Chiron, half man, half horse: instructing Achilles

In speculative fiction and, loosely applied, in mythology, a liminal being is a fantasy character that combines two distinct states of simultaneous existence within one physical body. This unique perspective may provide the liminal being with wisdom and the ability to instruct, making them suitable mentors, whilst also making them dangerous and uncanny. The Wrath of Achilles, by François-Léon Benouville (1821–1859) (Musée Fabre) In Greek mythology, Achilles, also Akhilleus or Achilleus (Ancient Greek ) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad, which takes for its theme, not the War... ... // The word mythology (Greek: μυθολογία, from μυθος mythos, a story or legend, and λογος logos, an account or speech) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. ... Look up Mentor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Uncanny may refer to: Uncanny, a novel by Paul Jennings. ...

Many beings in fantasy and folklore exist in liminal states impossible in actual beings: haha For other meanings see Fantasy (disambiguation) Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Folklore is the body of verbal expressive culture, including tales, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the oral tradition of that culture, subculture, or group. ...

• both animal and human:
  • centaurs from classical mythology, among them Chiron, the mentor of Hercules.
• both human and demonic
  • Merlin, the son of a woman and an incubus
• both human and vegetable
  • The Green Man
• both alive and dead
  • ghosts, among them Tiresias, the dead seer whom Odysseus consulted in the underworld, in Odyssey
  • the revived Gandalf, in The Lord of the Rings

In science fiction, liminal beings include those that are both human and machine - cyborgs - and human and alien. This article is on the mythological creatures. ... Classical or Greco-Roman mythology usually refers to the mythology, and the associated polytheistic rituals and practices, of Classical Antiquity. ... Chiron and Achilles In Greek mythology, Chiron (hand) — sometimes transliterated Cheiron or rarely Kiron — was held as the superlative centaur among his brethren. ... Merlin is best known as the mighty wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. ... In Western medieval legend, an incubus (plural incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them. ... The Green Man is a symbol of uncertain origin and meaning, commonly employed as a decorative architectural device in the British Isles and many parts of continental Europe. ... A manufactured image of a ghostly woman ascending a staircase. ... In Greek mythology, Tiresias (also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet famous for changing his sex, the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. ... Odysseus and the Sirens. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... In J. R. R. Tolkiens legendarium, Gandalf is a fictional character in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, where he appears as an archetypal wizard, taking a key role in the latter books War of the Ring. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Seven of Nine, a Borg in Star Trek: Voyager The term cyborg, a portmanteau of cybernetic organism, is used to designate an organism which is a mixture of organic and mechanical (synthetic) parts. ... Look up alien in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Liminality

Liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning a threshold) is the quality of the second stage of a ritual in the theories of Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner, and others. ...

References

• John Clute and John Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy