Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Ancientandmodernresultsoftheobservationofanimalbehaviourbasedonthefox
15
swearsthatafoxbuiltitsshelteronsomeone)shead.However,thisisonlyan
allusiontoaskinconditioncausinglossofhair,calledalōpekia(foxmange)30,
andthejokedoesnotcontributetoourknowledgeoftheancientfox)sden.
Aquestionthatarisesis:Whydoiconographyandsourceslackdepictions
anddescriptionsofthefox)sden(thatmusthavebeenlocatedamongthehills,
onmountainslopes,ingorges,onclifs,onthebanksofwaterbodies,inditches,
inrockclefs,andneartrees)?Itcanbeassumedthattheancientfoxes,simi-
larlytotheirmoderndescendants,dugtheirowndens,buttheypreferredto
usesheltersmadebyotheranimals.Foxesofensharetheirhomeswithother
animals,forinstance,badgersorcommonshelducks.Tisispresumablybe-
causefoxesdonothuntinthedirectvicinityoftheden31.Teabovementioned
observationsdonotrequireadvancedobservationtechniques,andyet,wedo
notfindthemintheancientaccounts.Tislackofdepictionsanddescriptions
oftheancientfoxinitsnaturalhabitatalsoconcernsotheranimalsandthe
wholeGraeco-Romanperceptionofnature.Firstandforemost,theancients
sawnaturefromtheperspectiveofcivilisation.Itiswhyweseldomseetrees,
shrubs,grass,rocks,caves,seawaves,andblueskyinancientart,andmoreof-
tenobservepersonificationsofthesepartsofthelandscape32.Itcanbesaidthat
animaldens,lairs,andnests(rangingfromlionstohedgehogs),althoughmen-
tionedintheancientsources,werenotdescribedindetailorvisuallypresented.
Ofcourse,itcannotbeassumedthattheGreeksandRomansdidnotlookin-
sidesuchanimaldwellingsatall.Plutarch,whodidnotapproveofpeopledam-
agingants)nestsinordertoinvestigatethem,atthesametimeprovidedarare
accountofthosewhoactuallydidit33.Tebear)slairwasalsoofsomeinterest,
butthiswasrelatedtotheunusualphenomenonofthebear)shibernation.
Mass.1916,rev.byG.P
.Gould,London-CambridgeMass.1977;Pausanias,GraeciaeDe-
scriptio9.19.1;Plutarchus,Brutaanimaliarationeuti4,in:Plutarch,Moralia,ed.H.Cherniss,
London-CambridgeMass.1957;AntoninusLiberalis,Metamorphoses41,ed.M.Papatho-
mopoulos,Paris1968;Suda,s.v.Teumesia,onlineeds.DavidWhitehead,WilliamHutton,
CatherineP
.Roth,PatricRourke,ElizabethVandiver,contrib.byAdaAdler,RaphaelA.Fin-
kel,RossScaife(stoa.org).
30
Herondas,Mimes7.73,ed.I.C.Cunningham,Oxford1971.
31
See:L.L.RueIII,TeWorldoftheRedFox,Philadelphia1969,p.41;B.Vesey-Fitzgerald,
TownFox,CountryFox,London1965,pp.31-32;E.Neal,Ch.Cheeseman,Badgers,London
1996,pp.64-65.
32
See,forexample:W
.Ellinger,DieDarstellungderLandschafindergriechischenDichtung,
Berlin1975;S.G.Cole,Landscapes,Gender,andRitualSpace:TeAncientGreekExperience,
Berkeley-LosAngeles2004,pp.7-9;A.Cohen,MythicLandscapeofGreece,in:TeCam-
bridgeCompaniontoGreekMythology,ed.R.D.Woodard,Cambridge2007,pp.305-330.
33
Plutarchus,Desollertiaanimalium11,in:Plutarch,Moralia,ed.H.Cherniss,W
.C.Helm-
bold,London-CambridgeMass.1957;seealsodescriptionsofabird)snest:Plutarch,De
amoreprolis2.35;Aelianus,DeNaturaanimalium3.24.