells immediately "unleashed" a new trend - Martians seeking to conquer the Earth. And so on and so forth. Each field of science has its own "dark spots", which provide fertile food for the imagination of both individual authors and society as a whole.
The consumer society existing at the present time has generally put the monsters on the stream. No one is surprised by aliens, nor telepathic people, nor fuzzies from the cartoon "Monsters, Inc." And the freedom to disseminate information and the general poor education of society lead to the fact that some diseases or minor mutations of living things lead to the emergence of whole theories about their extraterrestrial nature. All kinds of yeti, Loch Ness monsters and stick insects constantly appear here and there, which cause a violent reaction from both pseudoscientists and the public.
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However, in all this, there is also a positive point. More and more people are trying to figure out where, if not these creatures, then at least rumors about their existence came from. What is the reason for their appearance? At worst, who benefits from it? Who knows, maybe solving these puzzles will open new horizons for humanity …