August 8: International Day of Cats

In one of Aisopos’ fables, a cat falls in love with a human boy, and pleads with Aphrodite to change her into a maiden. Aphrodite does and romance blossoms. But when the girls notices a passing mouse, she can’t help herself pouncing upon it. Aphrodite understands that she will never loose her feral and frivolous nature, and reverses the transformation. Still in Perikles’ time, cats were seen as examples of libertine morale. Weasels were the preferred pets, as they were better in hunting mice and rats. In ancient Egypt however, cats were held in the highest esteem, which puzzled the Greek explorer Herodotos. He mentions with astonishment that owners of a cat shaved their eyebrows when it died. And that they would have it mummified, if they could afford it. The very word “cat” has Arabic roots: “quattah”. For the Egyptians, cats were the incarnations of their protective goddess Bastet, “Pasht” in Egyptian. Put these words together: “pasht-quattah” and you understand where pussy-cat comes from.

Cat mummy, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Cat, Roman Mosaic, Hause of the Faun, Pompeï, Italy

Did you know?

• The ancient Egyptian word for cat was an onomatopoeia: “miu” or “meow”, which was gradually replaced by the more modern “quattah”. From there, the term spread to the English “cat”, the French “chat”, the Spanish “gato”, the German “Katze”,…

• Etymology is not an exact science, and this explanation for “pussycat” is just one of many.

• About Aisopos: cfr. “Enchanted World”,  “Speak no Evil”, “A Cinderella Story”.

• About Herodotos: cfr. “Reincarnation”, “Joyride”.