 The Ritual Life of Animals
‘Animals are good to think’. So famously said Claude Levi-Strauss. Beyond their obvious practical uses as food, clothing and companions, animals and their images play an important symbolic role in all human cultures. This ongoing project continues to explore this powerful dimension of human-animal relations in the context of the Mediterranean and the Near East through a series of case studies (undertaken as doctoral theses): including the monkey in Mediterranean art; marine imagery; the iconography of sacrifice; fantastic creatures in early Greek art. The long-term flow of goods, materials and ideas throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and the rich variety of animal life make it possible to trace how animals (in reality, in representations, and in the imaginary) and their symbolic meanings are adopted, adapted and transformed between these interacting cultures. (Dr Morris)
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