Animals in Greek and Roman Thought

Stephen T. Newmyer is Professor Emeritus of Classics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, USA. He has published extensively on classical views on the intellectual and emotional dimensions of non-human animals, and is the author of Animals, Rights and Reason in Plutarch and Modern Ethics (Routledge, 2006), The Animal and the Human in Ancient and Modern Thought: The ‘Man Alone of Animals’ Concept (Routledge, 2017) and Plutarch’s Three Treatises on Animals: A Translation with Introductions and Commentary(Routledge, 2021).

• Preface xi Preface to the Second Edition xiv Acknowledgements xvi Preliminary Bibliographic Note xvii PART IAnimals as Beings 1 The Intellectual Dimensions of Animals: Rational or Irrational? 3 1. Alcmaeon of Croton (DK24 A5) 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 488b20–26; 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) 11 6. Seneca (Moral Letters 76. 8–10; 124. 20; On the Happy Life 5. 1-2) 15 7. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 960A–B; 960C; 960D–E; Gryllus or Whether Beasts Are Rational 991F; 992B–D 17 8. Epictetus (Discourses I. 6. 12-21) 21 9. Aelian (On the Nature of Animals VI. 50) 22 10. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 6. 5–6; III. 7. 2) 23 11. Augustine (The City of God I. 20) 25 2 Human-Animal Kinship: Akin or Alien? 32 1. Aristotle (Politics 1256b15–27) 32 2. Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VII. 85) 33 3. Epicurus (Sovereign Maxims XXXI and XXXII) 34 4. Lucretius (On the Nature of Things V. 855–877) 34 5. Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 100) 36 6. Pliny the Elder (Natural History VIII. 1) 36 7. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 975E–F; On the Self-Contradictions of the Stoics 1038B) 37 8. Epictetus (Discourses II. 22.15-16) 39 9. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 13. 1–3) 39 3 The Emotional Dimensions of Animals: Emotional, Pre-Emotional or Non-Emotional? 43 1. Presocratic Precedents (On Plants 815a10-21) 43 2. Plato (Timaeus 42a-c; Philebus 67b) 45 3. Aristotle (Rhetoric 1378a19-23; On the Soul 434a1-10; Nicomachean Ethics 1116b24-1117a2; 1149b26-36); History of Animals 608a13-17; 619b27-32; 631a15-20) 46 4. Stoic Precursors and Seneca (On Anger 1.3.2-8) 51 5. Epicurus and Lucretius (On the Nature of Things II. 333- 380; V. 1056-1090) 54 6. Pliny the Elder (Natural History VIII. 49; VIII. 59-60) 57 7. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 961D; 961E-F; 984E-F) 58 8. Aelian (On the Nature of Animals V. 36; X. 17) 60 9. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 19.1-3) 61 4 Animal Behaviors 66 1. Introductory 66 Pliny the Elder (Natural History VII. 1-5) 66 Plutarch (Whether Beasts Are Rational 987B–F) 67 Aelian (On the Nature of Animals, Prologue) 69 2. Rearing of Offspring 70 Homer (Iliad IX. 314–327) 70 Cicero (On the Ends of Good and Evil II. 109–110) 71 Plutarch (On the Love of Offspring 493B–D; 495A–B; On the Cleverness of Animals 962A–B) 73 3. Relation to the Environment: Prey and Predators 75 Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 44) 76 Seneca (Moral Letters 121. 7–13) 76 Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 960E–F) 78 4. Helping Behaviors 79 Herodotus (Histories I. 23–24) 82 Pliny the Elder (Natural History IX. 24–25; IX. 28; IX. 33) 83 Plutarch (Banquet of the Seven Sages 160E–161E) 84 5. Skills and Shortcomings 86 Xenophon (Recollections of Socrates I. 4. 11–14) 86 Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 66, 68, 70; 77–78) 87 Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 962A; 974A–B, D–E) 89 6. The Language of Animals 92 Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VII. 55) 92 Aristotle (Parts of Animals 660a35–660b2) 94 Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 98) 94 Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 972F–973E; On the Eating of Flesh 994E) 95 Sextus Empiricus (Outlines of Pyrrhonism I. 62–67, 72–76) 97 Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animals Flesh III. 2–4) 99 Both Types of “Reason” (logos) Exist in Animals 100 PART II Human-Animal Relations 5 Animals as Moral Beings 107 1. Justice toward Animals 107 Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VII. 129) 108 Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics 1161a30–1161b2; Politics 1253a9–18) 108 Cicero (On the Nature of the Gods II. 154–159; On the Ends of Good and Evil III. 67) 109 Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 963F 965B) 112 Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh III. 11–12, 18) 115 2. Justice from Animals 117 Hesiod (Works and Days 274–280) 117 Democritus (DK68 B257–258) 118 Cicero (On Duties I. 50) 119 Philo of Alexandria (On Animals 61; 64; 96) 120 6 Animals as Offerings: Hunting and Sacrifice 123 1. Plato (Laws 824b–c) 123 2. Plutarch (On the Cleverness of Animals 959B–E) 124 3. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh II. 12, 34) 126 7 Animals as Sport: The Arena 130 1. Cicero (Letters to His Friends VII. 1. 3) 130 2. Seneca (Moral Letters 7. 2. 4); On the Shortness of Life 13. 6-7) 131 3. Pliny the Elder (Natural History VIII. 21) 132 8 Animals as Food: Vegetarianism and Its Opponents 134 1. Diogenes Laertius (Lives of the Philosophers VIII. 13) 134 2. Ovid (Metamorphoses XV. 75–142) 135 3. Empedocles (DK31 B115 and 139=Inwood 11 and 124) 137 4. Plato (Republic 372a–d; Laws 781e–783b) 138 5. Seneca (Moral Letters 108. 17–26) 141 6. Musonius (Discourses XVIII A and B) 143 7. Plutarch (Precepts for Preserving Health 131F–132A; On the Eating of Flesh 993C–994B; 995D–996A; 996E–997A) 144 8. Porphyry (On Abstinence from Animal Flesh I. 4; II. 13) 147 9 Animals as Friends: Kindness and Cruelty to Animals 152 1. Homer (Odyssey XVII. 290–323) 152 2. Diogenes Laertius and Plutarch on Pythagoras (Lives of the Philosophers VIII. 36; On the Cleverness of Animals 959F) 153 3. Plutarch (Life of Marcus Cato, Chapters 4–5; On the Cleverness of Animals 965A-B) 154 4. Aulus Gellius (Attic Nights V. 14. 5-30) 155 Texts Consulted 159 Bibliography 163 Passages Discussed 172