TORTOISE

3rd March 2024

Photo Credit: Testudo hermanni by fabioski (Getty Images), CANVA

QUOTATION

Come forth, I say. There’s other business for thee.

Come, thou tortoise. When?

Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel,

Hark in thine ear.

PROSPERO: The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2

TORTOISE (Testudo species)

Tortoises appear twice in Shakespeare, once in the reference to Ariel being slow, and hanging in an apothecaries store in Romeo and Juliet.

Tortoises have a rich cultural heritage in many cultures. The ‘Hare and the Tortoise’ tale has told as part of Aesop’s Fables for millennia. Tortoises have been used for meat and also for their shells which were used in furniture and other craft products.

Common Tortoises (Testudo graeca) is assessed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, and another European Tortoise, Testudo hermanni, is listed as Near Threatened. Tortoises are cold blooded reptiles who lay eggs and

More Information

Folger Shakespeare Library: Search Shakespeare’s Works

IUCN Red List: Testudo graeca, Testudo hermanni

Topsell, E. 1607 History of Four-Footed Beasts (accessed via Archive.org)