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

The proximity of the lion to the dog in terms of their nature is a notable element
of Classical Greek zoological thought. Aristotle frequently groups both animals together
under the general category of viviparous quadrupeds, which contains no hint of the
modern differentiation between the biological families Felidae and Canidae, to which the
lion and the dog belong, but rather extends to encompass man and other animals as well,
such as deer and horses. 223 As he characteristically says in the History of Animals: “there
are many kinds included in the group viviparous quadrupeds; but they are unnamed.
Each constituent, we may say, has been named individually, as man has, e.g., lion, deer,
horse, dog, and the rest of them in the same way” (490b) [55]. The conceived proximity
between the lion and the dog is further suggested by Aristotle’s and pseudo-Aristotle’s
beliefs that the animals share certain anatomical characteristics and behaviors, such as
saw-like teeth, large mouths, same-sized stomachs, small waists, which account for their
affinity for hunting, and also thin lips, which classify both animals as magnanimous, but
in the case of the dog, this quality is only visible on large and powerful dogs:
Some of them [animals] are saw-toothed, e.g., the lion, the leopard, and the dog.
(HA 501a) [56]
Animals vary in the sizes of their mouths. Some have mouths which open wide
(e.g., the dog, the lion, and all the saw-toothed animals. (HA 502a) [57]
Some [animals] have a comparatively large stomach (e.g., the pig and the bear…);
some have a much smaller one, not much larger than the gut, e.g., the dog, lion,
and man. (HA 507b) [58]
Those [animals] that are small in the waist are hunters; witness lions and dogs.
One can observe that the dogs most fond of hunting are those which are narrow in
the waist. (Phgn. 810b) [174]
223 Peck, Aristotle. Historia Animalium I 35, n. 35: “there is in Greek no name corresponding to Felidae.”
Felidae or Felids is the term designating the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called
a felid. The family is divided into two subfamilies: Pantherinae, which includes the lion, the tiger, and the
leopard, and Felinae, which includes the cougar, the cheetah, lynxes, and the caracal, along with the
domestic cat.
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