Hyena

In almost every culture, hyenas are regarded as nasty, scheming charlatans, skulking in the back alleyways of the animal kingdom. Scorned as little more than scavenging carrion-eaters, vandals and thieves, since the earliest times hyenas have been both mistreated and misunderstood. In her new account Mikita Brottman offers an alternative view, showing that the hyena is in fact a complex, intelligent and highly sociable creature. Hyena investigates representations of this fascinating animal throughout history. Shrouded in taboo, it has been the source of talismanic objects since at least the ancient Greek and Roman Empires.