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LucynaKostuch
Mesopotamia,Canaan,Egypt,Greece,andItaly7.Tepopularityofthisanimal
intheancientworldisevidenced,forinstance,bythefactthatGreekandRo-
manauthorsofencomparedthesizeofforeignanimalstothefox8.
TeGreeksandRomansmostofenperceivedfoxes(sing.:alōpēx,vulpes)
enteringtheirsettlementsaspests.Accordingtoextantaccounts,thefoxwas
fondofeatingripegrapes9.Foxeshave,indeed,beenfoundtoeatgrapes;how-
ever,theyonlydosowhentheyhavenobetterfoodalternativeavailable10.In
fact,thefoxisthegreatestnaturalenemyofsmallanimals-itfeedsonrodents,
rabbits,hares,andbirds11(bytakingeggsandchicksoutoftheirnests),and
occasionallyconsumesfrogs,lizards,snakes,fish,badgers,invertebrates,etc.
Italsoeatscarrionandthewasteproducedbyhumans12.Why,then,wasthe
foxsofirmlyassociatedwithgrapevines?KennethF.Kitchellspeculatesthat
ancientfoxescouldhavefedonrodentsthatgnawongrapevines,thusforthe
benefitofgrowers13.Itseems,though,thattheancientswerenotawareofthat
fact,becausetheysettrapstopreventfoxesfromapproachinggrapevines.Fur-
thermore,theanimalwashuntednotonlytoreducethedamagedonetofarm-
land,asAlexandertheGreatalsohuntedfoxesforpleasure14.
7
M.Mackinnon,FaunaoftheAncientMediterraneanWorld,in:TeOxfordHandbook,pp.
164-165;K.F.KitchellJr.,AnimalsintheAncientWorldfromAtoZ,London-NewYork
2014,pp.70-71,s.v.fox.
8
Forexample:Herodotus,Historiae2.67;3.102,ed.A.D.Godley,London-Cambridge
Mass.1920;Strabo,Geographica15.1.44,ed.H.L.Jones,London-CambridgeMass.1917-
1932(seecommentary:G.Malinowski,Zwierzętaświataantycznego.StudianadGeografą
Strabona,Wrocław2003,pp.113-114);Plinius,Naturalishistoria8.34,eds.H.Rackham,
W
.H.S.Jones,D.E.Eichholz,London-CambridgeMass.1938-1963.
9
Aesopus,Aesopica15,ed.B.E.Perry,Illinois1952;Phaedrus,Fabulae4.3,ed.B.E.Perry,
London-CambridgeMass.1965;Teocritus,Idylls1.48-51,ed.R.J.Cholmeley,London
-CambridgeMass.1901;Varro,Dererustica1.8.5,ed.W
.D.Hooper,London-Cam-
bridgeMass.1934;Horatius,Epistulae1.7.29-36,ed.H.R.Fairclough,London-Cambridge
Mass.1926;Alciphron,Epistolae,forexample3.22,eds.A.R.Benner,F.H.Fobes,London
-CambridgeMass.1949;afoxwithabunchofgrapesappearsasashieldblazononacup:
Cambridge,FitzwilliamMuseumG70,J.D.Beazley,AtticRed-FigureVase-Painters,2nded.,
Oxford1963:85.23;see:S.Lewis,L.Llewellyn-Jones,TeCultureofAnimalsinAntiqui-
ty.ASourcebookwithCommentaries,NewYork2018,p.362;J.D.Hughes,Environmental
ProblemsoftheGreeksandRomans.EcologyintheAncientMediterranean,secondedition,
Baltimore2014,p.113.
10
Foxesalsoeatfruits,forexample:apples,plums,berries,see:H.G.Lloyd,TeRedFox,Lon-
don1980,s.71.
11
Birdsdonotplayasignificantroleaspreyinfox)sdietaryneedsinmodernGreece,see.:
N.K.Papageorgiou,A.Sepougaris,O.G.Christopolou,Ch.G.Vlachos,J.S.Petamidis,Food
HabitsoftheRedFoxinGreece,„ActaTeriologica”33,1988,pp.313-324.
12
H.G.Lloyd,HabitatRequirementsoftheRedFox,in:TeRedFox:Symposium,p.8;D.Henry,
RedFox:CatlikeCanine,Washington1996,pp.61-62.
13
K.F.KitchellJr.,Animals,p.71.
14
Plutarchus,Alexander23,in:Plutarch,Lives,ed.B.Perrin,London-CambridgeMass.1919.
