Animals in Greek and Roman thought: a sourcebook

158 Pages·2011·1.246 MB·English

by  Newmyer, Stephen Thomas

ANIMALS IN GREEK AND ROMAN
THOUGHT: A SOURCEBOOK
Although reasoned discourse on human–animal relations is often considered a
late twentieth-century phenomenon, ethical debate over animals and how humans
should treat them can be traced back to the philosophers and literati of the clas-
sical world. From Stoic assertions that humans owe nothing to animals that are
intellectually foreign to them, to Plutarch’s impassioned arguments for animals as
sentient and rational beings, it is clear that modern debate owes much to Greco-
Roman thought.
Animals in Greek and Roman Thought brings together new translations of classical
passages which contributed to ancient debate on the nature of animals and their
relationship to human beings. The selections chosen come primarily from philo-
sophical and natural historical works, as well as religious, poetic and biographical
works. The questions discussed include: Do animals differ from humans intellec-
tually? Were animals created for the use of humankind? Should animals be used
for food, sport, or sacrifice? Can animals be our friends?
The selections are arranged thematically and, within themes, chronologically.
A commentary precedes each excerpt, transliterations of Greek and Latin tech-
nical terms are provided, and each entry includes bibliographic suggestions for
further reading.
Stephen T. Newmyer is Professor of Classics and Chair of the Department
of Classics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He has published widely on
human–animal relations in classical thought, and is author of Animals, Rights and
Reason in Plutarch and Modern Ethics (Routledge, 2006).
Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World
Readings in Late Antiquity: Second Edition, Michael Maas
Greek and Roman Education, Mark Joyal, J.C. Yardley and Iain McDougall
The Republican Roman Army, Michael M. Sage
The Story of Athens, Phillip Harding
Roman Social History, Tim Parkin and Arthur Pomeroy
Death in Ancient Rome, Valerie Hope
Ancient Rome, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
Sexuality in Greek and Roman Literature, Marguerite Johnson and
Terry Ryan
Athenian Political Oratory, David Phillips
Pompeii, Alison E. Cooley and M.G.L. Cooley
Greek Science of the Hellenistic Era, Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul Keyser
Women and Law in the Roman Empire, Judith Evans Grubbs
Warfare in Ancient Greece, Michael M. Sage
The Government of the Roman Empire, Barbara Levick
Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity, A.D. Lee
Ancient Greece: Second Edition, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
Ancient Greek Laws, Ilias Arnaoutoglou
Trials from Classical Athens, Christopher Carey
Greek and Roman Technology, John Humphrey, John Oleson and
Andrew Sherwood
Roman Italy 388 BC–AD 200, Kathryn Lomas
The Roman Army 31 BC–AD 337, Brian Campbell
The Roman Household, Jane F. Gardner and Thomas Wiedemann
Athenian Politics, G.R. Stanton
Greek and Roman Slavery, Thomas Wiedemann
Forthcoming:
Ancient Greece: Third Edition, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
Ancient City of Rome, Christopher Smith, J.C.N. Coulston, Hazel Dodge
Women of the Ancient Near East, Mark Chavalas
Greek Religion, Emma Stafford and Karen Stears
ANIMALS IN GREEK
AND ROMAN THOUGHT
A sourcebook
Stephen T. Newmyer
First published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2011 Stephen T. Newmyer
The right of Stephen T. Newmyer to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Newmyer, Stephen Thomas.
Animals in Greek and Roman thought : a sourcebook /
by Stephen T. Newmyer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Animals–Greece–History. 2. Animals–Rome–History.
3. Animal rights–History. I. Title.
QL21.G8N49 2010
179'.3—dc22
2010019804
ISBN 0-203-83915-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN13: 978–0–415–77334–8 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–77335–5 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–83915–7(ebk)
FOR RAE,
who helped me come back.

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xv
Preliminary Bibliographic Note xvii
PART I
Animals as Beings 1

1 The Intellect of Animals: Rational or Irrational? 3
1. Alcmaeon of Croton (DK 1a) 3
2. Chrysippus (SVF 2. 821) 3
3. Plato (Symposium 207a–c; Republic 440e–441b) 4
4. Aristotle (History of Animals 588b4–12; Parts of Animals 681a10–15;
History of Animals 488a20–26; 588a16–18–588b3; Nicomachean Ethics
1097b33–1098a4; Politics 1332b3–8; Metaphysics 980a28–981a4) 6
5. Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 11–12; 17; 29; 45; 71; 85) 10
6. Seneca (Moral Letters 76. 8–10) 14
7. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 960A–B; 960C; 960D–E;
Gryllus or Whether Beasts Are Rational 991F; 992B–D) 15
8. Aelian (On the Nature of Animals VI. 50) 19
9. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 6. 5–6; III. 7. 2) 20
10. Augustine (The City of God I. 20) 21
2 Human–Animal Kinship 27
1. Aristotle (Politics 1256b15–23) 27
2. Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VII. 85) 27
3. Epicurus (Sovereign Maxims XXXI and XXXII) 28
4. Lucretius (On the Nature of Things V. 855–877) 29
5. Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 100) 30
6. Pliny the Elder (Natural History VIII. 1) 31
7. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 975E–F; On the
Self-Contradictions of the Stoics 1038B) 32
vii
CONTENTS
8. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 13. 1–3) 33
3 Animal Behaviors 37
1. Introductory 37
Plutarch (Whether Beasts Are Rational 987B–F) 37
Aelian (On the Nature of Animals, Prologue) 38
2. Rearing of Offspring 39
Homer (Iliad IX. 314–327) 39
Cicero (On the Ends of Good and Evil II. 109–110) 40
Plutarch (On the Love of Offspring 493B–D; 495A–B; On the
Cleverness of Animals 962A–B) 42
3. Relation to the Environment: Prey and Predators 44
Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 44) 44
Seneca (Moral Letters 121. 7–13) 45
Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 960E–F) 46
4. Helping Behaviors 48
Herodotus (Histories I. 23–24) 50
Pliny the Elder (Natural History IX. 24–25; IX. 28; IX. 33) 51
Plutarch (Banquet of the Seven Sages 160E–161E) 52
5. Skills and Shortcomings 53
Xenophon (Recollections of Socrates I. 4. 11–14) 53
Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 66, 68, 70; 77–78) 55
Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 962A; 974A–B, D–E) 57
6. The Language of Animals 59
Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VII. 55) 59
Aristotle (Parts of Animals 660a35–660b2) 61
Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 98) 61
Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 972F–973E; On the
Eating of Flesh 994E) 62
Sextus Empiricus (Outlines of Pyrrhonism I. 62–67, 72–76) 64
Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animals Flesh III. 2–4) 65
PART II
Human–Animal Relations 71
4 Animals as Moral Beings 73
1. Justice toward Animals 73
Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VII. 129) 74
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics 1161a30–1161b2; Politics
1253a9–18) 74
Cicero (On the Nature of the Gods II. 154–159; On the Ends of Good
and Evil III. 67) 75
viii
CONTENTS
Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 963F–965B) 77
Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 11–12, 18) 80
2. Justice from Animals 82
Hesiod (Works and Days 274–280) 82
Democritus (DK 257–258) 83
Cicero (On Duties I. 50) 84
Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 61; 64; 96) 84
5 Animals as Offerings: Hunting and Sacrifice 87
1. Plato (Laws 824b–c) 87
2. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 959B–E) 88
3. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh II. 12, 34) 89
6 Animals as Sport: The Arena 93
1. Cicero (Letters to His Friends VII. 1. 3) 93
2. Seneca (Moral Letters 7. 2–4; On the Shortness of Life 13. 6–7) 94
7 Animals as Food: Vegetarianism and Its Opponents 97
1. Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VIII. 13) 97
2. Ovid (Metamorphoses XV. 75–142) 98
3. Empedocles (Fr. 11 and 124 Inwood = DK 115 and 139) 100
4. Plato (Republic 372a–d; Laws 781e–783b) 101
5. Seneca (Moral Letters 108. 17–23) 103
6. Plutarch (Precepts for Preserving Health 131F–132A; On the Eating
of Flesh 993C–994B; 995D–996A; 996E–997A) 105
7. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh I. 4; II. 13) 108
8 Animals as Friends: Kindness to Animals 113
1. Homer (Odyssey XVII. 290–323) 113
2. Diogenes Laertius and Plutarch on Pythagoras (Lives of the
Philosophers VIII. 36; On the Cleverness of Animals 959F) 114
3. Plutarch (Life of Marcus Cato, Chapters 4–5) 115
Texts Consulted 117
Bibliography 121
Passages Discussed 127
ix