Mynott Jeremy. Birds in the Ancient World: Winged Words

Oxford University Press, 2018. — 476 р.Birds pervaded the ancient world, impressing their physical presence on the daily experience and imaginations of ordinary people and figuring prominently in literature and art. They provided a fertile source of symbols and stories in myths and folklore and were central to the ancient rituals of augury and divination.Jeremy Mynott'sBirds in the Ancient Worldillustrates the many different roles birds played in culture: as indicators of time, weather and the seasons; as a resource for hunting, eating, medicine and farming; as domestic pets and entertainments; and as omens and intermediaries between the gods and humankind.We learn how birds were perceived - through quotations from well over a hundred classical Greek and Roman authors, all of them translated freshly into English, through nearly 100 illustrations from ancient wall-paintings, pottery and mosaics, and through selections from early scientific writings, and many anecdotes and descriptions from works of history, geography and travel.Jeremy Mynott acts as a stimulating guide to this rich and fascinating material, using birds as a prism through which to explore both the similarities and the often surprising differences between ancient conceptions of the natural world and our own. His book is an original contribution to the flourishing interest in the cultural history of birds and to our understanding of the ancient cultures in which birds played such a prominent part.Birds in the Ancient World
CopyrightAcknowledgementsNotes for Readers
List of Illustrations
Timeline
Maps of the Classical World in the First Century AD
Greece, Rome, and the Aegean
Birds in the Natural WorldThe Seasons
Weather
Time
Soundscapes
Birds as a ResourceHunting and Fowling
Cooking and Eating
Farming
Living with BirdsCaptivity and Domestication
Sports and enterainments
Relationships and Responsibilities
Invention and DiscoveryWonders
Medicine
Observation and Enquiry
Thinking with BirdsOmens and Auguries
Magic and Metamorphosis
Signs and Symbols
Birds as IntermediariesFabulous Creatures
Messengers and Mediators
Epilogue
Appendix: Some Bird Lists from Ancient Sources
Biographies of Authors Quotes
Endnotes
Publisher's Acknowledgements
Index of Birds
Genearl Index