Christopher dog head

Description

The characteristic of cynocephaly, /saɪnoʊˈsɛfəli/ having the head of a dog—or of a jackal—is a widely attested mythical phenomenon existing in many different forms and contexts.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, certain icons covertly identify Saint Christopher with the head of a dog. The background to the dog-headed Christopher is laid in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, when a man named Reprebus, Rebrebus or Reprobus (the “reprobate” or “scoundrel”) was captured in combat against tribes dwelling to the west of Egypt in Cyrenaica. To the unit of soldiers, according to the hagiographic narrative, was assigned the name numerus Marmaritarum or “Unit of the Marmaritae”, which suggests an otherwise-unidentified “Marmaritae” (perhaps the same as the Marmaricae Berber tribe of Cyrenaica).

St. Christopher is well known as the patron saint of travelers and modern depictions of the saint often show him carrying the Christ Child over a river. This is certainly a far cry from early icons that clearly show the famous saint with the head of a dog.

Many ancient cultures had a myth that featured a dog-headed race of men. This myth even continues today in the popular werewolf stories. The ancient myth was oddly enough translated into early Christianity and was at first a central part of the story surrounding St. Christopher.

Essentially the idea was that men who lost their way and turned to a life of sin acted like animals. Sin was always associated with the base animal desires of the flesh and some stories went so far to say that some men literally became part animal. The Egyptians were already familiar with depictions of the half-jackal, half-human god Anubis and so it naturally translated into Christian icons.

One story relates how St. Christopher was at first one of these dog-headed men and upon encountering the Christ Child, regained his human appearance. It is primarily symbolic, showing how Christopher left his animal-like ways and embraced the gospel. Early Christians, especially in Egypt, decided to depict Christopher with a dog head to reference this story of conversion.