Wild Beasts and Domestic Pets: Animals in the Ancient World

Catalog description

This course will explore how animals were imagined in antiquity and the role they played in mythology, religious thought, social identity, and rituals. The students will learn what the study of archaeology, art, literature, and anthropology tells us about the cultural importance of animals to ancient civilizations. In this course, a range of archaeological and anthropological evidence will be analyzed, and the discussions will be based on contemporary critical animal theory. The students will also read a broad range of texts in translation (including epic, fable, novel, natural science) and explore themes of sacrifice, initiation, metamorphosis, animal culture, and the customs and ethics of eating animals, and of using them for military purposes, entertainment, or spectacle.