The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

good knowledge not only of the nearby habitat of lions, but also of different species of
them based on distinct anatomical characteristics was available to him and his audience.
Additional evidence for Classical Greek society being well acquainted with real
lions derives from a speech of Isocrates, which suggests regular exposure of fourth-
century audiences to the animal. Dated to 354/3 B.C., Isocrates’ Antidosis refers to
trained lions as parts of annual exhibitions in contemporary Greece. In an attempt to
underline the benefits of education for the human mind, the orator draws an analogy from
the training of lions and bears:
But most absurd of all, they [Isocrates’ detractors] behold in the shows (e0n toi=j
qau&masin) which are held year after year lions which are more gentle toward their
trainers than some people are toward their benefactors, and bears which dance
about and wrestle and imitate our skill, and yet they are not able to judge even
from these instances the power which education and training have, nor can they
see that human nature will respond more promptly than the animals to the benefits
of education. (Ant. 213-214) [128] 167
they run away stretching the tail straight out like hounds”; translation: Balme, Aristotle XI. History of
Animals 384. Physiology aside, what is interesting is that Aristotle’s criteria of body length and appearance
of hair match closely those that, nowadays, set apart two recognized species of lions: the Asiatic (Panthera
leo Persicus) and African (Panthera leo). As modern zoological studies state, Asiatic lions are smaller in
size and have a shorter and sparser mane (that makes their ears visible) when compared to their African
counterparts: www.panda.org/news_facts/education/best_place_species/current_top_10/asiatic_lion_.cfm -
167 Similar evidence, but in reference to a third-century, religious context, is attested in an idyll by
Theocritus that refers to a procession in honor of Artemis (most likely, in Syracuse) with many wild beasts
in it, among them a lioness:
Eubolus’ daughter, Anexo, was going, I knew with her basket
to the enclosure of Artemis where on that day many wild beasts
walked in procession about her, a lioness one of the number
Theocritus (II, 66-68);
translation: D. Hine, Theocritus: Idylls and Epigrams (New York, 1982) 10. For a discussion of the
involvement of ancient Greek sanctuaries in the breeding of animals, such as cattle and horses, as
evidenced by inscriptions associated, for example, with the Classical sanctuary of Zeus in Arkesine,
Amorgos, that of Alea Athena in Tegea, in the fourth-century B.C., and also that of Apollo at Delphi, in the
second century B.C., see S. Isager, “Sacred Animals in Classical and Hellenistic Greece,” in T. Linders and
B. Alroth, eds., Economics of Cult in the Ancient Greek World. Proceedings of the Uppsala Symposium
1990 (Uppsala, 1992) 15-20. For a short discussion of both Isocrates’ and Theocritus’ accounts, see G.
Jennison, Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome (Manchester, 1937) 24.
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