ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the non-articulated aspect of the human—animal relationship as it becomes apparent in Vassilikos, a community on the island of Zakynthos in south-west Greece, and places the interaction of the farmers with their animals in its meaningful context: one that involves care, reciprocity and a fundamental conceptualization of the place and purpose of each living organism on the farm. Questions regarding the human—animal interaction do not neatly resolve themselves in simplistic utilitarian versus non-utilitarian dichotomies. The chapter focuses on the ways men and women in Vassilikos care for their animals; the ways they punish them or complain about them; and the repetitive, simple but exhausting tasks of their everyday interaction with them. It examines the meaning of ‘order’ (taksi) and ‘care’ (frondidha), the two most central concepts pertaining to the relationship between farmers and farm animals. The chapter focuses on rare examples of wild animals disrupting the order of the farm or being incorporated by it.
