Abstract
They are so important and there are so many of them that works are still being written in the field of teratology - the study of monsters (from the Greek teras 'monster' and logos 'science'). Someone might say: 'Monsters don't exist, let's not waste time on nonsense.' Let's answer with an exotic trio: unicorn, dragon, UFO. Everyone has heard of them, but everyone (with a few exceptions) knows that they do not exist. These are cultural facts that function in people's minds. Here let us recall another branch of knowledge: praxeology (from Greek práksis, 'action') - the science of effective action. Not only because Professors Tadeusz Kotarbiński (1886-1981) and Witold Kieżun (1922-) made a special contribution to its development so far. Monsters invented by people must serve a purpose - otherwise they would make no sense.
Nomen omen (est)
First aid is, as usual, encyclopedias and dictionaries. It turns out that the ominous-sounding 'beast' is just a Latin 'animal'. A 'monster' is another thing, the equivalent of our monster, but also a 'miraculous sign' or 'unusual phenomenon' (omen). There are three conclusions from the review of 'monstrous' definitions. 1. Materialism. A monster is not only negative emotions, but above all a physical force that can harm or even kill. They are from our world - so not demons, devils, ghosts or other supernatural beings. They did not come here for a moment, they do not circulate like angels between heaven and earth. 2. Non-humanity. Vampires and zombies resemble humans - unlike monsters. For example, cyclops: they are not monsters, because they are creatures of heavenly origin, and they symbolize people living in a non-civilized way, because (as Homer points out) they live alone and do not know the agora. 3. A significant and negative departure from the norm, with emphasis (though not necessarily) on ugliness. 'Significant' because while an anomaly is a 'lighter' deviation (e.g. very short and very tall people), a monstrosity is a 'severe' transgression of the generally accepted 'norm'. 'Negative', because there were many temples in the world of ancient Greeks, but only the Ephesian Artemision was counted among the seven wonders. We pay attention to deviations because they are interesting, we use them to break boredom, although we do not evaluate each of them positively.
The 'monster = after + creation' explanation is questionable and theologically dangerous. Living in the 3rd century AD Mani, having synthesized Buddhism, Christianity and Old Iranian Zoroastrianism, created a religious system that had quite numerous followers in the Roman Empire from the 3rd to the 5th century. Mani emphasized the dualism of the world: good was created by a good god, and evil by an evil god. The fight between good and evil in earthly life is a pale reflection of the fight between the god of good and the god of evil in the eternal order. This reasoning provided a simple explanation of the source and meaning of evil. It was one of the first heresies combated by Christians (Manichaeism). Well, if it's a 'post-monster', then who created it? God? Satan? Much depends on the answer. Either we consider God's creation of Christians as a continuous process (not limited to 7 days or the Big Bang; God intervenes in the world whenever he wants, although he himself is outside it) or we assume that the Evil One also has the power to create (and hence a small step to Manichaeism). To admit that God did not get everything right would be to deny his perfection (including infallibility). The question about the quality of creation was asked especially towards the issue of deformed fetuses (specifically premature, miscarried or abnormal; dead at birth or very short-lived), double fetuses (Siamese twins) and hermaphrodites. While the latter in the 13th-century so-called Bractonia (a collection of English laws) decided that gender could be determined based on which organs are dominant (!), the first were not considered human in Roman law (the so-called monster et prodigia category). This is consistent with 'monstrosity' as a medical term: 'a significant degree of distortion or developmental deficiency, usually making life impossible and causing the death of the fetus' (Encyclopedia PWN).
One more explanation comes to mind: just as the human race fell as a result of original sin, and just as some of the angels, including Lucifer, fell, so it happened to the creatures that live in the world (i.e. the area outside Paradise) with people. And this is close to saying that life changes (here: degenerates) over time. But not every people had a problem with the origins of monsters. For example, the Nordic peoples simply accept the existence of dragons guarding treasures that are of no use to them. Today we explain treasure as a reward and the dragon as trials that must be passed. A better explanation of the monster is in On the City of God (XXI, 8) by St. Augustine (354-430): monstrum comes from monere, meaning 'to remind, to observe, to scold, to instruct, to advise'. Let us add that monstrere does not mean 'to monstrous', but 'to present, indicate, explain, teach'. Therefore: the monster serves as a demonstration, an example - and as such, monsters were and are useful. Less frequently, as from the tenth edition of Systema Naturae (1758) by Linnaeus (1707-78), they were identified with homo sapiens monstruosus ('monstrous rational man') - human beings that cannot be classified according to the four races distinguished by Linnaeus.