Bird Communication in Ancient Greek and Roman Thought

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyse ancient Greek and Roman theories on bird communication. The author observes that the examples of bird communication were often used by ancient philosophers as arguments against the prevailing conception that only humans possessed reason. The article focuses mostly on the thought of Aristotle, Stoics, Plutarch, Sextus Empiricus, and Porphyry. It indicates strategies used by those thinkers when describing bird communication, the main themes connected with this topic, and the main consequences of the discussion on animal rationality in antiquity.