Hoopoe, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

The hoopoe bird, when it sees its parents aging and losing their sight, rejuvenates them by plucking their feathers, licking their eyes and warming them up. This act symbolises gratitude, as the bird cares for its parents just as they once cared for it. The passage suggests that if even birds show such care for their parents, humans, being rational, should certainly repay their parents' nourishment. The text emphasizes this point with a biblical law stating that cursing one's parents is punishable by death, likening it to patricide and matricide.

The hoopoe was used to shame humans into better behaviour by showing that even irrational creatures understood and practiced the virtues of care and respect. This contrast was meant to urge humans, as rational beings, to exceed the moral behaviour of animals.

In some interpretations, the hoopoe’s selfless actions were seen as symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice and care for humanity, emphasizing the theme of selfless love and sacrifice for the benefit of others.

The Greeks called it ĕpops due to its attraction to human dung and its filthy habits. With a crest like a helmet, this bird is often found in graveyards and among human waste. Medieval belief held that using its blood could lead to terrifying nightmares about suffocating demons. Symbolically, the hoopoe represents those who, despite their spiritual aspirations, remain fixated on earthly and unclean matters, as Paul condemns such behaviour. In Leviticus, this bird is regarded as unclean and its flesh is forbidden. The hoopoe's association with mourning and death serves as a reminder to avoid worldly sorrow. Instead, those who love God should focus on joy, continual prayer and gratitude.

Avis que dicitur epopus quando viderit paren-
tes suos senuisse et caligasse oculos eorum;
evellit plumas eorum. et oculos eorum lingit. et
calefacit eos. et renovantur parentes eius. Quasi
dicens parentibus sius. Sicut laborastis nutrien-
tes me; similiter ego facio vobis. Si autem hoc fa-
ciunt sibi invicem irrationabiles volucres. quanto
magis rationabiles homines parentum suorum nu-
trimenta mutua reddere debent; quia lex dicit. Qui
maledixerit patri vel matri morte morietur. et est quasi
patricida et matricida dampnabitur.

This bird is called ĕpops, hoopoe: when it sees that its parents have grown old and their sight have blurred, it plucks out their feathers, licks their eyes and warms them up. Then its parents gain new vigour. It is as if it were saying to its parents "Just as you laboured to nurture me, I will do the same for you." If even irrational birds do this for one another, how much more should rational humans repay their parents' nourishment? The law decrees: "Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death" and it is as if a parricide and a matricide were condemned.

Huppupam greci appellant; eo quod stercora
humana desideret et fetenti pascatur fimo.
Avis spurcissima. et cristis extentibus galeata.
semper in sepulcris et humano stercore commorans.
Cuius sanguine quisquis se inunxerit dormitum
pergens demones suffocantes se; videbit. Hec avis
significat contemplativum vel quemlibet fide-

The Greeks call the hoopoe[3] ĕpops, for it craves human dung and feeds thereon. It is a very filthy bird, with its crest extended like a helmet. It always dwells on graves and among human filth. If you rub on its blood whilst going to sleep, you will have nightmares about demons trying to strangle you. This bird represents a contemplative person or any believer

lem cuius conversatio in celis debet esse. non in ter-
renis; que paulus stercora reputat. Unde in levi-
tico hec avis inmunda est. cuius carne vesci illicitum est.
quia actio talis hominis imitari non debet. Et maxime
quia hec avis lugubris est et luctum amans. Seculi
enim tristicia; mortem operatur. Qui autem deum
diligit; debet gaudere. sine intermissione orare.
in omnibus; gratias agere;

whose life is supposed to be in heaven, not on earth: Paul regards this as foul. Hence, in Leviticus, this bird is deemed unclean and it is forbidden to eat its flesh. Humans should not imitate such behaviour, chiefly for this bird is baleful and loves grief. Indeed, the sadness of the world brings death. Those who love God should rejoice, pray incessantly and be grateful for everything.

Further Reading

David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Hoopoe, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast243.htm

Mynott, J, Birds in the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press 2018)

Josh Goldenberg (BA 2012) and Matt Shanahan (BA 2014), Logeion, November 2022, https://logeion.uchicago.edu/

Castiglioni, L. and Mariotti, S. (1996). Vocabolario della Lingua Latina: Latino-Italiano Italiano-Latino. Terza Edizione. Loescher Torino

Curley, M. J., Physiologus: A Medieval Book of Nature Lore (University of Chicago edition 2009)

Rackham, H., M.A., Pliny Natural History Volume III, Libri VIII-XI (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1949)

Collins, A. H., M.A., Symbolism of Animals and Birds (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913)

Henderson, C., The Book of Barely Imagined Beings (London: University of Chicago Press, 2013)

White, T. H., The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts (New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1960)

Matthews, J. and Matthews C., The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A-Z of fantastic beings from myth and magic (London: HarperElement, 2005)

Barney, S. A., Lewis, W. J., Beach A., Berghof O., The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Endnotes

[1] The author is using the Greek name ĕpops/ἔποψ. The Latin word for hoopoe is ŭpŭpa.

[2] Exodus NKJV 21:17: “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

[3] The Latin name for the hoopoe was actually ŭpŭpa or hŭpŭpa but the Greeks called it ĕpops.