Animals in Greek and Roman religion and myth

This volume brings together a variety of approaches to the different ways in which the role of animals was understood in ancient Greco-Roman myth and religion, across a period of several centuries, from Preclassical Greece to Late Antique Rome.

Animals in Greco-Roman antiquity were thought to be intermediaries between men and gods, and they played a pivotal role in sacrificial rituals and divination, the foundations of pagan religion.

The studies in the first part of the volume examine the role of the animals in sacrifice and divination.

The second part explores the similarities between animals, on the one hand, and men and gods, on the other.

Indeed, in antiquity, the behaviour of several animals was perceived to mirror human behaviour.