Animals--as pets, food, victims, endangered species or exhibits--traditionally have been defined by their relationship to human beings. Those relationships, however, change over time and do not always presuppose the animal's biological reality. Hence people put pigs on trial for murder, kept weasels to control the population of basilisks, and made a dog into a saint. This course examines the history of animals until the cusp of the modern age through four themes: the science of animals, the utility or danger of animals in agrarian life, laws pertaining to animals, and the religious symbolism and power of animals.
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