- The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life
- Acknowledgements
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Aesop and Animal Fable
- Animals in Classical Art
- Good to Laugh With: Animals in Comedy
- Animals in Epic
- Animals in Tragedy
- Domestication and Breeding of Livestock: Horses, Mules, Asses, Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Swine
- Animal Husbandry
- Value Economics: Animals, Wealth, and the Market
- Fauna of the Ancient Mediterranean World
- Insects
- Ancient Fishing and Fish Farming
- Hunting
- Animal Communication
- Origins of Life and Origins of Species
- Civilization, Gastronomy, and Meat-Eating
- Pets
- Animals in Warfare
- Animal Magic
- Animals and Divination
- Animal Sacrifice in Antiquity
- Animals in Late Antiquity and Early Christianity
- Part-Animal Gods
- Metamorphosis: Human into Animals
- Wondrous Animals in Classical Antiquity
- Animals in Egypt
- Spectacles of Animal Abuse
- Horse Racing and Chariot Racing
- Animals and Triumphs
- Being the One and Becoming the Other: Animals in Ancient Philosophical Schools
- Philosophical Vegetarianism and Animal Entitlements
- Zoological Knowledge in Ancient Greece and Rome
- Ancient Fossil Discoveries and Interpretations
- Veterinary Medicine
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter examines the role of animals in divination in ancient times. It discusses ancient observers’ interpretation of signs coming from instinctive animal behaviour and from the structure of animal body parts. It explains the three main currents of philosophical thought on divination. Plato and Aristotle believed the divinatory insights to be tied with animal instinct and belong to a fringe form of cognition that is specifically connected with humans’ animal natures. On the other hand, the Stoics considered divination as an important piece of their understanding of the cosmos as a whole, and of humans as part of it.
Keywords: animals in divination, ancient times, interpretation of signs, animal behaviour, animal body parts, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, divinatory insights, form of cognition
Peter Struck, University of Pennsylvania.
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- The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life
- Acknowledgements
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Aesop and Animal Fable
- Animals in Classical Art
- Good to Laugh With: Animals in Comedy
- Animals in Epic
- Animals in Tragedy
- Domestication and Breeding of Livestock: Horses, Mules, Asses, Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Swine
- Animal Husbandry
- Value Economics: Animals, Wealth, and the Market
- Fauna of the Ancient Mediterranean World
- Insects
- Ancient Fishing and Fish Farming
- Hunting
- Animal Communication
- Origins of Life and Origins of Species
- Civilization, Gastronomy, and Meat-Eating
- Pets
- Animals in Warfare
- Animal Magic
- Animals and Divination
- Animal Sacrifice in Antiquity
- Animals in Late Antiquity and Early Christianity
- Part-Animal Gods
- Metamorphosis: Human into Animals
- Wondrous Animals in Classical Antiquity
- Animals in Egypt
- Spectacles of Animal Abuse
- Horse Racing and Chariot Racing
- Animals and Triumphs
- Being the One and Becoming the Other: Animals in Ancient Philosophical Schools
- Philosophical Vegetarianism and Animal Entitlements
- Zoological Knowledge in Ancient Greece and Rome
- Ancient Fossil Discoveries and Interpretations
- Veterinary Medicine
- Index
