ABSTRACT
To say that ancient Greek religion brought together gods and humans in a variety of real and symbolic relationships is to state the obvious. And yet this observation, commonplace and uncontroversial as it may seem, does not tell the whole story. The clear symbolic relationship — gods at the top, animals at the bottom, and humans sandwiched somewhere in between — originated in classical antiquity. It was articulated forcefully and prominently in the works of certain philosophers (most notably Aristotle) who sought to establish essentialist distinguishing criteria separating man from beast. It is the predominant anthropomorphism of the ancient Greek gods that gives urgency and weight to the idea of gods transforming physically from human into animal and back again. It has sometimes been argued that the study of ancient Greek religion can be quite insular and disengaged from current debates in the interdisciplinary study of religions.
