Physiologus

Physiologus is an example of allegorical use of natural history to illuminate Christian teaching. The Old English poem Bestiary bears some relationship with Continental Physiologus. It consists of three brief sketches of Panther, the Whale and the Partridge- the last poem surviving in a form too fragmentary for profitable interpretations. The Panther is full of kindness and is symbolical of Christ. The Whale is full of deceit recalling to our mind the deceitful character of Satan whom Milton compares to Leviathan. The practice of this kind of allegorizing animals lasted well into the Renaissance.