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Classical Cats: The rise and fall of the sacred cat
This is the definitive book on classical cats. The cat has played a significant role in history from the earliest times. Well known is its role in the religion and art of ancient Egypt, no less than its association with witchcraft in the Middle Ages. But when did the cat become a domestic companion and worker as well?
There has been much debate about the position of the cat in ancient Greece and Rome. Artistic representations are sometimes ambiguous, and its role as a mouse-catcher seems often to have been carried out by weasels. Yet other evidence clearly suggests that the cat was as important to Greeks and Romans as it is to many modern people.
This book is the first comprehensive survey of the evidence for cats in Greece and Rome, and of their functions and representations in art. Donald Engels draws on authors from Aesop to Aristotle; on vase-painting, inscriptions and the plastic arts; and on a thorough knowledge of zoology of the cat. He also sets the ancient evidence in the wider context of the Egyptian period that preceded it, as well as the views of the Church fathers who ushered antiquity into the Middle Ages.
There has been much debate about the position of the cat in ancient Greece and Rome. Artistic representations are sometimes ambiguous, and its role as a mouse-catcher seems often to have been carried out by weasels. Yet other evidence clearly suggests that the cat was as important to Greeks and Romans as it is to many modern people.
This book is the first comprehensive survey of the evidence for cats in Greece and Rome, and of their functions and representations in art. Donald Engels draws on authors from Aesop to Aristotle; on vase-painting, inscriptions and the plastic arts; and on a thorough knowledge of zoology of the cat. He also sets the ancient evidence in the wider context of the Egyptian period that preceded it, as well as the views of the Church fathers who ushered antiquity into the Middle Ages.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 8, 2023
Not sure what to make of this volume. The material felt disorganized, and sometimes numbingly detailed.
Was somewhat annoyed by sloppy reporting of the ship's cat on Scott's South Pole expedition. The cat was described as "unnamed" (in fact, it had a name now considered very rude, so not usually mentioned), was lost overboard (that did happen), and then Engels says the entire expedition was lost on the way to the South Pole. These events are only 100 years ago and are minutely documented, and if mistakes are made in this reference one can only wonder how accurate the conclusions are about developments two or three or four thousand years ago.
For the record, Scott's polar party (5 people) made it to the South Pole, but then died on the return trip. The rest of the expedition (roughly 30 people) overwintered safely near the coast and then returned to Europe (where many of them died in the carnage of World War I). To describe the entire expedition as being lost on the way to the South Pole is just wrong on so many levels. And all this, just to bring in a "contemporary" reference to a ship's cat.
One could talk about ship's cat for entire books; the need for them, the superstitions around them (some sailors would not go on ship without a cat; and if a cat left the ship that was a bad sign!).
Was somewhat annoyed by sloppy reporting of the ship's cat on Scott's South Pole expedition. The cat was described as "unnamed" (in fact, it had a name now considered very rude, so not usually mentioned), was lost overboard (that did happen), and then Engels says the entire expedition was lost on the way to the South Pole. These events are only 100 years ago and are minutely documented, and if mistakes are made in this reference one can only wonder how accurate the conclusions are about developments two or three or four thousand years ago.
For the record, Scott's polar party (5 people) made it to the South Pole, but then died on the return trip. The rest of the expedition (roughly 30 people) overwintered safely near the coast and then returned to Europe (where many of them died in the carnage of World War I). To describe the entire expedition as being lost on the way to the South Pole is just wrong on so many levels. And all this, just to bring in a "contemporary" reference to a ship's cat.
One could talk about ship's cat for entire books; the need for them, the superstitions around them (some sailors would not go on ship without a cat; and if a cat left the ship that was a bad sign!).
November 4, 2024
While I disagree with Engels' conclusion that the 20th century welcomed the cat as a domestic pet (if it ever gets published, my own work challenges this directly via a gendered lens) I think that this remains a concise and relevant over of cats place within the homes and hearts of societies across time.
September 29, 2019
Molto interessante excursus storico, artistico, sociologico e religioso nel rapporto tra uomo e gatto dai giorni nostri al 4000 a.C. (data della probabile addomesticazione del gatto o dell'uomo, ça va sans dire) e ritorno. Un rapporto che fin dall'inizio ha subito trasceso il "semplice" legame utilitaristico per assumere connotati mistici e culturali molto forti. Il gatto ha infatti influito, per esempio, anche sull'origine della sanità pubblica. Incredibile gli intrecci, per fare solo un esempio, tra il culto di iside nell'Antico Egitto e i gatti violinisti presenti nella cattedrali inglesi medioevali. Un lungo legame affettivo sicuramente (è scientificamente provato che accarezzare un gatto porta benefici di riduzione di pressione arteriosa a tutti, in particolare gli anziani; e che le fusa di un micio coprono delle frequenze sonore che portano benessere psichico e fisico), di rispetto e considerazione (sopratutto nei tempi antichi -Egitto, Grecia e Roma, ma anche l'Islam-ma anche crudeli persecuzioni sanguinose (la caccia alle streghe in Europa occidentale). Da non dimenticare poi, e l'autore non lo fa, l'importante laison fra gatto, topo e ratto, quasi che queste tre specie siano interconnesse fra loro e con la specie umana. Da leggere per conoscere meglio il nostro micio di casa, le tradizioni millenarie che lo accompagnano e per capire un po' di più della storia della specie umana (interessantissima la motivazione della mancanza di igiene nel Medioevo europeo, che portò alle pesanti epidemie di peste e alla persecuzione dei gatti).
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March 30, 2026ლიტხელის გამო რას არ იზამს ადამიანი?!
August 23, 2008
I love cats what can I say. This is a very interesting and informative book about our feline friends and delves into all sorts of interesting tales of the days when they were gods ( such as a personal favorite of mine Sehkmet) onward.
October 5, 2012
Tres interessant
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews