Abstract Amidst heavily detailed rules for Christian life, in his Paedagogus Clement of Alexandria explores a variety of animal metaphors to depict (deviant) human behavior in the field of ethics, like the promiscuous hyena or the greedy pig. These images are inspired by both Old and New Testament as well as philosophical thought and their meanings range from entirely negative to appropriate representation of the believers. The three levels of animal imagery correlate with Plato’s tripartite soul as Clement adopts it. However, they are not solely anchored in Platonist thought but also show strong biblical influence.
Johanna Jürgens (2026) studied this question.