ABSTRACT
The introduction addresses two questions: ‘what are monsters?’ and ‘why study monsters?’. There is no consensus on the definition of monstrosity. Their role as creatures that break categories means that providing a universal definition is not possible. Instead they must be examined within the specific context in which they appear. The introduction addresses the key role of genre and generic expectations in the construction of abnormality, and therefore monstrosity. Despite the specific context of their construction, monsters appear to be present in every society, indicating that they have an important role in our understanding of the world. The second section of the introduction uses ancient and modern examples to explore the ways in which monsters can act as a valuable lens through which to examine the society that produced them, and what we can gain from analysing bodily abnormality in antiquity.
