I love looking for traces of cats everywhere, including in the past, in antiquity. Greece is full of cats, and the Greeks usually love them as well. The kittens cool off boredly in the restaurants, waiting for the boats in the harbor, exercising their soft paws on the monuments. They are here, there, everywhere and that’s fine. But what about the past? Today’s Greeks consider themselves descendants of legendary heroes, so their cats can look back on a decent past as well. Looking for traces of cats, I found interesting vase paintings. Black vase with red image. Its special feature is that the vase painter painted a picture on both sides of the vase. Nicely framed. Here is the vase in question:
In the first picture, the cat marches in front of the boy, literally marching as only one cat can. The boy behind the cat would be completely naked anyway, but he wrapped a cloak around his neck so we could consider him fully clothed as well. He holds a stick in his right hand and maybe a ribbon hangs on it which is obviously to the cat’s liking and the experienced cat keeper shouted with joy at the recognition. Yes, the thing looks like an ancient cat game. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any description of that, scientists have not paid enough attention to this important issue therefore, I can only describe my own opinion that this is indeed one of the ancient versions of the favorite game of cats. On the other side of the vase, a well-dressed young man (and really dressed, not beating us with a cloak tied around his neck) is holding a stick in his left hand and the cat are climbing on it. We can see the cat watching, the tail markings changing nothing over the millennia. The boy put his right hand on his hip and apparently he also feels good in the company of the cat. Both men (perhaps the same two) are well-groomed, cheerful young men with short-cut hair. Interestingly, on the vase (peliké) both cats (perhaps the same two) are quite graceful and their fur is spotted. This embarrassing fact suggests that we may not even see a cat on the vase. Let's look at this picture!
In addition to the dog, we also see a cat created by a vase painter referred to as ‘Dog and Cat Painter’. The cat here looks quite different from the one in the previous picture. Here it is quite as we can see it today: with a chubby, stuffed fur coat (sorry, we know every cat only looks chubby because of its stuffed fur coat), its tail is thicker and much shorter - and its fur is not spotted all. According to the researchers, the cat on the vase is not even a cat, but a cheetah or a leopard! Big cats cannot pull their nails back as much as their smaller and more delightful companions, so they assume that leopards kept next to humans, like dogs, have their nails cut off. But then how can it climb so well? Well, it's still a cat ...
In the Greek vase painting, now we know, the leopard climbs very skillfully, all his movements are unique. It is so unique and unmistakable that felidae still climb trees in such a ‘style’ to this day: a protruding tummy and strict concentration. As if hundreds of years had not passed, this leopard crawls with the same little feline grace as its ancient predecessor. The vase painter was probably able to observe all of this up close, that he was able to render the scene so lifelike and accurately. Searching for catty vase paintings, now with a sharper eye, we find several such images where young men play with spotted, graceful cats.
Here, the leopard is currently attending a music lesson. I find it less likely that the boys played music for the sake of the cat, rather one of them took his little pet with him to his compulsory music lesson.
The leopard walks - on a leash, of course.
A handsome Athenian young man delightedly loves the leopard on his lap and caresses him with undisguised pleasure. Please love the cat in this way!
The excited leopard is about to attack an unsuspecting dog who has not yet decided what kind of cat to deal with. The dog feels a lack of overwhelming confidence with which to handle kittens. If nothing else, we can suspect from the uncertainty of the dog that we are not dealing with a kitten.
Interestingly, the leopard is always seen in the company of young men and boys on the vases. It could not be cheap to get such an animal, who could afford it, certainly belonged to the circles of the rich. Women could not wander the streets of Athens anyway with leopards, dogs, cats, so this special and interesting animal was probably kept more by men for pointing and posing. Vase painters could see these scenes with their own eyes, as leopards are completely lifelike.
So the inexhaustible repository of Greek vase painting has once again shown something interesting from their world: rich Athenian men and boys stroll the streets of Athens with leopards. I think keeping a leopard, on the other hand, was not only a symbol of wealth and another manifestation of ostentation, but they were also kept because they are still cats that can only be adored. Even if they are a little bigger...
Comments
Post a Comment