Marijana Nestorov May 201 Budapest
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Marijana Nestorov KILLING AND BEING KILLED THE MEDIEVAL CROCODILE STORY MA Thesis in Medieval Studies Central European University CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2013 KILLING AND BEING KILLED THE MEDIEVAL CROCODILE STORY By Marijana Nestorov (Serbia) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Chair, Examination Committee ____________________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________________ Examiner CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2013 KILLING AND BEING KILLED THE MEDIEVAL CROCODILE STORY by Marijana Nestorov (Serbia) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ External Reader CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2013 KILLING AND BEING KILLED THE MEDIEVAL CROCODILE STORY by Marijana Nestorov (Serbia) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Supervisor ____________________________________________ External Supervisor CEU eTD Collection Budapest May 2013 I, the undersigned, Marijana Nestorov, candidate for the MA degree in Medieval Studies, declare herewith that the present thesis is exclusively my own work, based on my research and only such external information as properly credited in notes and bibliography. I declare that no unidentified and illegitimate use was made of the work of others, and no part of the thesis infringes on any person’s or institution’s copyright. I also declare that no part of the thesis has been submitted in this form to any other institution of higher education for an academic degree. Budapest, __ May 2013 __________________________ Signature CEU eTD Collection ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When somebody decides to write an MA thesis about crocodiles it is bound to mean that they will have a lot of fun doing that. However, underneath the fun there is a serious amount of research and work. I would like to thank my teachers from Belgrade who sent me to CEU, Vojin Nedeljković and Marjanca Pakiž, for teaching me what serious work is, but also that the point of doing research is something to be enjoyed. My next thank you is to the Department of Medieval Studies for having me and enabling me to work on this lovely topic. It is my pleasure to thank these people for having fun together with me during this year: Gerhard Jaritz, my supervisor, for all suggestions, corrections, for taking part in making this study user friendly and for going along with my ideas for presenting the medieval crocodile in this way. Marcell Sebők, my supervisor, for carefully reading everything I sent, however long it took me to send it, and for providing support when I needed it most. Katalin Szende, for stepping in to check my Latin translations even though I asked for that the night before the first deadline for submission. Judith Rasson, for being omnipresent during the composing of this thesis, for correcting it mercilessly, and for accomplishing that it be written in meaningful English. For the formatting of the thesis, I sincerely thank my friend Andra Juganaru. I also wish to thank all my friends from Kerepesi ut 87, and all the people on the other side of the internet for baring with me and enduring my endless moaning. CEU eTD Collection In the end, special thanks goes to Anna Somfai and Cristian-Nicolae Gaşpar, because at times when things did not seem fun at all, it was their lectures that inspired me, that made me remember what it is all about, and that added a great deal to my own perception of the work I enjoy doing most. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ II INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I ............................................................................................................................. 5 SOURCES ................................................................................................................................. 5 THE JAW, THE TONGUE, AND THE IMPENETRABLE ARMORED BACK........................................ 6 ANCIENT SOURCES ABOUT THE CROCODILE: A PARAPHRASE ................................................. 9 THE YELLOW-SKINNED MONSTER COMETH .......................................................................... 12 A NEW DIMENSION TO PERCEPTION ...................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER II .......................................................................................................................... 19 THE HELL-RIPPER ............................................................................................................. 19 ICHNEUMON, ID EST, HYDRUS ................................................................................................ 19 THE TEACHINGS OF THE HYDRUS .......................................................................................... 21 PICTURING THE RELATIONS.................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER III ........................................................................................................................ 33 THE HYPOCRITE ................................................................................................................ 33 FOOD ..................................................................................................................................... 33 SLEEPING ............................................................................................................................... 34 DUNG .................................................................................................................................... 35 TEARS .................................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................... 41 DID YOU SEE A CROCODILE? ........................................................................................ 41 TRAVELERS ........................................................................................................................... 42 FELIX FABRI: A CASE STUDY OF PERCEPTION AND DISSEMINATION ...................................... 44 EPILOGUE ............................................................................................................................ 56 IMAGES ................................................................................................................................. 61 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 79 CEU eTD Collection i LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. The Nile mosaic of Palestrina. 120/110 BCE. Museo Nazionale Prenestino, Palazzo Barberini.....................................................................................................................61 http://waterculturepower.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/scala_archives_103108410561.jpg Figure 1.2. The Nile mosaic from the House of the Faun. First century BCE. National Archaeological Museum, Naples.............................................................................................61 http://www.hermeticfellowship.org/Graphics/Images/NileAnimals.jpg Figure 1.3. Octavian’s denarius. 28 BCE. Pergamon Museum, Berlin....................................61 http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/indexcoins.html Figure 1.4. Brass coin from Nimes (Nemausus, Gaul). Period of Augustus’s reign. Pergamon Museum, Berlin.......................................................................................................................61 http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/indexcoins.html Figure 1.5. Nile statue. First century CE (probably a copy of an earlier Hellenistic statue). Vatican Museum.......................................................................................................................62 http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/The-River-Nile.jpg Figure 1.6. Nile statue, detail. Ichneumon...............................................................................62 http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7239/7176133575_1b6a7d99cf_z.jpg Figure 1.7. Nile statue, detail. Crocodile..................................................................................62 http://hawkebackpacking.com/images/pictures/europe/vatican_city/vatican_museum/vatican_ city_vatican_museum_14.jpg Figure 1.8. Crocodile from Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli. Second century. Vatican museum ......63 https://resources.oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/leach/www/c414/net_id/rome/caracalla/ croc1.jpg CEU eTD Collection Figure 1.9. Fish crocodile. The