![76-Fisiologo di Berna - Pantera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/76-Fisiologo_di_Berna_-_Pantera.jpg)
The ''Physiologus'' () is a
didactic
Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
text written or compiled in Greek by an unknown author, in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
; its composition has been traditionally dated to the 2nd century AD by readers who saw parallels with writings of
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and ...
, who is asserted to have known the text, though Alan Scott has made a case for a date at the end of the 3rd or in the 4th century. The ''Physiologus'' consists of descriptions of animals, birds, and fantastic creatures, sometimes stones and plants, provided with moral content. Each animal is described, and an anecdote follows, from which the moral and symbolic qualities of the animal are derived. Manuscripts are often, but not always, given illustrations, often lavish.
The book was translated into Armenian in 5th century, into Latin by the early 6th century or possibly even by the mid-4th century and into
Ethiopic and
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
, then into many European and Middle-Eastern languages, and many
illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
copies such as the
Bern Physiologus
The ''Bern Physiologus'' (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, ''Codex Bongarsianus'' 318) is a 9th-century illuminated copy of the Latin translation of the ''Physiologus''. It was probably produced at Reims about 825–850. It is believed to be a copy of a 5 ...
survive. It retained its influence over ideas of the "meaning" of animals in Europe for over a thousand years. It was a predecessor of
bestiaries
A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...
(books of beasts). Medieval poetical literature is full of allusions that can be traced to the ''Physiologus'' tradition; the text also exerted great influence on the symbolism of medieval ecclesiastical art: symbols like those of the
phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
rising from its ashes and the
pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
feeding her young with her own blood are still well-known.
[
]
Allegorical stories
The story is told of the lion whose cubs are born dead and receive life when the old lion breathes upon them, and of the phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
which burns itself to death and rises on the third day from the ashes; both are taken as types of Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
. The unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
also which only permits itself to be captured in the lap of a pure virgin is a type of the Incarnation
Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...
; the pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
that sheds its own blood in order to sprinkle its dead young, so that they may live again, is a type of the salvation of mankind by the death of Christ on the Cross.[
Some allegories set forth the deceptive enticements of the ]Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
and his defeat by Christ; others present qualities as examples to be imitated or avoided.[
]
Attributions
The conventional title ''Physiologus'' was because the author introduces his stories from natural history with the phrase: "the physiologus says", that is, "the naturalist says", "the natural philosophers, the authorities for natural history say",[ a term derived from Greek φύσις (''physis'', "nature") and λόγος ('']logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...
'', “word”).
In later centuries it was ascribed to various celebrated Fathers
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...
, especially Epiphanius, Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...
, and St. Peter of Alexandria.[
The assertion that the method of the ''Physiologus'' presupposes the allegorical ]exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...
developed by Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
is not correct; the so-called '' Letter of Barnabas'' offers, before Origen, a sufficient model, not only for the general character of the ''Physiologus'' but also for many of its details. It can hardly be asserted that the later recensions, in which the Greek text has been preserved, present even in the best and oldest manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s a perfectly reliable transcription of the original, especially as this was an anonymous and popular treatise.[
]
Early history
About the year 400 the ''Physiologus'' was translated into Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
; from Greek, the original language that it was written in. In the 5th century into Ethiopic dited by Fritz Hommel with a German translation (Leipzig, 1877), revised German translation in ''Romanische Forschungen'', V, 13-36">Fritz_Hommel.html" ;"title="dited by Fritz Hommel">dited by Fritz Hommel with a German translation (Leipzig, 1877), revised German translation in ''Romanische Forschungen'', V, 13-36 into Armenian language">Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
[edited by Pitra in ''Spicilegium Solesmense'', III, 374–90; French translation by Cahier in ''Nouveaux Mélanges d'archéologie, d'histoire et de littérature'' (Paris, 1874)] (see also the recent edition: Gohar Muradyan, Physiologus. The Greek And Armenian Versions With a Study of Translation Technique, Leuven–Dudley MA: Peeters, 2005 [Hebrew University Armenian Studies 6]); into
version edited by Land in ''Anecdota Syriaca'', IV (Leyden, 1875)].