Bob Church wrote:
>In the Middle Ages when Greek was being translated by wealthy nobles with
>nothing to do but order peasants around, many of the fables were changed
>to reflect local cultural attitudes regarding animals.  Snakes were always
>used to indicate an evil or sinister animal, dogs to indicate loyalty,
>cats to suggest witchcraft, etc.  Therefore, I think the use of
>"house-ferret" in some of the Aesop stories is probably the most accurate.
>I am currently at a loss to explain why ferrets were often overlooked in
>middle age European stories and folklore, since both historical records
>and various art pieces indicate they were there.  Perhaps someone better
>versed in mythology or folklore can provide an answer.
 
An article in Modern Ferret, printed in the last year about ferrets in
Ancient Greece suggests that as the cat was introduced to Europe it replace
the weasel/ferret as the household mouser, and in turn the cat replaced the
weasel/ferret in folk tales.
 
KG
[Posted in FML issue 2810]