The importance of sacrifice: new approaches to old methods

The study of sacrifice in antiquity has recently been enriched by two important contributions in the form of the acta of conferences, one organized at Göteborg in 1997 and the other in Paris in 2001. The scope and aims of these two events were highly different. The Göteborg seminar focused specifically on the Olympian and chthonian aspects of Greek sacrificial ritual, while the Paris conference aimed at evaluating and broadening the work presented in the seminal study La cuisine du sacrifice ..

Jörg Gebauer, Pompe und Thysia. Attische Tieropferdarstellungen auf schwarz- und rotfigurigen Vasen

Any reader familiar with Folkert van Straten’s seminal study Hierà kalá. Images of animal sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (1995) may be surprised to encounter Jörg Gebauer’s book published in 2002. Even Gebauer himself admits, in the first sentence of the preface, that yet another study of the representations of Greek animal sacrifice may be overkill. The need for this study is explained as previous work not having considered the evidence sufficient detail. Gebauer’s book is a sligh..

Jörg Gebauer, Pompe und Thysia. Attische Tieropferdarstellungen auf schwarz- und rotfigurigen Vasen

Any reader familiar with Folkert van Straten’s seminal study Hierà kalá. Images of animal sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (1995) may be surprised to encounter Jörg Gebauer’s book published in 2002. Even Gebauer himself admits, in the first sentence of the preface, that yet another study of the representations of Greek animal sacrifice may be overkill. The need for this study is explained as previous work not having considered the evidence sufficient detail. Gebauer’s book is a sligh..

The importance of sacrifice: new approaches to old methods

The study of sacrifice in antiquity has recently been enriched by two important contributions in the form of the acta of conferences, one organized at Göteborg in 1997 and the other in Paris in 2001. The scope and aims of these two events were highly different. The Göteborg seminar focused specifically on the Olympian and chthonian aspects of Greek sacrificial ritual, while the Paris conference aimed at evaluating and broadening the work presented in the seminal study La cuisine du sacrifice ..

The Sacrificial Rituals of Greek Hero-Cults in the Archaic to the Early Hellenistic Period

This study questions the traditional view of sacrifices in hero-cults during the Archaic to the early Hellenistic periods. The analysis of the epigraphical and literary evidence for sacrifices to heroes in these periods shows, contrary to the traditional notion, that the main ritual in hero-cults was a thysia at which the worshippers consumed the meat from the animal victim. A particular handling of the animal’s blood or a holocaust, rituals previously taken to be typical for heroes, can rarely be documented and must be considered as marginal features in hero-cults. The terms eschara, escharon, bothros, enagizein, enagisma, enagismos and enagisterion, believed to be characteristic for hero-cults, are seldom used in hero-contexts before the Roman period and occur mainly in the Byzantine lexicographers and in the scholia. Since the main kind of sacrifice in hero-cults was a thysia, a ritual intimately connected with the social structure of society, the heroes must have fulfilled the same role as the gods within the Greek religious system. The fact that the heroes were dead seems to have been of little significance for the sacrificial rituals and it is questionable whether the rituals of hero-cults are to be considered as originating in the cult of the dead

Castration, cult and agriculture : Perspectives on Greek animal sacrifice

The castration of most male animals seems to have been the rule in ancient Greece when rearing cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs; only very few adult males are needed for breeding purposes and flocks of bulls, rams, billy-goats and boars are difficult to keep, since they are too aggressive. Castrated males yield more and fattier meat, and, in the case of sheep, more wool. Still, sacred laws and sacrificial calendars stipulate the sacrifice of uncastrated victims, and vase-paintings frequently represent bulls, rams and billy-goats in ritual contexts. This paper will discuss the role of uncastrated male animals in Greek cult in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, both from a religious and an agricultural perspective. Of particular interest are the relations between the practical, economic reality and the theological perception of sacrifice. These issues will be explored using epigraphical, literary, iconographical and zooarchaeological evidence

Castration, cult and agriculture : Perspectives on Greek animal sacrifice

The castration of most male animals seems to have been the rule in ancient Greece when rearing cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs; only very few adult males are needed for breeding purposes and flocks of bulls, rams, billy-goats and boars are difficult to keep, since they are too aggressive. Castrated males yield more and fattier meat, and, in the case of sheep, more wool. Still, sacred laws and sacrificial calendars stipulate the sacrifice of uncastrated victims, and vase-paintings frequently represent bulls, rams and billy-goats in ritual contexts. This paper will discuss the role of uncastrated male animals in Greek cult in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, both from a religious and an agricultural perspective. Of particular interest are the relations between the practical, economic reality and the theological perception of sacrifice. These issues will be explored using epigraphical, literary, iconographical and zooarchaeological evidence