Shepherd

Shepherd

A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards herds of sheep. Shepherd derives from Old English sceaphierde (sceap 'sheep' + hierde 'herder'). Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, and existing in agricultural communities around the world and an important part of pastoralist animal husbandry. Because of the ubiquity of the profession, many religions and cultures have symbolic or metaphorical references to the shepherd profession – e.g. Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd, or ancient Greek mythologies highlighting shepherds such as Endymion or Daphnis. This symbolism and shepherds as characters have been at the center of pastoral literature and art.

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