The ''Ecbasis captivi'' (full title: ''Ecbasis cuiusdam captivi per tropologiam'', "The escape of a certain captive, interpreted figuratively") is an

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Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

beast fable that probably dates to the middle of the 11th century, and was likely written in the

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region of

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. It is the oldest example of a European beast fable to survive, and the first medieval European example of

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

animals. The poem is written in

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

s with Leonine internal rhyme frequently used throughout the poem. The text survives in two manuscripts, both of which now are at the

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Synopsis

The plot of the poem revolves around a

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

within a fable. A calf has been caught by a wolf on

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. The wolf has a dream, warning him not to eat the calf. Meanwhile, the other animals come to the wolf's cave. The inner fable is told, which explains why the wolf and fox are enemies. The lion, king of beasts, was sick. All the animals suggest cures for the lion except for the fox. The wolf suggests that the fox should be hanged for his failure to appear and offer a cure. A panther warns the fox to present himself and make a defense; the fox appears and explains that he was on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

. He offers his cure: flay the wolf and let the lion use his skin as a blanket. This was done, and the cure worked. The lion recovers; courtiers sing songs comparing the lion's suffering to the passion of Jesus Christ, and the fox supplants the wolf as regent. Then, the wolf shows himself to the assembled crowd of animals, which allows the calf to escape. The wolf is gored by the steer, and the fox writes him an epitaph.

Interpretations

Henry Hallam has written that the poem is unique, not only because it is the first new beast fable to appear in the European Middle Ages, but also because it unites the classical tradition of anthropomorphic fables such as

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

with the allegorizing

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

bestiary A bestiary () 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 and illustration of each beas ...

tradition exemplified in the '' Physiologus'' and similar popular works. The story of the cure of the lion has parallels in Aesop. On the one hand, the wolf of the story is a representation of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

; on the other hand is apparently meant to represent the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s, who were often depicted as notoriously greedy in period literature.Hallam, pp. 305-307

References

* * *Bibliotheca Augustana,
''Ecbasis cuiusdam captivi''
(Latin source text) *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecbasis Captivi Fables Medieval Latin poetry

Synopsis

Interpretations

See also

References

Notes