BESTIAL WISDOM AND HUMAN TRAGEDY - THE GENESIS OF THE ANIMAL EPIC

A radical redefinition or blurring of the boundaries between the human and animal realms, between ''us'' and ''them,'' can sometimes open dr amatic new aesthetic and cultural possibilities. This paper discusses the earliest example of this, an ancient Akkadian fragment known, a bi t deceptively, as ''The Fable of the Fox.'' Set against the background of a terrible drought which may well have destroyed the Akkadian Empi re, it records the exchanges of a fox or jackal, a wolf, a lion and a dog. The last of these animals, especially, seems to bear a tragic des tiny, of a sort that traditional literature tends to identify exclusiv ely with the ''human condition.'' The essay goes on to trace how the s tory may have been the origin of a tradition which includes such impor tant literary works as the Hindu Panchatantra, the Arab Kalila wa Dimn a and even Shakespeare's ''Othello.'' Finally, if concludes with sugge stions as to how recognition of tragedy not simply as part of ''the hu man condition'' but also as a bond with animals and the environment ma y open new aesthetic possibilities in the years to come.