Ancient, Ancestral, Archetypal

Alopekis, in ancient Greek, means "little fox". Xenophon (431 - 360 BC) mentions them as one of the two main dog archetypes in his treatise on Hunting (The Cynegeticus). We also find references in Aristotle, Aristophanes, Themistius, and later scholars. Ancient writers thought that these small-fox-like canines were hybrids of dogs and foxes. An alternative term used in antiquity was "Kynalopex" (in Aristophanes and elsewhere), literally translating as "dog-fox".

 

The Alopekis is not a dog breed in the modern sense: it is a primitive indigenous landrace, formed by evolution and adaptation to the natural and cultural environment, the landscape, and the interaction with the local human society, traditional agriculture, customs, habits and needs of the people.

 

The Alopekis phenotype is found throughout Greece, on the mainland and the islands, and is also found in areas where the Greek civilization had spread in antiquity, from the Black Sea to the Near East. Pockets of populations of similar, local phenotypes exist in nearby regions of the Balkans and Asia Minor, southern Italy, the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere. Their history is long and well documented in texts, tradition and art.

 

This site is an attempt to appreciate this ancient member of the canis familiaris family and a call for its preservation.

Pictures on the page:  

 

-Drawing of a typical Alopekis by Maria Ginala.

-Photo of a contemporary individual by Kostas Zikas.