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14 - Animals in Athenian Life

from Part II - Inhabitants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2021

By
Tyler Jo Smith
Edited by
Jenifer Neils  and
Dylan K. Rogers
Jenifer Neils
Affiliation:
American School of Classical Studies, Athens
Dylan K. Rogers
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Summary

According to a variety of ancient sources (texts, inscriptions, archaeology, visual arts), animals were a common sight in the city of Athens. Their behaviors, characteristics, and relationships to humans revolve around the thematic categories of everyday life, mythology and religion, and performance and competition.

Keywords

cavalryhuntingpetsagriculturesacrificefestivals
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens , pp. 199 - 214
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

The growing field of Animals Studies has encouraged recent publications on many aspects of ancient Greek (and thus Athenian) animals; e.g., bovines by McInerney 2010, who reflects on their symbolic value and their many functions within ancient Greek culture; birds by Mynott 2018. The best general introduction is Campbell 2014, with chapters organized according to theme, and covering much that is mentioned here, as well the economy, magic, communication, husbandry, metamorphosis, zoology, etc. For classification, terminology, and species, see Calder 2011; Korhonen and Ruonakoski 2017; and the user-friendly collections of Kitchell 2013, and Lewis and Llewelyn-Jones 2018. Fauna are covered by MacKinnon (in Campbell 2014); Ekroth and Wallensten 2013; and see Liston et al. 2018, for dogs found deposited with infants in a second-century bc well in the Agora. For animal fossils and their connections to mythology, see Mayor (in Campbell 2014). Both Kalof 2011 and Campbell 2014 place Greek animals into a wider ancient context. Hybrid creatures in Athenian literature and art are well covered in Padgett 2003 and Aston 2011, while animal-shaped vessels from Athens and elsewhere are the topic of a recent exhibition and well-illustrated catalogue (Ebbinhaus 2018).

Bibliography

Additional resources to accompany this chapter can be found at: www.cambridge.org/NeilsRogers

Aston, E. 2011. Mixanthrôpoi: Animal–Human Hybrid Deities in Greek Religion. Liège.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bérard, C. et al. 1989. A City of Images: Iconography and Society in Ancient Greece. Princeton.Google Scholar
Boardman, J. 1978. Greek Sculpture: The Archaic Period. London.Google Scholar
Boardman, J. 1998. Early Greek Vase Painting. London.Google Scholar
Calder, L. 2011. Cruelty and Sentimentality: Greek Attitudes to Animals, 600–300 bc. Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, G.L., ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford.Google Scholar
Ebbinhaus, S. 2018. Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes, and Kings. New Haven.Google Scholar
Ekroth, G., and Wallensten, J., eds. 2013. Bones, Behaviour, and Belief: The Zooarchaeological Evidence as a Source for Ritual Practice in Ancient Greece and Beyond. Stockholm.Google Scholar
Jameson, M.H. 2014. Cults and Rites in Ancient Greece: Essays on Religion and Society. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Kalof, L., ed. 2011. A Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity. Oxford.Google Scholar
Kaltsas, N. 2002. Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Athens.Google Scholar
Kitchell, K.F. 2013. Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z. London.Google Scholar
Korhonen, T., and Ruonakoski, E.. 2017. Human and Animal in Ancient Greece: Empathy and Encounter in Classical Literature. London.Google Scholar
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Lewis, S., and Llewelyn-Jones, L.. 2018. The Culture of Animals in Antiquity: A Sourcebook with Commentaries. London.Google Scholar
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Liston, M.A., Rotroff, S.I., and Snyder, L.M.. 2018. The Agora Bone Well. Princeton.Google Scholar
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Padgett, M. ed. 2003. The Centaur’s Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art. New Haven.Google Scholar
Popkin, M. 2012. “Roosters, Columns, and Athena on Early Panathenaic Prize Amphoras: Symbols of a New Athenian Identity.” Hesperia 81: 207–235.Google Scholar
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