This chapter explores topics associated with notions concerning humans’ relationships with animals. Particularly significant for the study of the sophisticated Byzantine thought is that, beginning in the twelfth century and continuing through to the fifteenth, specific comments in the letters express not only the beneficial and economic role of animals, but also man’s symbiotic relationship with them. In certain texts as well as in epistolography, there are also references to fauna and their connotations, which may disclose a particular interest, as well as distinct opinions on man’s relationship with animals, and more objective viewpoints that contradict common attitudes towards and the semeiology of certain species. These references may emphasise philosophical perspectives and in some cases may imply a subtle shift in conceptions about dealing with animals, the fact that they share a common biological root or concerning the value of animal life.