An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds

by Nicholas, Nick

• ISBN13: 9780231127615
• ISBN10: 0231127618
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupedsis the first English verse translation of the Greek satirical poem Diegesis Paidiophrastos ton Zoon ton Tetrapodon. Written by an anonymous author in fourteenth-century Byzantium, this vernacular allegorical poem has long been recognized as a unique document, one that appears to have originated independently of comparable works in other traditions. A medieval Animal Farm, the story describes a convention of animals in which each beast vaunts its uses to humanity while denigrating others, resulting in a cataclysmic battle. The authors provide extensive textual analysis and notes on the form, style, and context of the poem.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Conventions	xv
Introduction	1	(158)
The Late Byzantine World	1	(2)
Vernacular Medieval Greek Literature	3	(4)
Humor and Dissent in Late Byzantium	7	(6)
Literary Parallels	13	(6)
Fact and Fiction in the Tale's Zoology	19	(32)
Foreign Influences	51	(5)
Survivals of the Tale	56	(4)
Composition of the Tale	60	(13)
Characteristics of the Tale	73	(14)
Literary Evaluation	87	(10)
The Text of the Tale	97	(28)
The Tale in Modern Times	125	(6)
The Present Translation	131	(5)
Further Reading	136	(23)
The Text	159	(62)
They sent the cat and the rat and the monkey as ambassadors	161	(4)
When the delegates of the clean beasts arrived	165	(2)
The Cat and the Rat	167	(4)
The Fox to the Hound	171	(4)
The Hare and the Fox	175	(2)
The Deer and the Boar	177	(6)
The Sheep	183	(2)
The Nanny, The Billy Goat	185	(4)
The Ox, The Buffalo	189	(6)
The Donkey, The Ox	195	(1)
The Horse	195	(6)
The Camel	201	(2)
The Wolf, The Horse	203	(2)
The Bear	205	(2)
The Cheetah,
The Leopard	207	(2)
The Lion	209	(1)
The Elephant	209	(2)
The Monkey	211	(4)
Beginning of the War	215	(6)
Manuscript C Illustrations	221	(32)
Commentary	253	(126)
Textual Notes	379	(148)
Appendix 1: The Tale and the Book of Birds	413	(18)
The Book of Birds	413	(6)
The Book Versus the Tale	419	(1)
The Alternate Ending	420	(11)
Appendix 2: Historical Interpretations	431	(18)
Is There Allusion?	432	(4)
The Civil Wars (1341-1347,1351-1354)	436	(6)
The Attempted Church Union (1360s)	442	(7)
Appendix 3: Structural Issues	449	(26)
Prologue	449	(3)
Conclusion	452	(8)
Dog and Fox	460	(2)
Sheep and Goat	462	(3)
The Herbivores' Call	465	(3)
Diogenes	468	(7)
Appendix 4: Cypriot Songs Resembling the Tale	475	(8)
Appendix 5: Compound Epithets	483	(6)
Appendix 6: Formula Density in a Sample of the Tale	489	(6)
Bibliography	495	(32)
Texts	495	(7)
References	502	(25)
Index	527