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Ancientandmodernresultsoftheobservationofanimalbehaviourbasedonthefox
13
Surprisingly,relativelyfewsourcesdescribeorillustratetheappetiteofan-
cientfoxesforlivestock.Shouldweconsiderthisareflectionoftheancient
reality?Someexplanationmaybeprovidedbythefactthatchickenswerenot
knowninGreecebeforethe6thcenturyBC,andchickenfarmsappearedonly
towardstheendoftheClassicalperiod15.Furthermore,theGreeksandRo-
mansdidnotbreedrabbits,whichareatypicalpreyofthefox,attheveryleast
notbeforetheperiodoftheRomanEmpire16.
AsisevidencedbyiconographicGreekaccounts,thefoxcouldbeagiffor
ayoungmanasaformofnurturinghomosexualfeelings.Vasesofendepict
deadfoxesbeinggiventoalover17.Mostlikely,thefoxfuritselfwasnotthe
primaryobjectofthegif,althoughthiscannotberuledout18.Tereisnoth-
ingtoindicatethatthefurenjoyedasmuchpopularityamongtheGreeksas
amongtheTracianwarriorswhoworefoxcaps19.Foxfurwasconsideredto
beoflittlebeautyincomparisontothespottedfurofthepanther,becauseit
didnotfulfilthecriterionofhavingapattern(poikilia-‘variegation)),which
wasanindicatorofbeauty20.
Tereisnoproofthatthefoxwaskeptasadomesticanimal.Admitted-
ly,JeanDucatsuggeststhatyoungdomesticatedfoxesmayhaveplayedsuch
aroleinSparta21;however,onlyMartialexplicitlystatesthathisfriendkept
along-earedfox(lagalopex)asapet22.
15
OnDelos:Plinius,Naturalishistoria10.71;see:S.Lewis,L.Llewellyn-Jones,TeCultureof
AnimalsinAntiquity,pp.362,244;R.Sallares,TeEcologyoftheAncientGreekWorld,Ithaca
-NewYork1991,pp.231-233.
16
TerabbitwasfoundonlyinSpain,SouthernFranceandtheBalearicIslands.Tatrabbits
spreadacrossEuropeundertheRomanempireisofenassumed,butinfactevidenceforthis
ispoor,see:S.Lewis,L.Llewellyn-Jones,TeCultureofAnimalsinAntiquity,p.378.
17
J.Barringer,TeHuntinAncientGreece,Baltimore2001,pp.90,108,123.Temeatisdis-
cussedbrieflybytheancientdietarywriters,see:A.Dalby,FoodintheAncientWorldfrom
AtoZ,London-NewYork2003,s.v.fox,p.150;seealso:R.Parker,EatingUnsacrifcedMeat,
in:PaysageetreligionenGrèceantique,eds.P
.Carlier,C.Lerouge-Cohen,Paris2010,p.140.
18
Kitchellnotes,thatcapoffoxfurofenappearsinpurelyGreekscenes:K.F.KitchellJr.,Ani-
mals,p.71.
19
Herodotus,Historiae7.75;Xenophon,Anabasis7.4.4,ed.C.L.Brownson,London-Cam-
bridgeMass.1922.
20
Aesopus,Aesopica12;Plutarchus,Animineancorporisalectionssintpeiores2,in:Plutarch,
Moralia,ed.W
.C.Helmbold,London-CambridgeMass.1939;Plutarchus,Septemsapienti-
umconvivium12,in:Plutarch,Moralia,ed.F.C.Babbitt,London-CambridgeMass.1928;
Plinius,Naturalishistoria8.23;Pseudo-Oppianus,Cynegetica3.340-344,ed.A.W
.Mair,Lon-
don-CambridgeMass.1928.
21
J.Ducat,L
)enfantSpartiateetlerenardeau,„Revuedesétudesgrecques”117,2004,pp.125-140.
22
M.ValeriusMartialis,Epigrammata7.87.1,ed.W
.M.Lindsay,Oxford2007;J.M.C.Toynbee,
AnimalsinRomanLifeandArt.,London1973,p.102;perhapsthefennecfromEgypt:G.Jen-
nison,AnimalsforShowandPleasureinAncientRome,Philadelphia1937,p.130;S.Lewis,