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

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with dog flesh. 322 Further, on the basis <strong>of</strong> Chremylus’s explanation that poor people stole<br />

this food, Sommerste<strong>in</strong> suggests that poor Athenians were reduced to eat<strong>in</strong>g dog flesh,<br />

which has, <strong>in</strong> turn, prompted his suggestion that this was food <strong>of</strong> the lowest k<strong>in</strong>d. 323 As<br />

can be seen, this evidence accords well with Arnott’s suggestion that dog meat was eaten<br />

by the poor.<br />

Taken together, the accounts <strong>of</strong> the Banqueters <strong>and</strong> Plutus suggest that dog flesh<br />

was presented as a food <strong>of</strong>fer<strong>in</strong>g to Hekate, <strong>and</strong> served also as the food <strong>of</strong> the poor.<br />

Hippocratic Treatises<br />

Further evidence regard<strong>in</strong>g dogs as food <strong>in</strong> <strong>Classical</strong> <strong>Greece</strong> comes from the<br />

Hippocratic treatises <strong>in</strong> which dog flesh is presented as therapeutic food for various<br />

diseases. Underly<strong>in</strong>g these prescriptions is the belief that dog flesh held specific dietetic<br />

properties. <strong>The</strong>se properties are exemplified by the division <strong>of</strong> dog flesh <strong>in</strong>to two k<strong>in</strong>ds:<br />

1) that <strong>of</strong> an adult dog, denoted by the terms ku&wn or ku&neia <strong>and</strong> considered <strong>of</strong> curative<br />

value, but hard to digest, therefore thought <strong>of</strong> as caus<strong>in</strong>g constipation; 2) that <strong>of</strong> a puppy,<br />

designated by the terms sku&lac, skula&kion, or skula&keia, also considered curative<br />

food, but easy to digest, <strong>and</strong> therefore, recommended as a laxative.<br />

322 Sommerste<strong>in</strong>, Wealth 178.<br />

323 For the suggestion that the food referred to <strong>in</strong> the Plutus should be identified with dog flesh, <strong>and</strong> the<br />

subsequent designation <strong>of</strong> this food as <strong>of</strong> a low type, see Sommerste<strong>in</strong>, Wealth 178, l<strong>in</strong>es 594 <strong>and</strong> 597<br />

respectively.<br />

205

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