Tierische Häretiker:innen? – Tiere in Schenute von Atripes häresiologischer Rhetorik

In his heresiological text I Am Amazed (better known as Contra Origenistas ) the Coptic monk Shenoute of Atripe polemicizes against a diverse range of heretics and their heretical teachings. Thereby, he employs the common heresiological strategy Guilt by Association. He associates his opponents, among others, with animals in general and specific animals such as pigs, invoking biblical narratives in which animals symbolize particular positive or negative character traits. The association with animals in I Am Amazed is exclusively connotated negatively and functions as a tool to dehumanize his opponents and degrade their theological beliefs as heretical.