Breastfeeding Animals and Other Wild “Nurses” in Greek and Roman Mythology
2016; Complutense University of Madrid; Volume: 34; Issue: 34 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1988-3080
Autores Tópico(s)Interdisciplinary Studies: Technology, Society, and Humanities
ResumoespanolLos testimonios materiales y literarios sugieren que nodrizas y nineras jugaron un papel crucial en el mundo antiguo. Un peculiar declive de la figura de la nodriza griega y romana lo representa la figura del animal lactante, recordado en los textos literarios y en la iconografia. Existen numerosas leyendas a proposito de ninos abandonados y amamantados por animales, como Romulo, Telephus y Zeus. Estos animales nutricios se pueden adscribir a la categoria del “auxiliar” (el que auxilia), una imagen central en los mitos que conciernen a la biografia de fundadores, divinos y legendarios, y reyes. Auxiliares pueden ser animales, domesticos o salvajes, o seres humanos, y sobre todo figuras socialmente marginadas por la pertenencia a grupos sociales especificos y de baja consideracion: pastores, porquerizos, lavanderas, esclavos e incluso prostitutas. Incluso pueden aparecer las ninfas que viven, como los animales, en habitats naturales (donde los bebes por lo general son abandonados). Nuestro objetivo es sugerir que aquellos bebes con un futuro extraordinario ante ellos heredan algo animal y/o salvaje de sus nodrizas, que se transmite a traves de la leche. EnglishBoth literary and material evidence strongly suggest that wet and dry nurses played a central role within the ancient world. A peculiar declination of the figure of the Greek and Roman wet-nurse are animal nurses, recalled by both literary texts and iconography. There are plenty of ancient legends concerning abandoned children breastfed by animals, such as Romulus, Telephus, and Zeus. These breastfeeding animals can be ascribed to the category of the “adjuvant” that is central in the myths concerning the biography of divine and legendary founders and kings. Adjuvants can be animals, either domestic or wild, or human beings, and mostly figures socially excluded belonging to specific social groups: shepherds, swineherds, washerwomen, slaves and even prostitutes. They could be also nymphs who live, like animals, in natural habitats (where babies are usually abandoned). Our aim is to suggest that those babies with an extraordinary future in front of them inherit something from their animal and/or wild nurses via milk.
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