Cat in Folktales and Myths

While sometimes the hero metamorphosed into a cat, often it was the antagonist who underwent this transformation, especially into a black cat. This ambiguity explains the twofold status of cats in folklore, where they appear as both benevolent and evil.

Before cats spread to Europe, they often appeared in stories as mythical creatures, alongside dragons, unicorns, and basilisks. Until the late eighteenth century, the generic origin of cats was unclear; they were thought to be related to reptiles and birds. Rudyard Kipling’s etiologic tale “The Cat Who Walked by Himself” from Just So Stories (1902) depicts cats as unreliable and independent as opposed to dogs, which are man’s true friends. The practical uses of domestic cats as mousers contributed to their positive reputation, and in this capacity they were carried throughout the world on conquerors’ and merchants’ vessels. This is reflected in the British tale of Dick Whittington, who makes his fortune by sending a cat on his master’s ship.

The ship ends up in Africa, where a local king buys the wonderful animal who can deliver his country from rodents. During the Middle Ages in Europe, cats became associated with evil powers. This was based partly on popular beliefs about cats’ lewdness and partly on their Christian association with Satan. In the European tradition of Last Supper paintings, a cat represents Judas. Such attitudes led to cats being linked to witches. Indeed, black cats, together with ravens, frequently appear in folktales as witches’ familiars (such as Grimalkin, a cat from Celtic lore, also featured in Macbeth), and witches themselves even turn into cats. An evil cat monster appears in King Arthur stories.

In Slavic folklore, Bayun-Cat is a giant hostile black cat that imposes irresistible sleepiness on people, often by telling tales or singing songs. This image is, however, ambiguous since it portrays the cat as creative and wise, as also reflected in later literary works such as E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Lebensansichten des Katers Murr (The Life and Opinions of Cat Murr, 1820-22). The cat’s mystifying nature is perhaps best expressed in the figure of the Cheshire cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865). A widely recognized trait ascribed to cats is that they have nine lives, apparently referring to their remarkable resilience. The view of cats as evil led to incredible cruelties toward them, including the Great Cat Massacre in France in the 1730s. During witch hunts, cats were burned together with their mistresses.