Under the influence of the Greco-Roman tradition (and above all the works of Aristotle), the Byzantines were very interested in animals. We find them in theological accounts of the how the world was made as it is, as for example in Saint Basil the Great’s sermons in the Hexaemeron (Six Days of Creation), as well as in books with strange and unrealistic stories about animals (e.g. the four books by Timotheus of Gaza).

These works never mention the wild side of nature; the animals show no sense of the instinct to survive and appear as harmless creatures of God, who behave in way that reminds humans of their Creator. In this spirit, at the time when religious icons of people or saints were forbidden in churches (the Iconoclast controversy ), the only images allowed were representations of animals, especially birds, with geometric and plant designs.

The scholar emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus got some people to write an animal encyclopaedia called On the history of the animals on land, in the air and in the sea. Only the first two volumes of the work have survived (there were two others), dealing with the classification of animals (categorized into species and families) and the life and character of those that give birth to live young (viviparous animals). The other two books probably dealt with oviparous animals (birds and fish), which lay eggs.

Along with these books, there were others on veterinary medicine, particularly on horses and hunting falcons. Many of them were variations (summaries or supplements) on the work of Apsyrtus, the most important vet in Antiquity. The works of Demetrius Pepagomenus were used by Michael VIII Palaeologus and the aristocracy for hunting. His book about training falcons had a large section on ways to treat their illnesses. Another one of his books was about the different breeds of dogs and how to breed and train them.

Three satirical (funny, mocking) poems about animals stand out in Late Byzantine literature: (a) the Bird Book, (b) the Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds, and (c) the Synaxarion [Saint’s Life] of the Honourable Donkey. In the first poem, the Bird Book, the eagle marries his son and invites all the birds to the wedding feast, where they start calling each other names: the stork argues with the swan, the pelican with the wild turkey, the bat with the partridge etc. The fighting stops after the eagle threatens to order the hawk and the falcon to attack them. In the second poem, the Tale, we find ourselves in the woods, where the lion king together with his close associate the elephant and two ministers - the panther and the leopard - call all the four-footed animals to a meeting to make peace. After some hesitation the meeting begins, but the animals begin to grumble, complain and attack each other, so they end up having a terrible fight. In the third poem, the Donkey, the hero runs away from his master and falls into the clutches of a wolf and a fox. Because they want to eat him, they invent a lie about going on a journey to the Holy Land, where they can beg and get rich together. They get into a boat, where the wolf is captain, the fox does the steering and the donkey starts rowing. In the middle of the sea the fox has a dream about a storm coming, so they decide to make their confession. The wolf and the fox forgive each other, but when the donkey confesses to eating a lettuce they bring out a law book that says he must be punished for his sin by having his two front legs cut off and his eye pulled out. The donkey realises what evil they are up to, and so he decides to take his revenge. He uses a trick to kick them into the sea, and is given the name Nick (victor) for his great victory.

The first two poems mock politics, while the third one satirizes people in the aristocracy and the Church who exploit the weak and use their position to get rich by breaking the law.