Aristotle, Historia Animalium

Ronald Blankenborg (Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen)
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Introduction

Historia Animalium (“Inquiry on animals”) is the Latin title for Τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν, a zoological treatise in ten chapters (or ‘books’), attributed to the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle (Stageira, 384 BCE – Chalkis, 322 BCE). The work functions as a summary of, and introduction to, the various zoological observations in De Partibus Animalium (“Body parts of animals”), De Generatione Animalium (“Reproduction of animals”), and De Motu Animalium (“Movement of animals”) by the same author. Historia Animalium expands on the knowledge presented in the other treatises: it deals extensively with the working of the brain, and adds the names of 390 animals to a total of 560 animals in all the works on zoology together.

1299 words

Citation: Blankenborg, Ronald. "Historia Animalium". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 June 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16016, accessed 28 March 2024.]

16016 Historia Animalium 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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