Sheep
animal · 8 works · 9 mentions · 11 anchored passages
sheep · the sheep · 60 sheep · Twelve sheep
spoken of as
1 expressionThe Sheep2 mentions
On the Estate of Hagnias (Greek) · Memorabilia (Greek)
for Theophon, his wife's brother, at his death adopted one of his daughters and left her his property, consisting of land at Eleusis worth two talents, 60 sheep, 100 goats, furniture, a fine horse which he rode when he was a cavalry commander, and all the rest of his goods and chattels.
in the texts
Stromata
The sheep, used as an example to illustrate differing purposes of observation.
The cook and the shepherd do not behold the sheep alike:
The shepherd, at any rate, cares too for each of the sheep;
On the Nature of the Gods
Animal cited as bred for the sake of providing wool for men's clothing
— sheep which indeed could neither be fed nor sustained nor yield any fruit from themselves without the tillage and care of men.
Works and Days
Sheep, whose shearing, gelding, penning, and handling are each assigned to specific favorable days.
Also the eleventh and twelfth are both excellent, alike for shearing sheep and for reaping the kindly fruits;
On that day tame sheep and shambling, horned oxen, and the sharp-fanged dog and hardy mules to the touch of the hand.
Nor is the first sixth a fit day for a girl to be born, but a kindly for gelding kids and sheep and for fencing in a sheep cote.
The Rights of War and Peace
The party in the fable pressured to give up its protectors.
But whether an innocent citizen may be given up into the hands of an enemy to avoid imminent destruction, which would otherwise fall upon the state, is a point that has been formerly, and is still disputed by the learned, according to the beautiful fable, which Domosthenes told of the wolves, who demanded of the sheep the surrender of the dogs, as the only terms of peace.
On the Estate of Hagnias
Sixty sheep listed among the livestock Theophon bequeathed to Stratocles's adopted daughter.
for Theophon, his wife's brother, at his death adopted one of his daughters and left her his property, consisting of land at Eleusis worth two talents, 60 sheep, 100 goats, furniture, a fine horse which he rode when he was a cavalry commander, and all the rest of his goods and chattels.
Law in a Free State
Sheep used in an analogy for unthinking, follow-the-leader unanimity, contrasted with genuine correct judgment.
Twelve sheep will unanimously jump through a gap in the hedge round an old quarry if one of them will but give the lead.
Economics
Sheep are productive animals whose value depends on knowledge, care, divine blessing, and protection.
if a man loses through ignorance of sheep farming, his sheep too will not be wealth to him?
When a sheep is ailing, said Socrates, we generally blame the shepherd, and when a horse is vicious, we generally find fault with his rider.
Know of a surety that right-minded men offer prayer for fruits and crops and cattle and horses and sheep, aye and for all that they possess.
Memorabilia
The sheep in Socrates's fable, who questions why the dog is fed from the master's own food despite producing nothing, and who is answered and persuaded by the dog's claim to guard the flock.
And so, they say, the sheep admitted the dog’s claim to preference.
Do not I keep you from being stolen by thieves, and carried off by wolves?
It is strange that you give us sheep nothing but what we get from the land, though we supply you with wool and lambs and cheese, and yet you share your own food with your dog, who supplies you with none of these things.