PETS IN THE PAST

PREHISTORY • Towards 9.000 BC (the beginning of the Neolithic, with

sedentary), humans started to use dogs to hunt and to protect them from the other animals.

• Later, they were considered pets, in the sense of company.

• The first dogs were wolves that the humans domesticated.

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY [EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA]

• In Ancient Mesopotamia (6000 BC-539 BC), they celebrated a party dedicated to the dogs.

• In Ancient Egypt (3150 BC-31BC) a usual pet of the Pharaohs was the lion, which was used in the war too.

• In the reliefs despicting the famous battle of Kadesh (1274 BC), the Egypt army fought with the Hittites, Pharaoph Ramsés II appeared fighting with his lion.

• Other pets (most popular for the poor people) were cats, monkeys, and dogs. They were buried with their owners.

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY [GREECE]

• The favorite pet in Greece (1200 aC-146 aC) was the dog.

• Aristotle said: «There are seven races and the most popular is the Molsser, a Mesopotian kind of dog».

• In the Odyssey, Homer tells the story of Argos, Odysseus’s dog, who waited for his owner for twenty years and he died when he saw his owner returning home.

• Cats were the other great pets of Greece. They were brought from Egypt.

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY [Rome I]

• In Ancient Rome (753 BC- 476 BC), the most common pets were dogs, because they guarded the houses. A lot of mosaics were found with this warning: «Cave Canem» (beware the dog!)

• In the Roman houses, there were cats, pigeons, ducks, crows and birds in general.

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY [ROME II]Eccentricities of Roman characters

• Caesar (100 BC-44 BC) had a giraffe, who brought from Alexandria and he showed to the Romans the animal (the people never saw it!).

• Calígula (12 AD – 41AD) had got a horse called Incitatus. Calígula worshipped the horse like a god. He ate with it and he covered the horse with jewellery.

• Nerón (37 AD- 68 AD) had a wild panther called Febea. Febea moved free during the dinners.

• The poet Virgil (70 BC- 19 BC), author of the Aeneid, sent out a very expensive mausoleum for a fly to keep his land.

MIDDLE AGE (476 - 1492)• The poor people had all types of farm animals: pigs,

sheep, horses… they lived in the same house together and there were many problems with hygiene.

• People didn’t have any cats, because they thought were the symbol of the devil.

• Rich people loved falcons, because these animals helped them to hunt.

MODERN AGE (1492 - 1789)• Collecting exotic animals was a

sign of power in the Modern Age. They used the wildest animals to fight and they showed them to the people the most exotic...

• Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) had an elephant.

• The English Tudor dynasty (1485 - 1603) loved the monkeys and the sons of one monkey belong to the sons of the king (in the image, Catalina de Aragón, the first wife of Edward VI).

CONTEMPORARY AGE (1789-…)• In the Contemporary Age, pets have become more

numerous and diverse. • Today, the most fashionable animals are the exotic

ones: pigs, alligators, tigers, squirrels, snakes and kangaroos.

SOME HISTORICAL CURIOSITES (contemporary age)

• Marquis de Lafayette, one important politician and French military (1757-1834), had an alligator. When he visited the White House, he put the alligator in the bath.

• The son of the president of the USA had two alligators and they lived in the garden.