Faithful pets and animals in ancient Greece

Virtually everyone is aware of the astonishing and poignant devotion many animals show to humans. Let’s go back in time and have a look at some of the amazing exploits of animals in ancient Greece.

In the Odyssey (Book 17, lines 300-327[1]) Argos, Odysseas’ dog, had been waiting for twenty long years for his master to return. Old and forlorn and full of fleas, he was lying on a pile of manure, for the most part sadly forsaken. When Odysseas returned to Ithaca disguised as an old beggar, Argos heard his master’s voice but was too weak to sit up. He could only drop his ears and wag his tail. Then, sadly Argos died having had the chance to see his beloved master again.

At the Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.) an incident so impressed the Greeks that it is said a mural of it was made in the Stoa Poikile in the ancient Agora of Athens. It had also been recorded by Claudius Aelianus[2]. When the Greeks had marched to Marathon to meet the Persians, it appears that one soldier’s dog determinedly followed, refusing to abandon his master. When the battle started, the fearless dog, keeping close to his master, lunged at the Persians attacking them fiercely.

The exploit of another lionhearted canine has come down to us in the work of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives (Themistocles) regarding the Naval Battle of Salamis. This dog belonged to the father of Pericles, Xanthippus and there are two versions of the story. In the first, the Athenians were evacuating Athens in anticipation of the Persian invasion. In the commotion and agitation created by the exodus, Xanthippus’ dog followed his master onto the ship. There was simply no room for pets so the hapless dog was thrown overboard. It managed to swim following the ship to the island of Salamis where, exhausted it came ashore and died. In the second version, (there is no direct reference of this) Xanthippus participated in the battle and his dog followed the trireme (war ship) into the mayhem of battle. It came ashore on the island of Salamis where it died. In any case, Xanthippus was heart-broken and set up a monument for his dog called Κυνὸς Σῆμα (the Grave of the Dog or the Dog’s Monument/Mound) and it was a well-known location in ancient times.

(For referrals of these three incidences see “The Dog and Pan’s Cave”- Ancient Stories)

The story of the horse Bucephalas (Βουκεφάλας), which belonged to Alexander the Great, is well known. He accompanied Alexander valiantly for eleven years in a series of incredible military campaigns and proved to be more than just a cavalry horse. This exceptional equine was said to have acquired such military acumen that he knew just where to go and how to protect his rider. He had also acquired the skill of bending down to assist Alexander in mounting in case of injury. Bucephalas is said to have died at the age of thirty. The Greek historian Arrian (2nd century A.D.) tells us that Bucephalas did not die of injury but of heatstroke and old age. This remarkable horse had carried Alexander from Pella (in northern Greece, Macedonia) to the Jhelum River in Pakistan, covering a distance of 17,500 kilometers, many times over very rough terrain. The relationship between Alexander and Bucephalas has surpassed even mythic proportions.

footnotes [1] Ὀδύσσεια ρ 300-327. [2] A Roman author and teacher of rhetoric, he lived in the 2nd- 3rd century A.D. He wrote in Greek and his two main works are On the Nature of Animals and Various History. They provide us with captivating stories, both fact and fiction, of animals, people, and events.

Article by Joanna Karachristos