Antiquity & the middle ages
In the Classical era, vegetarianism was closely linked to philosophy. Many Greek and Roman philosophers advocated for greater animal welfare and for the health benefits of a plant-based diet.
Many do not know that the 6th century Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras (570 BC-495 BCE), famous for his Pythagorean theorum to calculate the length of the third side of a triangle, was a very vocal vegetarian. Pythagoras believed in the concept of soul transmigration, an idea that when a person died, his / her soul migrated into another sentient body. This body could be animal or human. Pythagoras argued that by eating animals, a person could thus kill and consume a human soul. (1) He felt so strongly in his belief that he founded a religious community in Croton, Italy that required all members to practice vegetarianism. Additionally, all members were forbidden from using animal products, such as wool or leather. According to the Greek philosopher Porphyry, Pythagoras also studied astrology, later converted to Zoroastrianism, spoke in parables, heard music in the stars, and regularly smoked marijuana. (2)
Related: Pythagoras Advocating a Vegetarian Diet by Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders (1618-1630) in Gallery: Classical Era |
O horrible cruelty!... For the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time and time it had been born into the world to enjoy. |
Pythagoras' biographer Porphyry (234-305 CE) was a Greek neo-Platonist philosopher. He wrote On Abstinence from Animal Food, in which he argued that abstinence from meat brought spiritual purification. (3)
Although many people are unclear over whether Plato (c. 425-c. 348 BCE) was a vegetarian or not, Plato wrote in The Republic that the ideal society would be a vegetarian society. Vegetarianism represented the ideal of morality, whereas a meat-eating diet represented a society that is weak from decadence and war. (4) |
Another famous philosopher, little-known as a vegetarian, was Greek philosopher Plutarch (46-120 CE). Plutarch wrote the essay Of Eating Flesh in which he argued of the necessity of a vegetarian diet. Plutarch's arguments were very influential and are repeated by many of today's vegetarians. Plutarch believed that not only did a non-vegetarian diet cause unnecessary cruelty to animals, but it was also harmful to the human body and mind. He argued that humans were never meat to consume meat or they would have fangs and claws like carnivorous animals.
Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), a Roman Stoic philosopher wrote the poem Metamorphoses, in which he revived Pythagorean vegetarian philosophy. Seneca (4 BCE-65 CE), another Roman philosopher, also argued of the cruelty in eating meat. Unfortunately for Seneca, he was forced to hide his vegetarianism out of fear of Roman emperor Caligula and later forced to commit suicide out of fear of emperor Nero's jealousy. (5) |
With the rise of Christianity in the Middle Ages, vegetarianism began to decline in popularity. The Christian belief in dominion introduced the idea that animals were created by God for human necessity. The greatest writer of the topic was Thomas Aquinas who also argued that humans were rational creatures, unlike animals. Since animals were not rational creatures, they did not deserve the same moral consideration.
1. “Vegetarianism” in The Cambridge World History of Food, ed. Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Connèe Ornelas, Cambridge Histories Online (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), chap. V17, 1553-1564, accessed November 10, 2014, http://universitypublishingonline.org/cambridge/histories/, 1554.
2. "Pythagoras," Very Important Potheads, accessed November 30, 2014, http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/pythagoras.html.
3. "Vegetarianism", The Cambridge World History of Food, 1554.
4. "The Hidden History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism," Encyclopedia Brittanica Advocacy for Animals, accessed November 29, 2014, http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2010/08/the-hidden-history-of-greco-roman-vegetarianism/.
5. "The Hidden History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism."
2. "Pythagoras," Very Important Potheads, accessed November 30, 2014, http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/pythagoras.html.
3. "Vegetarianism", The Cambridge World History of Food, 1554.
4. "The Hidden History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism," Encyclopedia Brittanica Advocacy for Animals, accessed November 29, 2014, http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2010/08/the-hidden-history-of-greco-roman-vegetarianism/.
5. "The Hidden History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism."