Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale

The status of animals and their relationship to humans was much debated in pagan, Jewish, and Christian antiquity. Against the prevailing consensus, some authors went so far as to acribe religious behaviour to certain animals, selecting the most rational among them. According to a story written by K...

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Main Author: Gilles Courtieu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université Lumière Lyon 2 2023-06-01
Series:Frontière·s
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/frontieres/1616
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author Gilles Courtieu
author_facet Gilles Courtieu
author_sort Gilles Courtieu
collection DOAJ
description The status of animals and their relationship to humans was much debated in pagan, Jewish, and Christian antiquity. Against the prevailing consensus, some authors went so far as to acribe religious behaviour to certain animals, selecting the most rational among them. According to a story written by King Juba II and later taken up by Pliny the Elder, elephants, for instance, were suspected to perform rituals, prophecy and oaths. Overall, these anthropomorphic representations proved to be a means of observing how humans might have originally conceived religiosity–before thinking of religion itself.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2534-7535
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publishDate 2023-06-01
publisher Université Lumière Lyon 2
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spelling doaj-art-6e69e77177f3492e9784e4aee48759e72025-01-09T12:57:11ZengUniversité Lumière Lyon 2Frontière·s2534-75352023-06-01810.35562/frontieres.1616Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animaleGilles CourtieuThe status of animals and their relationship to humans was much debated in pagan, Jewish, and Christian antiquity. Against the prevailing consensus, some authors went so far as to acribe religious behaviour to certain animals, selecting the most rational among them. According to a story written by King Juba II and later taken up by Pliny the Elder, elephants, for instance, were suspected to perform rituals, prophecy and oaths. Overall, these anthropomorphic representations proved to be a means of observing how humans might have originally conceived religiosity–before thinking of religion itself.https://journals.openedition.org/frontieres/1616
spellingShingle Gilles Courtieu
Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale
Frontière·s
title Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale
title_full Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale
title_fullStr Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale
title_full_unstemmed Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale
title_short Elephas religiosus. Variations grecques, romaines, païennes, juives et chrétiennes sur le thème de la religiosité animale
title_sort elephas religiosus variations grecques romaines paiennes juives et chretiennes sur le theme de la religiosite animale
url https://journals.openedition.org/frontieres/1616
work_keys_str_mv AT gillescourtieu elephasreligiosusvariationsgrecquesromainespaiennesjuivesetchretiennessurlethemedelareligiositeanimale