What did the ancient Greeks & Romans think about cats? Were the creatures useful only as rodent control, or did they make good domestic pets? Could they be trusted—were they as faithful as dogs? Our best evidence for Greek and Roman attitudes toward these animals comes from the characterization of cats in Aesopian fables. Only a dozen of the several hundred surviving fables feature cats, and the stories don’t quite seem to know what to make of them. Instead, the fables use cats to characterize others, who learn various lessons from their attempts to interact with the creatures. In this talk, we’ll look at several ancient fables, including “The Cat and the Birds” and “The Fox and the Cat,” that shed light on the cat’s abilities and personality as perceived in classical antiquity.