The ''Physiologus'' () is a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need t ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

text written or compiled in Greek by an unknown author, in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

; its composition has been traditionally dated to the 2nd century AD by readers who saw parallels with writings of

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen ...

, who is asserted to have known the text, though Alan Scott has made a case for a date at the end of the 3rd or in the 4th century. The ''Physiologus'' consists of descriptions of animals, birds, and fantastic creatures, sometimes stones and plants, provided with moral content. Each animal is described, and an anecdote follows, from which the moral and symbolic qualities of the animal are derived. Manuscripts are often, but not always, given illustrations, often lavish. The book was translated into Armenian in 5th century, into Latin by the early 6th century or possibly even by the mid-4th century and into Ethiopic and

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

, then into many European and Middle-Eastern languages, and many

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

copies such as the

Bern Physiologus The ''Bern Physiologus'' (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, ''Codex Bongarsianus'' 318) is a 9th-century illuminated copy of the Latin translation of the ''Physiologus''. It was probably produced at Reims about 825–850. It is believed to be a copy of a ...

survive. It retained its influence over ideas of the "meaning" of animals in Europe for over a thousand years. It was a predecessor of

bestiaries A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history ...

(books of beasts). Medieval poetical literature is full of allusions that can be traced to the ''Physiologus'' tradition; the text also exerted great influence on the symbolism of medieval ecclesiastical art: symbols like those of the

phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

rising from its ashes and the

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

feeding her young with her own blood are still well-known.

Allegorical stories

The story is told of the lion whose cubs are born dead and receive life when the old lion breathes upon them, and of the

which burns itself to death and rises on the third day from the ashes; both are taken as types of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. The

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

also which only permits itself to be captured in the lap of a pure virgin is a type of the

Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

; the

that sheds its own blood in order to sprinkle its dead young, so that they may live again, is a type of the salvation of mankind by the death of Christ on the Cross. Some allegories set forth the deceptive enticements of the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

and his defeat by Christ; others present qualities as examples to be imitated or avoided.

Attributions

The conventional title ''Physiologus'' was because the author introduces his stories from natural history with the phrase: "the physiologus says", that is, "the naturalist says", "the natural philosophers, the authorities for natural history say", a term derived from Greek φύσις (''physis'', "nature") and λόγος (''

logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Aris ...

'', “word”). In later centuries it was ascribed to various celebrated

Fathers A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...

, especially Epiphanius,

Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Cae ...

, and St. Peter of Alexandria. The assertion that the method of the ''Physiologus'' presupposes the allegorical

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

developed by

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and the ...

is not correct; the so-called '' Letter of Barnabas'' offers, before Origen, a sufficient model, not only for the general character of the ''Physiologus'' but also for many of its details. It can hardly be asserted that the later recensions, in which the Greek text has been preserved, present even in the best and oldest

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s a perfectly reliable transcription of the original, especially as this was an anonymous and popular treatise.

Early history

About the year 400 the ''Physiologus'' was translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

; from Greek, the original language that it was written in. In the 5th century into Ethiopic dited_by_Fritz_Hommel_with_a_German_translation_(Leipzig,_1877),_revised_German_translation_in_''Romanische_Forschungen'',_V,_13-36.html" ;"title="Fritz_Hommel.html" ;"title="dited by

dited_by_Fritz_Hommel_with_a_German_translation_(Leipzig,_1877),_revised_German_translation_in_''Romanische_Forschungen'',_V,_13-36">Fritz_Hommel.html"_;"title="dited_by_Fritz_Hommel">dited_by_Fritz_Hommel_with_a_German_translation_(Leipzig,_1877),_revised_German_translation_in_''Romanische_Forschungen'',_V,_13-36_into_Armenian_language.html" "title="Fritz Hommel">dited by Fritz Hommel with a German translation (Leipzig, 1877), revised German translation in ''Romanische Forschungen'', V, 13-36">Fritz_Hommel.html" ;"title="dited by Fritz Hommel">dited by Fritz Hommel with a German translation (Leipzig, 1877), revised German translation in ''Romanische Forschungen'', V, 13-36 into Armenian language">Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

[edited by Pitra in ''Spicilegium Solesmense'', III, 374–90; French translation by Cahier in ''Nouveaux Mélanges d'archéologie, d'histoire et de littérature'' (Paris, 1874)] (see also the recent edition: Gohar Muradyan, Physiologus. The Greek And Armenian Versions With a Study of Translation Technique, Leuven–Dudley MA: Peeters, 2005 [Hebrew University Armenian Studies 6]); into

dited by Tychsen, ''Physiologus Syrus'' (Rostock, 1795), a later Syriac and an Arabic version edited by Land in ''Anecdota Syriaca'', IV (Leyden, 1875)]. An Old Slavic (Old Bulgarian) translation was made in the 10th century [edited by Karneyev, , Sankt Peterburg, 1890]. Epiphanius used ''Physiologus'' in his ''Panarion'' and from his time numerous further quotations and references to the ''Physiologus'' in the Greek and the Latin

Church fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

show that it was one of the most generally known works of Christian

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

. Various translations and revisions were current in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. The earliest translation into Latin was followed by various recensions, among them the ''Sayings of St. John Chrysostom on the natures of beasts'', A metrical Latin ''Physiologus'' was written in the 11th century by a certain Theobaldus, and printed by Morris in ''An Old English Miscellany'' (1872), 201 sqq.; it also appears among the works of Hildebertus Cenomanensis in ''Pat.Lat.'', CLXXI, 1217–24. To these should be added the literature of the

, in which the material of the ''Physiologus'' was used; the ''Tractatus de bestiis et alius rebus'', often misattributed to

Hugo of St. Victor Hugh of Saint Victor ( 1096 – 11 February 1141), was a Saxon canon regular and a leading theologian and writer on mystical theology. Life As with many medieval figures, little is known about Hugh's early life. He was probably born in the 1090s ...

, and the ''Speculum naturale'' of

Vincent of Beauvais Vincent of Beauvais ( la, Vincentius Bellovacensis or ''Vincentius Burgundus''; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his ''Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work ...

Translations

The ''Physiologus'' had an impact on neighboring literatures: medieval translations into

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, Georgian, Slavic,

, Coptic, and Ethiopic are known. Translations and adaptations from the Latin introduced the "Physiologus" into almost all the languages of Western Europe. An

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...

( Alemannic) translation was written in

Hirsau Hirsau (formerly ''Hirschau'') is a district of the town of Calw in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, located in the south-west portion of the country, about two miles north of Calw and about twenty-four miles west of Stuttgart. Town Hi ...

in c. 1070 (ed. Müllenhoff and Scherer in ''Denkmäler deutscher Poesie und Prosa'' No. LXXXI); a later translation (12th century) has been edited by Lauchert in ''Geschichte des Physiologus'' (pp. 280–99); and a rhymed version appears in Karajan, ''Deutsche Sprachdenkmale des XII. Jahrhunderts'' (pp. 73–106), both based on the Latin text known as ''Dicta Chrysostomi.'' Fragments of a 9th-century metrical

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

''Physiologus'' are extant (ed. Thorpe in '' Codex Exoniensis'' pp. 335–67, Grein in ''Bibliothek der angelsächsischen Poesie'' I, 223-8). About the middle of the 13th century there appeared a Middle English metrical ''Bestiary'', an adaptation of the Latin ''Physiologus Theobaldi''; this has been edited by Wright and Halliwell in ''Reliquiæ antiquæ'' (I, 208-27), also by Morris in ''An Old English Miscellany'' (1-25). There is an ''Icelandic'' ''Physiologus'' preserved in two fragmentary redactions from around 1200. In the 12th and 13th centuries there appeared the ''Bestiaires'' of Philippe de Thaun, a metrical

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

version, edited by Thomas Wright in ''Popular Treatises on Science Written during the Middle Ages'' (74-131), and by Walberg (Lund and Paris, 1900); that by Guillaume, clerk of Normandy, called ''Bestiare divin'', and edited by Cahier in his ''Mélanges d'archéologie'' (II-IV), also edited by Hippeau (Caen, 1852), and by Reinsch (Leipzig, 1890); the ', edited by Paul Meyer in ''Romania'' (I, 420-42); the ''Bestiare'' in prose of

Pierre le Picard Pierre le Picard (1624–1690?) was a 17th-century French buccaneer. He was both an officer to l'Olonnais as well as Sir Henry Morgan, most notably taking part in his raids at Maracaibo and Panama, and may have been one of the first buccanee ...

, edited by Cahier in ''Mélanges'' (II-IV). An adaptation is found in the old Waldensian literature, and has been edited by Alfons Mayer in ''Romanische Forschungen'' (V, 392 sqq.). As to the Italian bestiaries, a Tuscan-Venetian ''Bestiarius'' has been edited (Goldstaub and Wendriner, ''Ein tosco-venezianischer Bestiarius'', Halle, 1892). Extracts from the ''Physiologus'' in Provençal have been edited by Bartsch, ''Provenzalisches Lesebuch'' (162-66). The ''Physiologus'' survived in the literatures of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

in books on animals written in

Middle Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Fall of Co ...

, among the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

to whom it came from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

(translations of the so-called Byzantinian redaction were made in Middle Bulgarian in the 13th-14th century; they were edited in 2011 by Ana Stoykova in an electronic edition, see reference), and in a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

translation from a Slavic original (edited by

Moses Gaster Moses Gaster (17 September 1856 – 5 March 1939) was a Romanian, later British scholar, the ''Hakham'' of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation, London, and a Hebrew and Romanian linguist. Moses Gaster was an active Zionist in Romani ...

with an Italian translation in ''Archivio glottologico italiano'', X, 273-304).

The manuscript tradition

Modern study of ''Physiologus'' can be said to have begun with Francesco Sbordone's edition, 1936, which established three traditions in the surviving manuscripts of the text, a "primitive" tradition, a Byzantine one and a pseudo-Basil tradition. Ben Perry showed that a manuscript Sbordone had missed, at the Morgan Library, was the oldest extant Greek version, a late 10th-century manuscript from

Grottaferrata Grottaferrata () is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, south east of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby comm ...

. Anna Dorofeeva has argued that the numerous early Latin Physiologus manuscripts can be seen as evidence for an 'encyclopedic drive' amongst early medieval monastic writing centres.

Notes

References

* Cahier and Martin, Mélanges d'archaeologie, &c. ii. 85 seq (Paris, 1851), iii. 203 seq. (1853),iv. 55 seq. (r856); * Cahier, Nouveaux mélanges (1874), p. 106 seq. * J. Victor Carus, Gesch der Zoologie (Munich, 1872), p. 109 seq. * Classici auctores I ed. Mai, vii. 585596 (Rome, 1835) * Michael J. Curley, ''Introduction'', Physiologus. Translated by Michael J. Curley. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979). ix-xliii. * Dahlerup, Verner: "Physiologus i to islandske Bearbejdelser". In: Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie (ANOH) 1889, pp. 199–290. * S. Epiphanius ad physiologum, ed. Ponce de Leon (with woodcuts) (Rome, 1587) another edition, with copper-plates (Antwerp, 1588); * S. Eustathu ni hexahemeron commentarius, ed.

Leo Allatius Leo Allatius (Greek: Λέων Αλλάτιος, ''Leon Allatios'', Λιωνής Αλάτζης, ''Lionis Allatzis''; Italian: ''Leone Allacci, Allacio''; Latin: ''Leo Allatius, Allacius''; c. 1586 – January 19, 1669) was a Greek scholar, theolog ...

(Lyons, 1629; cf. I-F van Herwerden, Exerciti. Crstt., pp. 180182, Hague, 1862); * G. Heider, in Archiv für Kunde österreichischer Geschichtsquellen" (5, 541–82, Vienna, 1850) * A. Karneyev, (Sankt Peterburg, 1890). *

J. P. N. Land ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

, Anecdote syriaca (Leiden, 1874), iv. 31 seq., 115 seq., and in Verslager en Mededeelingen der kon. Akad. van Wetenschappen, 2nd series vol. iv. (Amsterdam, 1874); * Friedrich

Lauchert The Lauchert is a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous memb ...

, Geschichten des Physiologus (Strassburg, 1889) * S. Lazaris, Le Physiologus grec, t. 1. La réécriture de l'histoire naturelle antique (Firenze, 2016, Micrologus Library 77) - pd

* Stavros Lazaris: ″Quelques considérations sur l'illustration du Physiologus grec″, in: ''Bestiaires médiévaux : Nouvelles perspectives sur les manuscrits et les traditions textuelles. Actes du XVe colloque international de la Société Internationale Renardienne, Louvain-la-Neuve, 18-22 août 2003'', B. Van den Abeele (ed.), Louvain-la-Neuve, 2005 (Textes, études, congrès 21), p. 141-167 , pdf : https://www.academia.edu/795328/_Quelques_considérations_sur_l_illustration_du_Physiologus_grec_ * Maetzner, Altengl. Sprachproben (Berlin, 1867), vol. i. pt. i. p. 55 seq. * Guy R. Mermier, "The Romanian Bestiary: An English Translation and Commentary on the Ancient 'Physiologus' Tradition," ''Mediterranean Studies'', Vol. 13 (Penn State University Press: 2004), pp. 17–55. * Emil Peters: ''Der griechische Physiologus und seine orientalischen Übersetzungen'' (Festschriften der Gesellschaft für deutsche Philologie ; 15). Berlin, 1898. * B. Pitra, ''Spicilegium solesmense'' Th xlvii. seq., 338 seq., 416, 535 (Paris, 1855) * Meinolf Schumacher: "Der Biber – ein Asket? Zu einem metaphorischen Motiv aus Fabel und 'Physiologus'": ''Euphorion'' 86 (1992) pp. 347–353
PDF

Ana Stoykova, ''The Slavic Physiologus of the Byzantine Recension: Electronic Text Edition and Comparative Study'', 2011
* O. G. Tychsen ''Physiologus syrus'', (Rostock, 1795)

Translations

* Francis Carmody. ''Physiologus, The Very Ancient Book of Beasts, Plants and Stones''. San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1953. * A. S. Cook. ''The Old English Physiologus''. Yale Studies in English, vol. 63. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1921. * Michael J. Curley: ''Physiologus''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979. First translation into English of the Latin versions of Physiologus as established by Francis Carmody. * Emil Peters: ''Der Physiologus'' (aus dem griech. Orig., mit einem Nachw. vers. von Friedrich Würzbach). München: Musarionverl., 1921 * Christian Schröder: ''Der Millstätter Physiologus. Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar'' (Würzburger Beiträge zur deutschen Philologie ; 24; zugl.: Würzburg, Univ., Diss., 2004). Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2005 *

T. H. White Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer best known for his Arthurian novels, published together in 1958 as ''The Once and Future King''. One of his most memorable is the first of the series, '' The S ...

: The Bestiary: The Book of Beasts New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1954, 4/1960 * French translation : Arnaud Zucker, ''Physiologos. Le bestiaire des bestiaires. Texte traduit du grec, introduit et commenté par Arnaud Zucker'', Jérôme Millon, 2005 (Series Atopia). https://books.google.fr/books?id=Z8hwbgnpr-kC. {{Authority control 2nd-century books Bestiaries Biology books History of biology Types of illuminated manuscript Works of unknown authorship

Allegorical stories

Attributions

Early history

Translations

The manuscript tradition

Contents

See also

Notes

References

Translations