Looking at mythical creatures closely - The Best from Greece

The exhibit looks at strange creatures populating myths in world cultures from Prehistoric times to our own day, attempting to draw the line between fact and fiction.

Breathtaking animatronics and life-size models, actual fossils and findings, graphics and photographs - all can be found in the 600m2 display area.

The exhibition examines each creature from a mythological, historical and scientific perspective, making us marvel at human imagination, the source of often complex and terrifying myths.

For instance, a skull belonging to one of the mythical creatures highlighted was analysed by celebrated alpinist Edmund Hillary during his travels to Tibet in the 1960s and was further examined by the London museum’s experts. Both locals and explorers were convinced the skull belonged to a yeti, a man-like creature associated with the Himalayas, but recent forensic research has found that, most likely, the skull belongs to a rather large ape surviving until recently in the uninhabited plains of Asia.

Other creatures to appear in the show include dragons - a symbol of evil in the West, but vested with beneficial powers in the East - the white-horned unicorn, the Cyclopes and the uncatchable but well-loved Nessie, or Loch Ness monster.

The Greek mythology contribution features the Chimera, a monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a snake’s tail that has come to represent every organism with genetically different kinds of tissue.

No matter where these myths have originated from, scientists cannot help but admit that only a fraction of the species living on Earth has been identified. The exhibition poses a rhetorical question: are humans ever going to be able to clearly distinguish between reality and fantasy and draw a line between the species they know and those they imagine?

On at Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre (254 Pireos St, Tavros), October 15-January 15. For further information, phone 212-254-0000 or check www. hellenic-cosmos.gr. Tickets on site, at www.theatron 254.gr, phone 212-254-0000 , and Public bookshops