Natural History from Greeks to Medieval
Europe
Minoan fresco on
Crete 1500 BC
For next Tuesday
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Aristotle
• (384 BC – 322 BC)
•-was a student of Plato (Greek
philosopher)
•taught Alexander the Great.
Geocentric
Universe
Aristotle
(Greek, 384-322 BC)
Aristotle on the
Soul?
When the crocodile yawns, the trochilus flies into his mouth
and cleans his teeth. The trochilus gets his food thereby,
and the crocodile gets ease and comfort; it makes no
attempt to injure its little friend, but, when it wants it to
go, it shakes its neck in warning, lest it should accidentally
bite the bird.
• The woodpecker …pecks at the bark of trees to drive out
from under it maggots and
gnats; when they emerge, it
Matt
licks them up with its tongue, which is large and flat. It
can run up and down a tree in any way, even with the
head downwards, like the gecko-lizard. For secure hold
upon a tree, its claws are better adapted than those of
the daw; it makes its way by sticking these claws into the
bark.
Other contributions to zoology
Greek, Roman and Medieval
Depictions of Nature
Aquatic Animals
Fish and Dolphins
Minoan fresco on
Crete 1500 BC
Before 79 AD
Pompeii
Rome
3rd to 4th C from
Flavian Amphitheater
16th C Roman Fountain
1200
Canterbury
Psalter
13th C Basilica San Marco, Venice
Medieval Books of Nature
• Herbals
• Bestiaries
Dioscorides
(Greek circa 40—
90 AD) wrote
herbal used for
centuries
This copy from
625
Plants, both
wild and
cultivated,
played
important roles
in medicine
and magic
Herbals in Arabic, Greek and Latin
were created for hundreds of
years
14th Century Italian Herbal
Illustrated
Herbals used to
identify plants
and their uses
Plant used for
sutures and to
stop bleeding
Leonhart Fuchs
published a
famous “herbal”
in 1542
Herbarum Vivae Eicones
of Brunfels
1530
Medieval
Bestiaries
Harley Bestiary at British
Library
c. 1230.
The one who is on duty holds a
stone up with one claw; if the
watcher falls asleep the stone
will fall and wake him.
Aberdeen Bestiary
English c. 1200
Pre-Renaissance Images
Bestiaries
Pliny the Elder (Natural History,
Book 10, 86):
•
“The salamander is a shaped
like a lizard, but is covered with
spots.
• A salamander is so cold that it
puts out fire on contact. It
vomits from its mouth a milky
liquid; if this liquid touches any
part of the human body it
causes all the hair to fall off,
and the skin to change color
and break out in a rash.
• Salamanders only appear when
it rains and disappear in fine
weather.”
http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast276.htm
Harley
Bestiary
1230-1240
• The whale remains floating at the surface for long periods and sailors,
thinking the whale to be an island, land there and build a fire to cook
their food.
• After a time the heat penetrates the whale's thick skin, and it dives to
cool itself. The ship is dragged down with it and the sailors drown.
• When the whale is hungry it opens its mouth and emits a sweet odor,
which attracts small fish. The fish swim into the whale's mouth, which
closes on them.
• Allegory/Moral
• The whale who deceives sailors and drags them down to their deaths
signifies the devil, who deceives those he drags down to hell. Those of
weak faith who give in to the sweet odor of worldly desires will be
swallowed up by the devil.
Renaissance
Natural Historymore later