Birds of Prey and the Sport of Falconry in Italian Literature through ...

The chase of love, however, does not involve hawks in any way. For Ovid,
hawks are insidious predators, and not to be emulated in love. In advising against
quarrelling with one's lover, he sets up the hawk as a negative example:
Dextera praecipue capit indulgentia mentes;
Asperitas odium saevaque bella movet.
Odimus accipitrem, quia vivit semper in armis,
Et pavidum solitos in pecus ire 1 ~~0s.'~
Likewise, when Ovid warns against the dangers of one's lover straying if one is gone too
long, he again resorts to the same pair of predators, the hawk and the wolf. He gives the
example of Helen of Troy's legendary adultery while her husband was gone, and her
lover was present under her roof, and asks, "do you trust timid doves to a hawk? Do you
trust a full sheepfold to a mountain wolf?"19
Clearly for Ovid, acting like a hawk ruins love, rather than helping to gain or keep
it. It will be interesting to note how this attitude toward hawks' role in the hunt of love
changes as their role in society changes and increases.
In ancient writings the reputation of hawks and falcons ranges from cruel to
generous. Where the idea of domesticating them is present, in which they learn to
cooperate with humans, they are also admired and attributed favorable human
characteristics. When, much later, the medieval craze for falconry develops, a similar
anthropomorphic association will occur and be reflected in literature of all sorts.
believe it, there will be a fish in the stream. Often do hounds stray in vain through mountain glens, and a
stag, without any driving it, falls into the nets."
lg Ibid., 11. 145-148. "Chief above all does tactful indulgence win the mind; harshness causes hatred and
angry wars. We hate the hawk because he ever lives in arms, and the wolves that are wont to go against the
timorous flock."
j9 Ibid., 11. 363-364.