Physiologus: A Medieval Book of Nature Lore

by Michael J. Curley (translator)

One of the most popular and widely read books of the Middle Ages, Physiologus contains allegories of beasts, stones, and trees both real and imaginary, infused by their anonymous author with the spirit of Christian moral and mystical teaching.  Accompanied by an introduction that explains the origins, history, and literary value of this curious text, this volume also reproduces twenty woodcuts from the 1587 version. Originally composed in the fourth century in Greek, and translated into dozens of versions through the centuries, Physiologus will delight readers with its ancient tales of ant-lions, centaurs, and hedgehogs—and their allegorical significance.“An elegant little book . . . still diverting to look at today. . . . The woodcuts reproduced from the 1587 Rome edition are alone worth the price of the book.”—Raymond A. Sokolov, New York Times Book Review

Genres: Medieval, Nonfiction, History, Nature, Ancient History, Research, Religion

92 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Other authors publishing under this name are:

Michael J. Curley, Archbishop of Baltimore and Washington

Reviews

[verbava · Rating 4 out of 5]

«добре сказав фізіолог про лева», – каже «фізіолог» наприкінці фрагменту про лева (ну, чи якогось іншого, принцип ви зрозуміли). і слушно: сам себе не похвалиш, ніхто не додумається.

але починати треба навіть не з того, що добре сказав, а з того, що саме сказав. бо «фізіолог» ніколи й не планувався як книжка про реальну природу; для цього, каже в передмові майкл керлі, у середньовічних людей був пліній. а от розмаїті «фізіологи» ще з давньогрецьких часів були пов'язані з моральними висновками: починалося все, звісно, з природи, але на природу нашаровувалися роздуми про те, як у ній проявляється божественне і які уроки з неї може взяти людина; а християнські автори взагалі вирішили, що головне у «фізіологах» – алегорична інтерпретація.

тому про звірів ви звідси не довідаєтеся. точніше, дізнаєтеся, що в пантери з рота дуже приємно пахне (у кита, між іншим, так само, але висновки з цього «фізіолог» робить протилежні), що слонам для розмноження потрібно поїсти мандрагори, що голуби бувають білі, чорні, червоні, блакитні, плямисті й золоті, що страуси – забудькуваті тварини чи що змій, ідучи до річки пити, лишає вдома отруту, яку зазвичай носить у голові. а дорогою між слоном і сарною затесується ще, наприклад, таке видатне явище природи, як пророк амос. не дуже практична інформація, погодьтеся. проте якщо хотіти алегорій, символів і вигадливих тлумачень, їх є тут. із усього «фізіолог» здатен зробити моральний висновок і до всього підібрати цитату з біблії; іноді висновок і цитата не найліпше одне одному пасують, але це нікого не знічує, головне, що потрібні слова повторюються.

найбільше мене втішили каменюки (а про бобра і трагелапса я вам уже розказувала). серед них згадано магніт, адамант, який знаходять тільки поночі, устриць і піроболи, які бувають каменюками-хлопчиками й каменюками-дівчатками. і доки піроболи різних статей лежать окремо, все гаразд, але щойно вони опиняються поруч, усе довкола спалахує к бісовій матері. безвідносно до моралі, як на мене, дуже крута суперсила.

[Jessica Strider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: excellent introduction, full translation, lots of end notes

Cons: some quotes left untranslated

Translated in 1979 and reissued in 2009, this was the first full English translation of the Greek manuscript, Physiologus. The manuscript took stories of animals and gave them Christian allegorical meanings. These stories were used in later bestiary collections and by encyclopedists - with and without their allegories - greatly influencing the medieval mind.

The book begins with an introduction that gives background on the Physiologus and the questions surrounding when it was written and who it was written by. It is then followed by translations of the 51 chapters, most of which deal with animals though there are also a few plants and stones.

The information in the introduction is fantastic and really helps you place the Physiologus in history while not being too academic and dry. My only complain here - and also with the notes at the back of the volume - is that neither Greek nor Latin quotations are translated for those who can’t read them.

The manuscript itself is rather dry. More time is given to the moral than to describing the animal. If you’re unfamiliar with these types of works, you’ll be confused by a lot of the ‘natural’ behaviours described. Very little of this is true animal behaviours. Consider them more morality tales like Aesop’s fables rather than a treatise on natural history. However, remember that as many of the animals described were not native to the lands where the tales became popular, they did influence beliefs in mythological creatures and many in the past believed the stories depicted actual animal behaviours.

The book includes black and white woodcut images from the 1587 G. Ponce de Leon edition of the book. I had expected there to be an image per chapter but there were only 21 images in total and a few of the listings had more than one image (the serpent has a series of 4 images).

If you’re interested in medieval thought and art, the bestiary by way of the Physiologus was hugely influential. This book is a glimpse into the medieval mind, both with regards to how they saw the natural world and how they believed the natural and spiritual worlds overlapped.

[Georgia Perlah]

so many beasts

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this short, ancient book! It is sort of like reading the Panchantantra or Aesop's Fables. It was very popular in the Middle Ages (according to The Gothic Image). It shows the Christian ideology behind the Middle Ages very well: there are brief, fantastical sketches describing animals, then the author explains how each animal helps elucidate an important point about Christian theology.

Apparently, the book was condemned by Pope Gelasius I in the 5th century, but remained popular with Christians so that even Gregory the Great made some positive references to it in his writings. I found it enjoyable and pretty unobjectionable, except for some medieval sniping at the Jews (here, the author says that the Jews are like owls because they prefer to stay in the dark, rather than live in the light (of Christianity)). You might also enjoy it if you like Borges's Book of Imaginary Beings, since this contains some of its likely source material.

[Naomi Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally bought this book thinking it was a sort of encyclopedia of Ancient Greek animals and monsters, but this translation seemed to focus primarily on Christian theology. I’m not sure if it’s just the translation comparing the two as Christianity was more popular in the Middle Ages, or if I read something totally off base as to what the book was about. While it wasn’t entirely what I expected, it was still interesting in its own way and I might still reference back to it in my writing even though I was looking for Greek animals rather than Christian animals.

[Suellen Rubira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essa tradução tem uma excelente e sucinta introdução a respeito de toda a história do Physiologus, além de trazer uma bibliografia muito boa para quem quer se aprofundar no assunto.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating little book on early Christian mythology about animals.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd little book. I read it for research for a fiction project I'm working on in order to a) get a general sense of what actual bestiaries were like and b) to pick up some ideas for magical creatures that I might incorporate into my story. I certainly got a), although this book is crammed with Christian allegory that really isn't appropriate to my fictional setting. I'm not so sure about b), simply because many of the best stories in this book are about relatively mundane animals like antelopes, owls, pelicans, and elephants. Although the author believes any number of outlandish things about these animals.

Reading this takes me back to an early high-school English class where the teacher's only notion of getting us to do any kind of literary interpretation was to encourage us to look for Christ imagery. Every animal is either Jesus or Satan. If you don't end up giggling about the Tiny Elephant Jesus, you're a better person than I am.

Then you get passages like this, "Formerly, Isaiah the Prophet pointed out that the sirens and ass-centaurs and hedgehogs will come into Babylon and dance [cf. Is. 13:21 and 34:14]." No translation of Isaiah that I possess seems to say any such thing, confirming my suspicions that the Bible was more fun back in the day.

The book has an extensive introduction and notes (which taken together are longer than the actual text), which helps make the whole thing make more sense. It's not the kind of thing most people would read for fun, but if you need a good dose of medieval natural history and religious allegory, this is a great place to start.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book as received unfair criticism because it can be a little difficult to approach. I read it with an anthropological eye, wanting to learn how an old tales, heard by christian authors (or a single author) were re-interpreted and intertwined with christian morality. I think that if the reader approaches these stories for entertainment, they'll find them terribly boring and didactic. There are many bestiaries out there, and many ancient works that describe beasts by way of fable, Physiologus is just one of these. It's a curiosity and an artifact, not much more, unless you're doing specific research.

[Lulu]

its composition has been traditionally dated to the 2nd century AD by readers who saw parallels with writings of Clement of Alexandria c. (150 – c. 215 AD), who is asserted to have known the text, though Alan Scott[1] has made a case for a date at the end of the 3rd or in the 4th century.

c. 825-50 Bern Physiologus It is believed to be a copy of a 5th-century manuscript. one of the oldest extant illustrated copies of the Physiologus.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first modern English translation of the Latin bestiary. The 40-page introduction by Curley was the most interesting part of this volume. The allegorical tales were so infused with early Christian symbolism as to make it mostly mumo-jumbo to me. Added to my reading list from the bibliography of The Beginnings of Western Science, by David C. Lindberg.

[David Karacsony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zseniális! A Bibliában megjelenő összes állatot felvonultatja, hozzárendeli más bibliahelyekhez, amilyen állat pedig nem szerepel a Bibliában, analógia útján úgyis kihozza belőle, hogy hallgassunk Jézusra... Görögül igazi nyelvtani nyalánkság.