ABSTRACT
Myths frequently deal with extremes, and the author's interest is chiefly in the exceptional. This chapter explores the diverse ways in which animals help to frame not just the human condition in general but the distinctiveness of special individuals or of individuals at exceptional moments. To this end, the chapter offers two primary test cases. The first examines some of the ways in which animals help to define what it is to be a hero. The chapter focuses on the relationship between Achilles, the archetypal hero, and his no less special horse Xanthus as they engage in conversation within a narrative that plays extensively with the boundaries between men, beasts, and gods. It explores what questions the comparison and interaction between Achilles and Xanthus raise about the similarities or differences between humans and animals, and the nature of their relationships with the divine.
