Vegetarianism It seems to be the case, from the limited material at our disposal, that the “animal question” was pursued across the boundaries of religions and philosophical schools and was seen as an entertaining subject to disagree on. Sometimes, though, this subject had more serious subtexts. | 3 VEGETARIANISM NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIOGNOMICS Vegetarianism It seems to be the case from the limited material at our disposal that the animal question was pursued across the boundaries of religions and philosophical schools and was seen as an entertaining subject to disagree on. Sometimes though this subject had more serious subtexts. When animals were discussed in relation to diet things became more serious since eating is not a thing to be taken lightly. The question of vegetarianism abstention from eating flesh to sarkofagein is closely connected to the definition of animals and humans in relation to each other. How one thought about animals and their status and value clearly had consequences for how they were treated. Could animals be eaten Could they be sacrificed The question of animal sacrifice in particular goes to the heart of ancient religion. One of the main subjects of Porphyry s treatise On Abstinence is the question of a vegetarian diet. Together with Plutarch s two works against eating flesh On Abstinence is the most vigorous defence of vegetarianism from the ancient world. Porphyry s solution to the problem of the relationship between animal sacrifice and eating flesh is to say that even if animals are sacrificed it does not necessarily follow that they should be eaten . This is a point to which Porphyry repeatedly returns see also Chapter 7 . A revival of Pythagoreanism in these centuries once again called attention to a vegetarian lifestyle as seen in Philostratus biographical novel about Apollonius of Tyana. And while a vegetarian diet is especially associated with Pythagoreanism it also became after Plato part of the Academy Haussleiter 1935 204ff Tsekourakis 1987 . Vegetarianism often had a religious dimension and could be a mark of religious affiliation. Seneca for instance put an end to his vegetarian lifestyle because his father did not want him to be regarded as one who participated in foreign cults Epistle 108 . In .
