Animals In Ancient Greek Social Life And Greek Mind

The Greeks kept the five domestic animals extensively and used them in many aspects of daily life.While the five domestic animals were used to increase productivity,they also entered the mind and were given political,religious and moral implications.There is a process from the shallow to the deep,from scattered to systematic.The Greeks made scattered references to animals in their works,using them as metaphors to praise and denigrate people.This tendency further extends to the use of animals,especially anthropomorphic animals,to tell the story of human experience and wisdom.Aesop’s Fables is a collection of ancient Greek animal fables,but rarely mentioned by thinkers.In the 4th century BC,Aristotle,on the basis of inheriting the Greek philosophers’ research on the "essence" of nature,regarded "nature" as the object of study external to man himself,which was the premise of his zoological research.He was the first to systematically observe animals,collect animal specimens,classify animals,and systematically study animal organs and their functions,movements,and generation.The earliest systematic writings on animal studies appeared in ancient Greece,but not elsewhere in the world,and were related to several factors.The contact and understanding of animals in Greece laid the foundation for animal studies,Aesop’s Fables reflected the folk concept of animals,Aristotle regarded nature as an independent research object as the premise,and Greek preference for knowledge was the deep reason.