„Res ardua vetustis novitatem dare”. The 'leo generosus' and the Zoology of Pliny the Elder Cover Image
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„Res ardua vetustis novitatem dare” A leo generosus és idősebb Plinius zoológiája
„Res ardua vetustis novitatem dare”. The 'leo generosus' and the Zoology of Pliny the Elder

Author(s): Ágnes Darab
Subject(s): Ancient World, Other Language Literature, Ancient Philosphy
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: Pliny the Elder; Natural History; Aristoteles; Ailianos; ancient zoology; the lion in the ancient literature;

Summary/Abstract: The paper’s starting point is the analysis of Elder Pliny’s description about the lion (Nat. Hist. 8. 41–58). The analysis sets this narrative unit in the structure of the zoological books of Natural History, then determines and explains the characteristics of the text. Taken in a wider context, the paper compares the results with the most important antecedents of the subject, Aristoteles’ descriptions about the lion, and looks out of its main reception, Ailianos’ narratives about the lion. In addition to the literary context, the philosophical background is also important: the ancient opinion about the relationship between human and other animals, the rational-irrational opposition, whose essential source is stoic philosophy. After all we can place Pliny’s lion-narrative and his zoology in the ancient zoological literature.

  • Issue Year: 59/2015
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 213-229
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Hungarian