įrom the perspective of adherents to religions in which humans were created in the form of the divine, the phenomenon may be considered theomorphism, or the giving of divine qualities to humans.Īnthropomorphism has cropped up as a Christian heresy, particularly prominently with the Audians in third century Syria, but also in fourth century Egypt and tenth century Italy. Anthropomorphism in this case is, more specifically, anthropotheism. Greek deities such as Zeus and Apollo often were depicted in human form exhibiting both commendable and despicable human traits. Anthropomorphic deities exhibited human qualities such as beauty, wisdom, and power, and sometimes human weaknesses such as greed, hatred, jealousy, and uncontrollable anger. Some anthropomorphic deities represented specific human concepts, such as love, war, fertility, beauty, or the seasons. They feasted on special foods, and sometimes required sacrifices of food, beverage, and sacred objects to be made by human beings.

The deities fell in love, married, had children, fought battles, wielded weapons, and rode horses and chariots. They resemble human beings not only in appearance and personality they exhibited many human behaviors that were used to explain natural phenomena, creation, and historical events. In religion and mythology, anthropomorphism is the perception of a divine being or beings in human form, or the recognition of human qualities in these beings.Īncient mythologies frequently represented the divine as deities with human forms and qualities. He proposes that these are the product of a change in the architecture of the human mind, an increasing fluidity between the natural history and social intelligences, where anthropomorphism allowed hunters to identify empathetically with hunted animals and better predict their movements.

This anthropomorphic art has been linked by archaeologist Steven Mithen with the emergence of more systematic hunting practices in the Upper Palaeolithic. In either case there is an element of anthropomorphism. A more recent example is The Sorcerer, an enigmatic cave painting from the Trois-Frères Cave, Ariège, France: the figure's significance is unknown, but it is usually interpreted as some kind of great spirit or master of the animals. It is not possible to say what these prehistoric artworks represent. One of the oldest known is an ivory sculpture, the Löwenmensch figurine, Germany, a human-shaped figurine with the head of a lioness or lion, determined to be about 32,000 years old. Examples in prehistory The 35,000 to 40,000 year-old Löwenmensch figurine Anthropomorphic 'pebble' figures from the 7th millennium BCįrom the beginnings of human behavioral modernity in the Upper Paleolithic, about 40,000 years ago, examples of zoomorphic (animal-shaped) works of art occur that may represent the earliest known evidence of anthropomorphism. It is first attested in 1753, originally in reference to the heresy of applying a human form to the Christian God. EtymologyĪnthropomorphism and anthropomorphization derive from the verb form anthropomorphize, itself derived from the Greek ánthrōpos ( ἄνθρωπος, lit. People have also routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, and most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. 1650Īnthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. Personification of Music by Antonio Franchi, c. In this illustration by Milo Winter of Aesop's fable, ' The North Wind and the Sun', a personified North Wind tries to strip the cloak off a traveler. Attribution of human traits to non-human entities

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