Lucretius and a natural contract that isn't one

To establish a healthier relationship with the world around us and of which we are a part, should humans enter into a contract with animals and the ecosystem as a whole ? This is the " natural contract " proposed by Michel Serres, as part of a more general movement advocating the personification of natural objects and the recognition that they are holders of rights, notably the right to exist. Almost independently of this, a number of researchers, especially in the U.S., believed they had found a prefiguration and confirmation of this type of contract ("the animal contract") in a passage from Lucretius' poem De la Nature (5.855-877). Analysis of the Epicurean poet's verses from the ^1st century B.C. shows, however, that he had another model in mind, that of guardianship(tutela), similar to that of the guardianship of minors incapable of defending themselves (and of animal protection legislation). A definition of tutela given by the jurist Servius Sulpicius Rufus, and echoed in Lucretian poetry, gives a clearer idea of the legal contours and practical issues involved.