A peek into the Greek...
Okay, I really do have another Roman moment up my sleeve... but not today. I thought that since I never talk about the Greeks (who I'm also studying this semester, but since I don't really like that class at all, I tend to ignore,) I'd give you this little snippet of both.
Technically this is for my Roman history class... the life of Cato the Elder, but it's written by Plutarch who is Greek. For the most part, Plutarch says some alright things about Cato, but then it comes to a description of how Cato mistreats his slaves in the name of frugality. Plutarch says that he treats them "like beasts of burden, exploiting them to the limits of their strength, and then, when they were old, driving them off". Plutarch, quite rightly, sees this as a mark of a "thoroughly ungenerous nature, which cannot recognize any bond between man and man but that of necessity." He goes on to talk about the relationship between men and animals and how being able to show compassion to animals is a step toward conducting better relations between people. He discusses some deep bonds that have been formed between animals and humans... one of which is Xanthippus's dog.
The story was published in one of Plutarch's Greek lives and he just refers to it here, but I liked it so much that I wanted to retell what little I
have about it. Plutarch says:
There are many instances of dogs which have become the faithful companions and friends of their masters: perhaps the most famous of all was Xanthippus's dog, which swam by the side of his trireme to Salamis when the Athenians were abandoning Athens, and was buried with honour on the promontory, which i to this day called Cynossema, or the Dog's Mound.
I kind of like what else he has to say on the subject:
We ought never to treat living creatures like shoes or kitchen utensils to be thrown away when they are broken or worn out in our service, but rather cultivate the habit of behaving with tenderness and consideration towards animals, if only for the sake of gaining practice in humanity when we come to deal with our fellow-men.
Plutarchvs.Cato the Elder
Technically this is for my Roman history class... the life of Cato the Elder, but it's written by Plutarch who is Greek. For the most part, Plutarch says some alright things about Cato, but then it comes to a description of how Cato mistreats his slaves in the name of frugality. Plutarch says that he treats them "like beasts of burden, exploiting them to the limits of their strength, and then, when they were old, driving them off". Plutarch, quite rightly, sees this as a mark of a "thoroughly ungenerous nature, which cannot recognize any bond between man and man but that of necessity." He goes on to talk about the relationship between men and animals and how being able to show compassion to animals is a step toward conducting better relations between people. He discusses some deep bonds that have been formed between animals and humans... one of which is Xanthippus's dog.
The story was published in one of Plutarch's Greek lives and he just refers to it here, but I liked it so much that I wanted to retell what little I
have about it. Plutarch says:
There are many instances of dogs which have become the faithful companions and friends of their masters: perhaps the most famous of all was Xanthippus's dog, which swam by the side of his trireme to Salamis when the Athenians were abandoning Athens, and was buried with honour on the promontory, which i to this day called Cynossema, or the Dog's Mound.
I kind of like what else he has to say on the subject:
We ought never to treat living creatures like shoes or kitchen utensils to be thrown away when they are broken or worn out in our service, but rather cultivate the habit of behaving with tenderness and consideration towards animals, if only for the sake of gaining practice in humanity when we come to deal with our fellow-men.
Plutarchvs.Cato the Elder