Centaurs and satyrs

All this talk of combining human and animal cells makes me think of those Classical half-beasts, centaurs who had the heads and chests of men and the bodies of horses, and satyrs who had the upper half of a man and the lower half of a goat. Sex, food and wine were the driving passions of these creatures. The love of women led to the destruction of the centaurs when they tried to abduct the fair Hippodamia on her wedding day. Her people, the Lapithae, were so incensed that a great battle erupted and the centaurs were wiped out. The underlying message is that these half-beasts are a lower form of life, a message with which today's scientists would seem to agree with if they're prepared to mess around with them for experiments. The Church believes human life should not be degraded in such a fashion, a sentiment with which I concur.