More Than a Metaphor: Gendering Animal-human Interactions in Ancient Greece

Thursday, June 12, 7-9 p.m.

A-1046

This is the keynote lecture for the conference “Domesticated?

Female Animals and Animalized Women in the Greek and Roman worlds.” The speaker is Dr. Sian Lewis, School of Classics, University of St. Andrews. The talk is open to the public, and will be followed by a reception.

Description of talk:

The strand of Greek thought which conceptualised women through animal metaphor, placing them on the ‘nature’ side of a nature/culture divide, has long been recognised. My research, however, is primarily interested in the realia of human-animal interactions, examining the relationships generated between people and the animals, wild and domestic, which surrounded them. Given the abundant evidence in other cultures, ancient and modern, for gender difference in relations with animals, my paper asks, did women in ancient Greece experience qualititively different interactions with animals as compared to men?

Drawing on the evidence of animal remains and domestic archaeology in addition to art and literature, I survey specifically female interactions with animals including horses, cattle and other livestock, domestic birds, bees, small animals and wild birds, and suggest three conclusions. First, that female interactions with animals were indeed different to men’s in a number of ways, some socially imposed and others embedded by architecture and social/religious practice; second, that binary distinction of domestic/wild and interior/exterior are unhelpful in explaining animal interactions in their gendered sense; and finally that the rich and distinctive qualities of female interactions with animals helped to create the concepts reflected in ancient science and philosophy.

Presented by Department of Classics

Event Listing 2025-06-12 19:00:00 2025-06-12 21:00:00 America/St_Johns More Than a Metaphor: Gendering Animal-human Interactions in Ancient Greece This is the keynote lecture for the conference “Domesticated? Female Animals and Animalized Women in the Greek and Roman worlds.” The speaker is Dr. Sian Lewis, School of Classics, University of St. Andrews. The talk is open to the public, and will be followed by a reception. Description of talk: The strand of Greek thought which conceptualised women through animal metaphor, placing them on the ‘nature’ side of a nature/culture divide, has long been recognised. My research, however, is primarily interested in the realia of human-animal interactions, examining the relationships generated between people and the animals, wild and domestic, which surrounded them. Given the abundant evidence in other cultures, ancient and modern, for gender difference in relations with animals, my paper asks, did women in ancient Greece experience qualititively different interactions with animals as compared to men? Drawing on the evidence of animal remains and domestic archaeology in addition to art and literature, I survey specifically female interactions with animals including horses, cattle and other livestock, domestic birds, bees, small animals and wild birds, and suggest three conclusions. First, that female interactions with animals were indeed different to men’s in a number of ways, some socially imposed and others embedded by architecture and social/religious practice; second, that binary distinction of domestic/wild and interior/exterior are unhelpful in explaining animal interactions in their gendered sense; and finally that the rich and distinctive qualities of female interactions with animals helped to create the concepts reflected in ancient science and philosophy. A-1046 Department of Classics