Pets of the Ancient World

by Brendan McLeodwww.brendanmcleod.com

hello

exhibit A: a good dog

a tiny dog and a big yellow dog

Why keep animals in the first place?What kind of pets did people keep?

What’s some really craaaaaaaaaaaazy pets that people had?

they didn’t have pokemon back then so they had to pretend

in fact this isn’t even the whole world, I had to crop out antartica. sorry penguins

WHY KEEP PETS?

oh my god

HUNTIN’

this panel was originally just titled “MURDER”

GUARDIN’

geese are assholes. I’m not afraid to say it. sorry for swearing.

RELIGIN’

look at how pleased the cat is for chopping off a snake’s head. what the hell.

BRAGGIN’

there were multiple known dudes of Roman history who were absolutely nuts about eels

WHAT KIND OF PETS?

look at how small

Dogs

“cave canem,” Latin for “beware of dog,” uses the same verb (caveo) as “caveat emptor”, “let the buyer beware.”look, you learned an actual Latin thing tonight! good job!

Weasels and ferrets

we’re halfway through the slides!! good team effort! keep up that hustle!!!!

Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaakes

:D

Birbs

the pet duck is really upset about the baby minotaur situation on this urn on the left, let me tell you what

Cats :3

here are some of the Egyptian gods associated with cats: Bastet, Mihos, Seichmet, Tefnut, Mafdet, Mekal, Pakhet, Menhit, Matit, Mut, Sesmu, and Wadjet. phew!!!

WHAT’S SOME CRAZY PETS

you don’t work here you’re not fooling anyone

Ramses II and the Lions

the animated “prince of egypt” movie was way fucking better than that christian bale moses nonsense.

I’m not afraid to say it. sorry for swearing.

Alexander and Bucephalus

speaking of animated stuff, y’all ever watch Reign the Conquerer? that show was nuts! even my dad thought so!!

Julius Caesar and the Giraffe

Caesar did lots of other ostentatious stuff, too, though, like naming an entire month after himself…a month that we’re in RIGHT NOW!! (dunn dunn dunnnn!)

Augustus Caesar and the Crow

Augustus actually also named a month after himself, and then made it illegal for anyone else to do that ever again.

Catullus and his mistress’s sparrow

achewood once described Catullus as “the first poet to ever get his bone on.”

Sertorius and the white fawn

“”I’m gonna go start my OWN Roman Republic! With blackjack! And hookers!”

Nero and Phoebe

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus: “Our Neckbeard-iest Emperor”

Caligula and Incitatus

horse to meet you

References and Further Reading

Animals in Roman Life and Art by J.M.C. Toynbee, Available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ANIMALS-ROMAN-LIFE-AND-ART/dp/1781590915

The Cat in Ancient Egypt by Jaromir Malek, Available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Ancient-Egypt-Jaromir-Malek/dp/0812216326

“Greek and Roman Household Pets” by Francis D. Lazenby, The Classical Journal Vol. 33 No. 4, Reproduced at http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/CJ/44/4/Household_Pets*.html

“Penelope’s Geese: Pets of the Ancient Greeks” by Kenneth Kitchell, Expedition Magazine Vol. 53, No. 3, Archived at http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/53-3/kitchell.pdf

“On the Egyptian origin of the domestic cat” by Leonard Ginsburg, Georgette Delibrias, Anne Minaut-Gout, Helene Valladas, and Alain Zivie, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. nat. 4th serie, 13, Reproduced in translated form at http://paleoglot.org/files/Ginsburg&_91.pdf

“In Ancient Egypt, Life Wasn’t Easy for Elite Pets” by Traci Watson, National Geographic (May 2015), Archived at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150525-ancient-egypt-zoo-pets-hierakonpolis-baboons-archaeology/

The Ape in Antiquity by William Coffman McDermott, Archived at http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004248913

Short Tales and Anecdotes from Ancient History by Sir William Smith, Archived at https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=L6UBAAAAYAAJ

“Dogs in Ancient Greece and Rome” by James Grout, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/canes/canes.html

Slides available (tomorrow) at www.brendanmcleod.com

Thanks for listening!

Questions??