NATIONAL HELLENIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION

INSTITUTE FOR BYZANTINE RESEARCH

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM 21

Animals and Environment

in Byzantium
(7th-12th c.)

Edited by
Ilias Anagnostakis - Taxiarchis G. Kolias
Eftychia Papadopoulou

ATHENS 2011
 ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΙΔΡΥΜΑ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ
ΙΝΣΤΙΤΟΥΤΟ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ
ΔΙΕΘΝΗ ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΑ 21

ΖΩΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝ

ΣΤΟ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΟ
(7ος-12ος αι.)

Επιστημονική Επιμέλεια
Ηλίας Αναγνωστάκης - Ταξιάρχης Γ. Κόλιας
Ευτυχία Παπαδοπούλου

ΑΘΗΝΑ 2011
Ηλεκτρονική επεξεργασία-σελιδοποίηση: Ζαμπέλα Λεοντάρα

Διάθεση: Eθνικό Ίδρυμα Eρευνών

Bασιλέως Kωνσταντίνου 48, 116 35 Aθήνα
Tηλεομ.: 210 7273629
Hλεκτρονική Διεύθυνση: bookstore@eie.gr

© Eθνικό Ίδρυμα Eρευνών

Ινστιτούτο Βυζαντινών Ερευνών
Bασιλέως Kωνσταντίνου 48, 116 35 Aθήνα

Word processing-layout: Zampela Leontara

Distribution: The National Hellenic Research Foundation

48, Vassileos Constantinou, 116 35 Athens
Fax: (+ 30) 210 7273629
e-mail: bookstore@eie.gr

© The National Hellenic Research Foundation

Institute for Byzantine Research
Vassileos Konstantinou 48, 116 35 Athens - GR

ISSN : 1106-1448
ISBN : 978-960-371-063-9
 ΠΕΡΙΕΧΟΜΕΝΑ

Πρόλογος 9-10
Βραχυγραφίες 13-14
Ταξιάρχης Γ. Κολιας, Ο άνθρωπος και τα ζώα στο Βυζάντιο 15-22
Johannes Koder, Παρατηρήσεις για τη χρήση βοοειδών στο
Βυζάντιο 23-38
Βασιλική Ν. Βλυσιδου, Ο χοίρος ως σύμβολο ευδαιμονίας του
βυζαντινού ανθρώπου 39-50
Τηλέμαχος Κ. Λουγγης, Περί ιχθύων και αλιείας διάφορα 51-62
Στυλιανός Λαμπακης, Απάνθισμα περί αμνοεριφίων και άλλα
συναφή αγροτοποιμενικά 63-69
Αναστάσιος Κ. Σινακος, Το κυνήγι κατά τη μέση βυζαντινή εποχή
(7ος–12ος αι.) 71-86
Dionysios Stathakopoulos, Invisible Protagonists: the Justinianic
Plague from a Zoocentric Point of View 87-95
Chryssi Bourbou, Fasting or Feasting? Consumption of Meat, Dairy
Products and Fish in Byzantine Greece. Evidence from
Chemical Analysis 97-114
Nancy P. Ševčenko, Eaten Alive: Animal Attacks in the Venice
Cynegetica 115-135
Ilias Anagnostakis – Titos Papamastorakis, St. Romanos epi tēn sklepan.
A Saint Protector and Healer of Horses 137-164
Ewald Kislinger, Byzantine Cats 165-178
Vanya Lozanova-Stancheva, The Basilisk: Visualization of the
Mystery 179-193
Ηλίας Αναγνωστακησ, Ο φράκτης, ο αγριόχοιρος και η άρκτος 195-233
Kallirroe Linardou, Notes on a Milking Scene in Parisinus Graecus
135 235-243
8 ΠΕΡΙΕΧΟΜΕΝΑ

Stavros Lazaris, Rôle et place du cheval dans l’antiquité tardive:

questions d’ordre économique et militaire 245-272
Tibor Živković, Symbolism of Some Animals in the Early Medieval
Serbia. Tribute, Peace, and Friendship 273-284
Μαρία Λεοντσινη, Οικόσιτα, ωδικά και εξωτικά πτηνά. Αισθητική
πρόσληψη και χρηστικές όψεις (7ος-11oς αι.) 285-317
Nike Koutrakou, «Animal Farm» in Byzantium? The Terminology
of Animal Imagery in Middle Byzantine Politics and the
Eight «Deadly Sins» 319-377
Μαρία Χρόνη, Τὰ ζωϊκὰ προϊόντα ὡς πρώτη ὕλη γιὰ τὴν παρασκευὴ
φαρμάκων καὶ περιάπτων στὰ βυζαντινὰ ἰατρικὰ κείμενα
τῆς μέσης περιόδου. Ἡ ἐξελικτικὴ σχέση τῆς πανίδας μὲ τὴν
ἰατρικὴ καὶ τὴν λευκὴ μαγεία 379-406
Michel Kaplan, L’activité pastorale dans le village byzantin du VIIe
au XIIe siècle 407-420
Μαρία Γερολυματου, Η κτηνοτροφία στο Βυζάντιο: από την επιβίωση
στην εμπορευματοποίηση (8ος-12ος αι.) 421-434
Σπύρος Τρωιάνος - Αλέξανδρος Λιαρμακοπουλος, Τὰ ζῶα ὡς
ἀντικείμενο ἐγκληματικῶν πράξεων στὸ βυζαντινὸ δίκαιο 435-452
Ιωακείμ Aθ. Παπαγγελος, Ἡ κτηνοτροφία στὴν Xαλκιδικὴ κατὰ
τοὺς μέσους χρόνους 453-474
Ilias Anagnostakis, Graos Gala  : Une légende byzantine des Jours
de la Vieille (pastoralisme au féminin et destruction de
l’environnement à Byzance) 475-505
 Ewald Kislinger

Byzantine Cats

In memory of Merlin / Pinocchio de Lentia

Nearly fifthy years ago, in 1961, the Austrian writer Gerhard Ellert
published a novel (second edition 1964), Die Katze der Herzogin (The cat of the
duchess). In former years she –because Ellert is a pseudonym of Gertrude
Gabriella Schmirger (1900-1975)– had already treated other historical
subjects1, I just mention books on Attila, Charles V and Wallenstein. The
duchess is the daughter of the sebastokrator Andronikos and niece of Manuel
I Comnenos, Theodora2, who in 1148/49 married Henry II «Jasomirgott»
from the Babenberger-family, margrave and, later on, duke of Austria3. On
the occasion of the wedding Manganeios Prodromos, who erroneously was

1. B. Urbas, Leben und Werk Gertrud Schmirgers im Spiegel ihrer historischen Romane
(unpublished PhD), Graz 1980.
2. K. Barzos, Ἡ γενεαλογία τῶν Κομνηνῶν, vol. 1-2, Thessalonike 1984, vol. 2, 171-189.
3. K. J. Heilig, Ostrom und das deutsche Reich um die Mitte des 12. Jahrhunderts. Die
Erhebung Österreichs zum Herzogtum 1156 und das Bündnis zwischen Byzanz und dem
Westreich, in Th. Meyer – K. Heilig – C. Erdmann (ed.), Kaisertum und Herzogsgewalt im Zeitalter
Friedrichs I. Studien zur politischen und Verfassungsgeschichte des hohen Mittelalters (Schriften
des Reichsinstituts für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 9), Leipzig 1944, 1-271, esp. 252-253,
268-271.
166 Ewald Kislinger

equated with Theodore Prodromos for a long time4, wrote an epithalamion5.

The couple, Henry and Theodora, afterwards went to Vienna, accompanied
by several Greek servants and, according to Ellert, a white cat, called Lourion6.
This cat is not one of the central figures of the novel, its plot deals with a
case of kidnapping at the Viennese court. Only occasionally we are told, that
Lourion had a personal steward, liked fresh fish and slept on a silken pillow7,
thus being a luxury pet.
From where did the writer get the idea of a Byzantine cat in medieval
Austria? I suppose, the key is to be found at Pürgg, a small Styrian village with
a church, founded in the 12th century and a separated chapel, dedicated to
John the Baptist. Inside the chapel romanic wall paintings of mainly religious
character8 are preserved (dated after 11609 or to the third quarter of the 12th
4. W. Hörandner, Theodoros Prodromos und die Gedichtsammlung des Cod. Marc. XI 22,
JÖB 16 (1967), 91-99; Idem, Marginalien zum «Manganeios Prodromos», JÖB 24 (1975), 95-106;
P. Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel Comnenos, 1143-1180, Cambridge 1993, 494-500 (The poems of
«Manganeios Prodromos»); A. Kazhdan – S. Franklin, Studies on Byzantine Literature of the Eleventh
and Twelfth Centuries, Cambridge-Paris 1984, 87-91; E. and M. Jeffreys, The «Wild Beast from the
West»: Immediate Literary Reactions in Byzantium to the Second Crusade, in A. E. Laiou – R. P.
Mottahedeh (ed.), The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim World, Washington,
D.C. 2001, 101-116.
5. Editions by C. Neumann, Griechische Geschichtsschreiber und Geschichtsquellen im zwölften
Jahrhundert. Studien zu Anna Comnena, Theod. Prodromus, Joh. Cinnamus, Leipzig 1888, 65-68
(preferable) and Heilig, Ostrom und das deutsche Reich, 245-248, german translation 248-252.
Analysis of the contents, in A. Rhoby, Verschiedene Bemerkungen zur Sebastokratorissa
Eirene und zu Autoren in ihrem Umfeld, Nea Rhome 5 (2010) (in press); W. Hörandner, in 1000
Jahre Babenberger in Österreich (exposition-catalogue), Vienna 21976, 188; Magdalino, Empire
of Manuel Comnenos, 495 (no. 22); Cf. E. Kislinger, Von Drachen und anderem wilden Getier.
Fremdenfeindlichkeit in Byzanz?, in I. Radová – K. Petroviçová – K. Loudová (ed.), Laetae segetes
iterum, Brno 2008, 389-404, esp. 403.
6. G. Ellert (Gertrud Schmirger), Die Katze der Herzogin, Vienna 21964, 13-14. Recently a picture
book for children (M. Angar – F. Witlake, Bertha in Byzanz, Bonn 2010) treats the same theme in
reverse direction. Bertha (of Sulzbach), bride of Manuel Comnenos, comes to Constantinople
with a tom-cat, called Alois.
7. Ellert, Katze der Herzogin, 13-14, 23, 181-182, 200.
8. E. Lanc, Die mittelalterlichen Wandmalereien in der Steiermark (Corpus der mittelalterlichen
Wandmalereien Österreichs II), Vienna 2002, 357-362; O. Demus, Romanische Wandmalerei, Munich
1968, 98, 208-209 and pl. XCVIII, 233-236; E. Weiss, Der Freskenzyklus der Johanneskapelle in
Pürgg, Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte 22 (1969), 7-42, 55 ill.
9. W. Frodl, Die romanischen Wandgemälde in Pürgg nach der Entrestaurierung,
Österreichische Zeitschrift für Denkmalpflege 2 (1948), 147-163, ill. 180-202, esp. 162; Lanc,
mittelalterliche Wandmalereien, 370: «frühe 1160er Jahre; gegen 1164».
Byzantine Cats 167

century10). On the northern wall, originally a bit hidden under a staircase,

we encounter a scene, which shows a castle; mice on the walls and towers
defend it against attacking cats, armed with bow and arrow and protected by
shields11 (Figures 1-2). Ellert/Schmirger must have seen these wall paintings at
least on one occassion. In June 1954 she attended the second poets’s meeting
(Dichterwoche) at Pürgg. Another participant of the mentioned meeting was
Frank Thiess (1890-1977), the german author of Die griechischen Kaiser, Die Geburt
Europas (The Greek Emperors, the Birth of Europe), a mixture of historical novel
and scholarly analysis of the period between Justinian and Leo III, published
for the first time in Hamburg/Vienna 1959. Both writers might have heard
from a local guide, that the Pürgg fighting scene derives from a Byzantine
source, the Katomyomachia of Theodore Prodromos, as already maintained in
190212.
The modern editor of the prodromic text, Herbert Hunger13, on the
contrary, did not believe in a Byzantine background of the Styrian wall
painting and Theodoras role of mediator14. Prodromos writes about a whole
army of mice, which attacked a single cat, whereas at Pürgg many cats try to
conquer the enemies’ castle, which is inexistent in Prodromos. The inspiration
for Pürgg may originate, as Hunger argues, from an Aesopic fable (number
174) and testimonies exist about drawings on the walls of taverns, inspired
by similiar stories15. I am not so sure, that a remote and indirect Byzantine
model has to be excluded. Hunger did not know about the existence of a
second, although much younger (about 1400 AD) wall painting, which shows
a katomyomachia, situated in the residence of a minor landlord, at Eppan/
10. Demus, Romanische Wandmalerei, 98, 209; E. Bacher, in 1000 Jahre Babenberger in Österreich
(exposition-catalogue), Vienna 21976, 502-503.
11. Lanc, mittelalterliche Wandmalereien, ill. 474 and 475; Demus, Romanische Wandmalerei, pl.
236; P. von Baldass – W. Buchowiecki – W. Mrazek, Romanische Kunst in Österreich, Vienna 31974, pl.
XIV.
12. J. Graus, Romanische Wandmalerei zu Pürgg und Hartberg, Mitteilungen der k.k. Central-
Commission für Erforschung und Erhaltung der Kunst- und historischen Denkmale, N.F. 28 (1902),
78-82, pl. IV-IX.
13. H. Hunger, Der byzantinische Katz-Mäuse-Krieg. Theodoros Prodromos, Katomyomachia.
Einleitung, Text und Übersetzung, Graz-Vienna-Cologne 1968.
14. Hunger, Katz-Mäuse-Krieg, 67-68.
15. Hunger, Katz-Mäuse-Krieg, 69 with notes 13 and 15. T. Kleberg, Hotels, restaurants et
cabarets dans l’antiquité romaine. Études historiques et philologiques (Bibliotheca Ekmaniana 61),
Uppsala 1957, 116-117.
168 Ewald Kislinger

Fig. 1. Katomyomachia. Fresco in the chapel of John the Baptist at Pürgg, Styria.

Fig. 2. Katomyomachia. Attacking cat, protected by shield. Detail from fresco in the chapel
of John the Baptist at Pürgg, Styria.
Byzantine Cats 169

Appiano (BZ) in Southern Tyrol16 (Figure 3). Schloß Moos-Schulthaus is only

at a few kilometers distance from the well-known castle of Hocheppan, where
the frescoes of the chapel (ca. 1180-1200) show clear Byzantine influence17,

Fig. 3. Katomyomachia. Wall painting in the residence of a minor landlord

at Eppan/Appiano (BZ), Southern Tyrol.

16. M. Frei, «Der Katzen-Mäuse-Krieg» in einer mittelalterlichen Wandmalerei im Ansitz

Moos-Schulthaus (Eppan), Der Schlern 39 (1965), 353-359, esp. 353-355, 357 and ill. 1; H. Stampfer,
Adelige Wohnkultur des Spätmittelalters in Südtirol, in Adelige Sachkultur des Spätmittelalters
(Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Sitzungsberichte 400), Vienna 1982, 365-376,
esp. 371-372. Cf. G. Wacha, Tiere und Tierhaltung in der Stadt sowie im Wohnbereich der
spätmittelalterlichen Menschen und ihre Darstellung in der bildenden Kunst, in Das Leben in
der Stadt des Spätmittelalters (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Sitzungsberichte
325), Vienna 21980, 248 (=La gran battaglia delli gatti contra li sorsi, 16th cent., Florence); I.
Weiler, Der Katzen-Mäuse-Krieg in der Johanneskapelle auf der Pürgg, Zeitschrift des historischen
Vereins für Steiermark 61 (1970), 71-82.
������
. S. Spada-Pintarelli – M. E. Smith, Fresken in Südtirol, Munich 1997, 60-70 with several ill.
(= Affresci in Alto Adige, Venice 1997); H. Stampfer – Th. Steppan, Die Burgkapelle von Hocheppan,
Bozen 1998.
170 Ewald Kislinger

combined with local elements like a bowl with dumplings. In general, several
romanic wall-paintings in Southern Tyrol (e.g. Marienberg, Meran-Untermais
and Söles18) reveal and document an artistic stop-over function of the region,
from where Byzantine spread to the north of the alps (but also continued to
circulate inside).
Alternativly a more direct influence from Byzantium cannot be
excluded: In 1062 archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg went in official mission to
Constantinople. Did he return only with a rationale ex auro et gemmis preciosissimis
intextum19? Decorative elements of Byzantine art-objects, illuminations of
codices were often incorporated in iconographic motive collections. Such a
model-book in a wider sense (Simile) from Salzburg probably influenced the
wall-paintings of Lambach in Upper Austria (approx. 1180-1190)20 and Pürgg21.
One should be aware that Lambach was another possession of the counts of
Steyr-Styria (from 1180 duchy), who owned Pürgg, too22.
The entire question cannot be settled here and it is time to leave to
fictional Byzantine cats and their traces for real representants of the race
inside the empire’s borders. Let us first consider the lexicographical aspect: In
ancient Greek the cat was called ailouros, but it is not a precise term, because it
may also mean marten or weasel. For the later one a second word exists, galē.
Quite interesting, the younger manuscripts (from the 15th century onward)
of the prodromic Katomyomachia, address the cat in the manner of a classical

������
. N. Rasmo, Neue Beiträge zur romanischen Wandmalerei im Vinschgau, JÖB 21 (1972),
223-227, 4 ill., esp. 226-227; H. Stampfer – H. Walder, Die Krypta von Marienberg im Vinschgau.
Romanische Fresken – Neufunde und Altbestand, Bozen 1982; Th. Steppan, St. Jakob in Söles. Ein Werk
der spätromanischen Wandmalerei unter byzantinischem Einfluß, JÖB 52 (2002), 309-327.
19. P. Schreiner, Diplomatische Geschenke zwischen Byzanz und dem Westen ca. 800-1200.
Eine Analyse der Texte mit Quellenanhang, DOP 58 (2004), 251-282, esp. 261, 277. A. Bayer, Die
Byzanzreise des Erzbischofs Gebhard von Salzburg, BZ 96 (2003), 515-520.
20. N. Wibiral, Die romanische Klosterkirche in Lambach und ihre Wandmalereien
(Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für
Kunstgeschichte 4), Vienna 1998, esp. 31-33, 48-55 (pl. 1-5, I-IV); Demus, Romanische Wandmalerei,
95-96, 202-205, pl. 225-230, XCIII-XCVI.
21. Demus, Romanische Wandmalerei, 39, 97-98; Weiss, Freskenzyklus (see note 8), 15-18.
22. O. Hageneder, Die Geschichte des «Landes» Oberösterreich, in H. Knittler (red.), Die Städte
Oberösterreichs (= Österreichisches Städtebuch I), Vienna 1968, 33-37; M. Weltlin, Vom «östlichen
Bayern» zum «Land ob der Enns», in Tausend Jahre Oberösterreich. Das Werden eines Landes, vol. 1,
Linz 1983, 32-35; Lanc, mittelalterliche Wandmalereien, 358-359; Weiss, Freskenzyklus, 10-12.
Byzantine Cats 171

revival as galē23. In antiquity a tamed species of weasels existed, which lived

in households and fulfilled functions (especially killing of mice)24, which
later one our cat took over. Although her first forerunners might originate
from Mesopotamia25, Egypt was the land, which in classical antiquity was
famous for cats, held in great esteem an even worshipped god-like26. Probably
from there the cat, in Latin f(a)eles/felis27, reached imperial Rome. I suppose,
that the fleets from Alexandria, which supplied Rome with grain, were the
intentional travel-agents for the passage of the cat28. An epigram of Martial
[13, 69] offers one of the oldest testimonies from Italy, wheras Ovid [Met. 5,
330] and Pliny [Hist. Nat. 6, 178; but cf. XI 151, 172] still refer to Egyptian
cats. Latin cattus, catta appears in the fourth century29. Cats are rather fertile
23. Hunger, Katz-Mäuse-Krieg, 26-27. Cf. E. Kurtz, Die Gedichte des Christophoros Mitylenaios,
Leipzig 1903, poem 103. 57 and 62 .
24. B. Orth, Katze, RE XI 53.
25. Der Neue Pauly (= DNP) 6, 357.
26. Herodotus, 2, 66; Stephanos of Byzantium, Ethnica B, ed. M. Billerbeck, Stephani Byzantii
Ethnica, vol. 1: A-Γ, Berlin-New York 2006, 134, 368.17-21; J. Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt,
London 1993; Orth, Katze, 54-55; O. Keller, Zur Geschichte der Katze im Altertum, Mitteilungen
des kaiserlich Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, römische Abteilung 23 (1908), 40-70, esp. 59-64,
66-67; L. Bobis, Die Katze, Geschichten und Legenden, Leipzig 2001, 20-25 (=Le chat, histoire et légendes,
Paris 2000).
�����������������������������������������������
. The term originally meant the wild species, felis silvestris, living in woodlands (and
still existent especially in Eastern Europe). Varro, rust. 3, 11, 3; Columella, 8, 3, 6 and 8, 15, 2; DNP
6, 358 (II/1); Keller, Geschichte der Katze, 42-43, 45-47; R. Delort, Katze, Lexikon des Mittelalters, V,
1079.
28. G. E. Rickman, The Corn-Supply of Ancient Rome, Oxford 1980; P. Herz, Studien zur römischen
Wirtschaftsgesetzgebung. Die Lebensmittelversorgung (Historia Einzelschriften 55), Stuttgart
1988; B. Sirks, Food for Rome (Studia Amstelodamensia ad Epigraphicam, Ius antiquum et
Papyrologicam pertinentia 31), Amsterdam 1991; E. Tengström, Bread for the People. Studies on
the Corn-Supply of Rome during the Later Empire, Stockholm 1974; D. Vera, Fra Egitto ed Africa,
fra Roma e Costantinopoli, fra annona e commercio: La Sicilia nel Mediterraneo tardo antico,
Kokalos 43-44/1 (1997/98), 33-73; R. L. Hohlfelder (ed.), Trade-routes: The Maritime World of Ancient
Rome (Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Suppl. Vol. 6), Ann Arbor, Michingan 2008;
A. Tilley, Seafaring of the Ancient Mediterranean, Oxford 2004; M. McCormick, Origins of the European
Economy. Communications and Commerce, AD 300-900, Cambridge University Press 2001, 65-66,
87-101.
29. Palladius, Opus agriculturae, ed. R. H. Rodgers, Leipzig 1975, 4, 9, 4; Keller, Zur Geschichte
der Katze, 47-50, 70; Bobis, Die Katze, 29; G. Blaschitz, Die Katze, in G. Blaschitz et alii (ed.), Symbole
des Alltags, Alltag der Symbole, Festschrift für Harry Kühnel zum 65. Geburtstag, Graz 1992,
589-616, esp. 591-592.
172 Ewald Kislinger

animals and therefore the expansion of cattus or felis domestica will have
reached the Greek speaking zones of the Empire rather quickly. I don’t think
that the first written testimonies for kattos, katta (with initial Kappa and one
or two dentals30) as a greek loanword in the sixth century31 indicate the first
appearance of the cat within the Byzantine empire. It is rather a result of
the conservative atticistic attitude, that kept ailouros alive within the circle
of erudite authors and sources32. Nevertheless John Tzetzes is fully aware of
the gap towards the spoken language and his scholia to Aristophanes reflect
the linguistic development and reality33. Compare much more compact the
Suda–entry K 1062 (III 76 Adler): κάττης, κάττου: ὁ κατοικίδιος αἴλουρος34.
The growing presence of western people (merchants, crusaders, sailors,
feudal lords) within the central regions of the Byzantine Empire from the
tenth/eleventh century onwards influenced also the spelling of kattos.
Following the pronounciation of cat as gatto in early Italian often Gamma
substitutes the older spelling with Kappa, katta becomes gatta35 especially
30. On «kat(t)ēs», «kat(t)is» and «katouda», «katoudion» see E. Trapp et alii, Lexikon zur
byzantinischen Gräzität, besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts, fasc. 4, Vienna 2001, 812-813.
31. Evagrios, Ecclesiastical History, ed. J. Bidez – L. Parmentier, Historia ecclesiastica, London 1898
(rp. Amsterdam 1964), VI, 23, p. 239: αἴλουρον εἶναι, ἥν κάτταν ἡ συνήθεια λέγει; (Ps.) Kaisarios,
Erotapokriseis, no. 110, PG 38, 985. Cf. the name of the Byzantine historian Theophylaktos
Simokattes.
32. E.g. Historiae animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (Spuria) II, ed. R. Volk, Berlin 2006,
ch. 27, 194 (I/2 277) (taken from Aristide, Apology, XII 7); Geoponica sive Cassiani Bassi scholastici
de re rustica eclogae, ed. H. Beckh, Leipzig 1895, 14, 4, p. 408 and 14, 6, 8-9, p. 410; Eustathios of
Thessalonike, ed. St. Kyriakides, Eustazio di Tessalonica. La espugnazione di Tessalonica (trans. V.
Rotolo), Palermo 1961, 114. 5.
���. Jo. Tzetzae Commentarii in Aristophanem, Prolegomena et Commentarium in Plutum, ed. L.
M. Positano, Groningen 1960, 693, p. 160-161.
�������
. Cf. John Skylitzes, ed. H. Thurn, Iohannes Skylitzes, Synopsis historion, Berlin 1973, ch. 47,
p. 368: κατοικιδίους αἰλούρους, οὕς ἡμεῖς συνήθως γάττας καλοῦμεν; J.-Th. Papademetriou, Τὰ Σχέδη
τοῦ Μυός, New Sources and Text, in Classical studies presented to Ben Edwin Perry by his students
and colleagues at the University of Illinois, 1924-60 (Illinois studies in Language and Literature 59),
Urbana-Chicago-London 1969 (thereafter: Papademetriou, Ta schede tou myos), I v. 22, p. 220:
κατοικίδιος αἰλουρίς.
��������
. E.g. Stephanites and Ichnelates, ed. L.-O. Sjöberg, Stockholm 1962, III 77, 16, p. 204: kattēs
(manuscripts F1, V2 12th cent.) vs. gattas (O1 14th cent.); Anonymi, Historia imperatorum, vol. I,
ed. F. Iadevaia, Messina 2000, 60.397: gattas; H. Hunger – K. Vogel, Ein byzantinisches Rechenbuch
des 15. Jahrhunderts. 100 Aufgaben aus dem Codex Vindobonensis phil. gr. 65. Text, Übersetzung und
Kommentar (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Denkschriften 78/2), Vienna
Byzantine Cats 173

in low-level demotic texts. A group of islets on the entrance to the gulf of

Atramyttion were called Gatonesia in the late medieval period36, which is a
wrong acoustic understanding of the ancient name, Ekatonesia37. Later on the
name changed once again and veal (Moschonesia) replaces the former cat for
unknown reasons38.
Ailouros, gale, kattos or gata, which functions did the cat fulfil within
Byzantine civilization and economy? Was it a useful, beloved or hatred
animal? Almost all of us, I suppose, will remember a cartoon from childhood,
Tom and Jerry, a cat and mouse living in a human built house, where a never
ending fight takes place, which always sees Jerry as the winner, although
Tom is not at all a stupid cat and tries to fulfil his lady’s order to catch the
undesired guest and eater. Walt Disney pictures did not invent this couple
and the Katomyomachia of Theodore Prodromos is not even the only Byzantine
ancestor.
The mouse of «Ta schede tou myos» (its prodromic authorship remains a
bit doubtful) cannot resist the odours, which originate from the left-overs of
a human meal (ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις λεπτὰ σαρκία from crane and mullet)39, although
the cat’s paws menace to catch her, as it really occurs40. Elaiopotes, the mouse,
tries to negotiate, but in vain he pretends to be an important abbot of his
community41. The cat is not very hungry and discusses with the poor victim
in a hypocritical manner, but finally announces a cruel verdict: Since you are
a monk I might have spared you, if you were wearing our special garb, but
ἐξῆλθες ἀπὸ τῆς κέλλης σου, τὸ στόμα μου γενήσεται τάφος σου42. Deceitfulness
constitutes a predominant characteristic of cats in Byzantine literature and
becomes even more clear in Ὁ κάτης καὶ οἱ ποντικοί (Crete, 16th century) from

1963, no. 89, 3, p. 76: gata; The Chronicle of Morea P (16th century), ed. J. Schmitt, London 1904, p.
197.2932: gatia; Diegesis tou Alexandrou, ed. D. Holton, Thessalonike 1974, p. 160. 2083-2084: gatia;
Porikologos, group II (17th cent.), ed. H. Winterwerb, Cologne 1992, p. 149.88 gates.
�������������
. H. and R. Kahane, Italienische Ortsnamen in Griechenland (Texte und Forschungen zur
byzantinisch-neugriechischen Philologie 36), Athens 1940, 128.
37. Stephanos of Byzantium, Ethnica, 263.
���������������
. At least J. Koder, Aigaion Pelagos (Die Nördliche Ägäis), Vienna 1998, 266 gives no
explanation.
���.Papademetriou, Ta schede tou myos, I vv. 14-15, p. 219.
���.Papademetriou, Ta schede tou myos, I vv. 7-8, 18-23, 36-39, II 49, pp. 219-221.
���.Papademetriou, Ta schede tou myos, II vv. 53-55, 58-60, 67-70, p. 221.
���.Papademetriou, Ta schede tou myos, II vv. 71-95, p. 222.
174 Ewald Kislinger

codex Vaticanus gr. 113943. Eternal friendship was concluded between cat and
mice and a feast will celebrate such a historical moment44. Suddenly the cat
faints and seems to die, he begs all the mice to stay with him till death comes.
They should celebrate a premature funeral meal45, which turned into their
own, when the cat attacked and slaughtered the mice46.
Together once again, cat and mice act as envoys, when king lion invites
the quadruped animals to a peace conference47. Their joint mission is an
intentional (and satirical) forecast what will follow during the assembly.
There the cat quarrels with the mouse and is heavily opposed by the dog,
whom the fox accuses48, and so on –the United Nations, animal version from
late Byzantium.
The antagonism of hunter and hunted prey is not the only feature, which
Byzantine cats and mice have in common. Both49 are members in the club
of unclean animals, together with dog, snake and frog. These animals were
not considered edible. Only the polluted peoples (μυσαρὰ ἔθνη) beyond the
Caucasian Gates of Alexander eat the flesh of ἀκάθαρτα ζῶα like cats (γάτας)50.
Within the Oikoumene extreme circumstances were necessary to make this
mental barrier fall: After a siege of three years the defenders of Monemvasia
were near starvation in 1252 and consumed even cats and mice51. Cats appear

������
. C. Luciani, L’apologo cretese ὁ Κάτης καὶ ὁ μποντικός, Rivista di studi bizantini e neoelleni­ci,
n.s. 38 (2001), 195-230, text 210-218; O kates kai oi pontikoi (= N. Banescu, Un poème grec vulgaire
du moyen- âge: Ὁ κάτης καὶ οἱ ποντικοί, in Εἰς μνήμην Σπ. Λάμπρου, Athens 1935), 393-397.
��������������������������������������������������
. O kates kai oi pontikoi vv. 1-30���������������
, pp. 210-212.
���������
��������������������������������������������������
. O kates kai oi pontikoi vv. 49-84, pp. 212-214.
�����������������������������������������������������
. O kates kai oi pontikoi, vv. 93-111, pp. 214-216.
���.Παιδιόφραστος διήγησις τῶν ζώων τῶν τετραπόδων, ed. V. Tsiouni, Munich 1972, vv. 33-35,
p. 60.
���.Ibidem , vv. 122-137, 150-158, 181-1945, 196-213 , pp. 64-69.
���.Weiss, Freskenzyklus (see note 8), 25-26.
���.Ps.-Methodios, Apocalypse, ed. A. Lolos, Die Apocalypse des Ps.-Methodius, Meisenheim am
Glan: Hain 1976, VIII 4 (29). Cf. Visio Danielis α, ed. A. Vasiliev, Moscow 1893, 33. On this literary
genre in general s. W. Brandes, Apokalyptische Literatur, in Quellen zur Geschichte des frühen
Byzanz (4.-9. Jahrhundert). Bestand und Probleme, hrsg. von F. Winkelmann – W. Brandes, Berlin
1990, 305-322; O. von Freising, Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus, ed. A. Hofmeister – W.
Lammers, Hannover-Leipzig 1912,VI 10, p. 448 maintains that Pechenegs and Cumans crudis e
inmundis carnibus, utpote equinis, cattinis, usque hodie vescuntur.
���. The Chronicle of Morea, ed. J. Schmitt, London 1904, recension H 2931-2932, p. 197;
Siege of Salerno (871): Chronicon Salernitanum (ed. Ul. Westerbergh, Chronicon Salernitanum. A
Byzantine Cats 175

as embodiment of demons (αἰλουροπρόσωποι)52 or personifications of the

devil itself: A rich but adulterous man was lying on the deadbed. The family
observed his body shaken by convulsions. Saint Andrew the Fool (10th cent.)
was also present there, but he was able to perceive quite more. «The righteous
man saw Satan going in and out of the mouth, appearing sometimes as a
mouse, sometimes as a serpent or a viper, and crying through the organs of
the hapless man, sounding sometimes like a cat (kata), sometimes like a dog or
a pig»53. Vernacular prophecies concerning the fate of Constantinople often
mention cats among the invaders54. If one dreams about a cat hurting him
with its pawns, he will seriously fall ill55.
Is’nt it possible to detect any positive utility of the cat? Well, who suffers
from loss of hair, may apply an ointment. It consists of mustard, vinegar and
the cat’s excrements (αἰλούρων ἀφόδευμα, αἰλούρου κόπρον)56. If at all, only
via the «Dreck-Apotheke» cats entered in rather superstitious/magical than
medical recipes.

Critical Edition with Studies on Literary and Historical Sources and on Language (Acta Universitatis
Stockholmiensis, Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 3), Stockholm/Lund 1956 ch. 115, p. 128; Cf.
Bobis, Die Katze 71-73; Keller, Zur Geschichte der Katze, 44-45; Wacha, Tiere und Tierhaltung,
248 with note 114.
���.Michael Psellos, Theologica I, ed. P. Gautier, Leipzig 1989, opusc. 51. 36, p. 197. Cf. for the
medieval West Blaschitz, Katze, 597-607; Bobis, Die Katze, 17-180; Wacha, Tiere und Tierhaltung,
246-247.
���.The Life of St Andrew the Fool, ed. L. Rydén, Uppsala 1995, vol. 2, p. 238. 3491-3494, english
translation p. 239; Περὶ τῆς ὁράσεως τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ τῶν δικαίων (Appendix to the Life of St
Andrew the Fool), p. 366.68-75; Euthymios, Epistula invectiva contra Phundagiagitas sive Bogomilos
haeretico (about 1050), ed. G. Ficker, Die Phundagiαgiten, Leipzig 1908, 36. 9-11.
������
. E. Trapp, Vulgärorakel aus Wiener Handschriften, in Akrothinia. Sodalium seminarii
Byzantini Vindobonensis Herberto Hunger oblata, Vienna 1964, 83-120, esp. 84, 91 (I 103), 108 (VI
25).
���. Achmed, Oneirocriticon, ed. F. Drexl, Achmetis Oneirokriticon, Leipzig 1925, ch. 278, 8-10.
M. Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book on Dream Interpretation. The Oneirocriticon of Achmet and Its Arabic
Sources, Leiden-Boston-Cologne 2002; St. M. Oberhelman, Dreambooks in Byzantium. Six Oneirocritica
in Translation, with Commentary and Introduction, Aldershot-Burlington 2008.
���. Aetios Amidenus, Iatricorum liber vi, ed. A. Olivieri, Aëtii Amideni libri medicinales v-viii
[Corpus medicorum Graecorum 8.2], Berlin 1950, VI, p. 55.97; Alexander of Tralleis, Therapeutika, ed.
A. Puschmann, vol. 1, Vienna 1878, p. 445. 8. Cf. Paulos Aiginetes, ed. J. L. Heiberg, Paulus Aegineta
[Corpus medicorum Graecorum 9.2], vol. 2, Leipzig 1924, VII 25, 10. 22, p. 404. Keller, Zur Geschichte
der Katze, 50; Bobis, Die Katze, 78-79.
176 Ewald Kislinger

The negative image of the cat, which prevails in Byzantine sources,

imposes the question, if the modern attitude, which considers cats mainly
to be a favorite pets in urban environment, is present at least in initial stages
in a Byzantine context. Two epigrams of Agathias Scholasticus offers some
indirect and ambivalent evidence from the sixth century. The author mourns
his beloved pet, a partridge (perdix). It has been murdered by another member
of the household, a cat. But the crime will not remain unpunished. Like ancient
Pyrrhos revenged Achill, now the cat will be killed57. The late Byzantine legend
about the donkey, the wolf and the fox (two versions exist)58 portrays an old,
lonely and nearly blind women, who lived together with a fat red cat (katos),
called Parditzis and a hen, τὸν κάτον διὰ τοὺς ποντικοὺς τὴν ὄρνιθαν διὰ τὰ αὐγά
της.59 Eager to catch and eat the hen, the fox takes advantage of his colour
and approaches the woman. She confuses Parditzis (I guess, jokingly tiny
pardos, like german Haustiger) with the fox and strokes her false pet60 (what
follows, one can imagine). In the ptochoprodromic poem III, lines 264-273
(132 Eideneier) one gets acquainted with a true ταπεινὸν κατούδιν. The simple
monk puts it on the dining table of the convent. Afterwards the brethren will
believe, that the cat has eaten a large piece of salted meat, which the monk
himself has taken away. The cat of the satire is innocent, but according to the
oneirocritica, it announces a thief61 –and more generally seen, this cat is part
of everyday life in a monastery.
One century earlier a cat has even reached the imperial milieu. In the
commentary on his own letters, John Tzetzes gives some examples of human
affection for animals62. Perseus was fond of a roe, Pyrros admired an eagle63 and

���.Anthologia graeca VII 204 and 205, ed. H. Beckby, Anthologia Graeca 2nd edition, Munich
1965-1968, vol. II, p. 124.
������
. U. Mönnig, Das Συναξάριον τοῦ τιμημένου γαδάρου. Analyse, Ausgabe,
Wörterverzeichnis, BZ 102 (2009), 109-164 (thereafter: Synaxarion), text (14th cent.) 137-148;
Γαδάρου, Λύκου κι Ἀλουποῦς διήγησις ὡραία, ed. C. Pochert, in Die Reimbildung in der spät- und
postbyzantinischen Volksliteratur (Neograeca Medii Aevi 4) (thereafter: Diegesis), Cologne 1991,
145-185.
���.Synaxarion, vv. 161-172, p. 142; Diegesis, vv. 161-172 , p. 163.
���.Synaxarion, vv. 173-182, p. 142; Diegesis, vv. 173-182d , pp. 163-165.
���.Achmed, Oneirocriticon, ed. F. Drexl, Achmetis Oneirokriticon, Leipzig 1925, ch. 278.
���.John Tzetzes, Chiliades, ed. P. A. M. Leone, Ioannis Tzetzae Historiae, Naples 1968, no. V, 12,
pp. 187.533- 188.546.
���.Tzetzes, Chiliades, no. V, 12, p. 187.521-522.
Byzantine Cats 177

ἡ Μονομάχου σύζυγος –this means Zoe, the penultimate surviving member of

the Macedonian dynasty– loved her cat (γαλῆν κατοίκιον)64. This pet was called
Mechlempe, which may indicate some oriental origin. It is even tempting to
see Mechlempe as a medieval ancestor of long-haired, so-called Persian cats
of nowadays. Although the modern subspecies is a result of cat-breeding, the
prototypes (imported to Western Europe from the 17th century)65 had their
origins in Persia and Anatolia, e.g. the so-called Van-Cat (that means from the
homonymus lake), a territory, which was under Byzantine control towards
the midth of the eleventh century66. However, in the course of many years
Mechlempe ate a lot of food (εἴδη μυρία τῶν τροφῶν) from golden plates. A
crew of servants was at his disposition, caterers, cooks, waiters, who cut the
food into pieces, and basket-carriers67.
Mechlempe shares some common elements with Lourion, you remember,
the cat of the duchess, not only in the way of life. Zoe’s pet is, to my knowledge,
the only cat, which is personally present in the title of a treatise from the field
of Byzantine Studies. Poikila Byzantina, v. 6 contains among other contributions
an article, written by Paul Speck: «Die Interpretation des Bellum Avaricum
und der Kater Mechlempe»68. The reader, who is eager to learn something
about this cat, has to be very patient. Thirty pages deal with the patriarch
Sergios, an opponent of the marriage between emperor Herakleios (610-641)
and Martina and an embassy of Patrikios Athanasios to the avaric chagan
and only after a lot of polemic remarks Mechlempe finally, on the last page,
enters the stage69. His part is a marginal one, he is tired and exhausted from
the discussions in the senatorial meeting, where he took part together with

���.Tzetzes, Chiliades, no. V, 12, p. 187.525-526.

65. Bobis, Die Katze, 244-250.
66. W. Seibt, Die Eingliederung von Vaspurakan in das byzantinische Reich (etwa
Anfang 1019 bw. Anfang 1022), Handes Amsorya 92 (1978), 49-66; Idem, Taxiarchos Moxegaz
– ein byzantinischer Kommandant von Mokk´ um die Mitte des 11. Jahrhunderts? Handes
Amsorya,1993, 145-148; Idem, Armenika themata als terminus technicus der byzantinischen
Verwaltungsgeschichte des 11. Jahrhunderts, Bsl 5/1 (1993), 134-141.
67. Tzetzes, Chiliades, no. V, 12, pp. 187.532-188.539 .
68. P. Speck, Die Interpretation des Bellum Avaricum und der Kater Mechlempe, in Poikila
Byzantina 6 (= Varia II), Bonn 1987, 371-402.
69. Speck, Interpretation, 402.
178 Ewald Kislinger

the empress, and therefore he starts yawning (ἐχασμήσατο τανῦν ὁ Μεχλεμπέ

μου)70. In order to avoid similar reactions from the readers I think it is better
to stop at this point.

70. Tzetzes, Chiliades, no. V, 12, p. 187.528-532.