- 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 discoveries and interpretations of fossil discoveries in ancient times. It analyses nearly one hundred accounts from more than thirty ancient authors, from Herodotus in the fifth century BC to Augustine in the fifth century AD. The evidence indicates that ancient Greeks and Romans collected, measured, compared, and displayed extraordinary fossil remains in temples as relics of the glorious past. The literary evidence also suggests that observations of large vertebrate fossils certainly influenced certain myths and popular beliefs in ancient times. This chapter also argues that ancient Graeco-Roman accounts of encounters with marine, plant, animal, and trace fossils that were expressed in mythological language were remarkably perceptive for a pre-scientific culture.
Keywords: fossil discoveries, fossil interpretations, Herodotus, Augustine, ancient Greeks, ancient Romans, myths, popular beliefs, pre-scientific culture
Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University.
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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