Zoology

Byzantine interest in animals, whether strange, exotic, domesticated or for hunting, was founded on the Greco-Roman ancient tradition, not least on the works of Aristotle.

The special position accorded to animals in Late Antiquity is attested both in the context of theological explanations for the creation of the world, especially in Saint Basil the Great’s homilies in the Hexaemeron (Six Days of Creation), and in the context of paradox and exoticism, exemplified in the four books by Timotheus of Gaza. These works rarely hint at the wild aspects of nature and the harsh processes of natural selection and survival; animals are generally regarded as heavenly beings, who remind humans of God the Creator.This tradition was followed by the iconoclast emperors, who had banned the depiction of human forms but allowed churches to be decorated with animals (mostly birds) in addition to geometric and vegetal motifs.

The scholar emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus’ penchant for encyclopaedic knowledge led to the writing of a zoological compendium entitled On the History of Animals, half of which has survived. The first two volumes deal with classification methodology and the life and character of viviparous animals, while the other lost two concerned oviparous animals, i.e. fish and birds.

A more practical end was served by the various works on veterinary medicine, particularly on horses and hunting falcons. The major veterinarian of Antiquity was Apsyrtus, who probably lived in the time of Constantine the Great, though his writings were substantially reworked by subsequent generations of doctors into a more concise form, supplemented with incidents from everyday experience.

Late Byzantine vernacular literature includes three satirical poems. First are the Bird Book and An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds, where the story unfolds in the heavens and in the woods respectively. In these two works the satire is directed against secular authority and its absurd assemblies. In the third satirical poem, the Synaxarion [Saint’s Life] of the Honourable Donkey, the targets are those savants and scholars who exploit ecclesiastical office to amass wealth by illicit means.

1. Doyen-Higuet, A.-M., The "Hippiatrica" and Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, 1984

2. Beck, H.-G., Ιστoρία της Βυζαντινής δημώδους λογοτεχνίας, Μορφωτικό Ίδρυμα Εθνικής Τράπεζας, Athens, 1988

3. Hunger H., Βυζαντινή λογοτεχνία. Η λόγια κοσμική γραμματεία των Βυζαντινών, Μορφωτικό Ίδρυμα Εθνικής Τράπεζας, 2000