MEN, BEASTS AND GODS

by Gerald Carson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1972

Crossbreeding folklore, myth and history, Carson, who has a flair for cultural oddities (The Polite Americans, 1966; The Social History of Bourbon, 1963), offers an arresting account of how men have treated their beasts from the Stone Age to the 20th century pet shop. The ancient Greeks created zoomorphic gods and deified their animals; during the Middle Ages they were subject to prosecution for injuries to humans, while pigs, cows, goats, dolphins, serpents, moles, wolves and ants were often defendants at extensive judicial proceedings in which they were represented by counsel and not infrequently executed. Despite Christianity, which worked out an absolute distinction between men and creatures by endowing the former with an immortal soul, the ""compulsion to impute our own feelings to animals"" (or anthromorphism) has been universal. But so has ritual torture, hunting and vivisection. Carson ranges here, there, and everywhere from the theories of Aquinas and Descartes to bear baiting, bullfights and the American rodeo, to the rise of the Animal Rights Movement in 19th century England (where else?) which spawned the ASPCA which lobbied Animals' Magna Carta through Commons in 1822. Implied is the idea that kindness to animals is a touchstone of a society's humaneness and mental health though Carson is more intent on entertaining than lecturing his readers. An unusual book which should appeal to animal lovers as well as historians interested in the progress of popular superstitions, sports and sentiment.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION