Sacrifice in ancient Greece Paul Halstead Teachers Conference

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Sacrifice in ancient Greece Paul Halstead Teachers’ Conference 16 -6 -15

Sacrifice in ancient Greece Paul Halstead Teachers’ Conference 16 -6 -15

 • ‘Ancient’ Greece o Iron Age/1 st mill BC o esp. Archaic-Classical polis/city

• ‘Ancient’ Greece o Iron Age/1 st mill BC o esp. Archaic-Classical polis/city state • Why sacrifice? o central importance to polis o many complementary sources

Why? Sacrifice & the Polis • Polis - religious association of citizens in community

Why? Sacrifice & the Polis • Polis - religious association of citizens in community of cult (Snodgrass 1980) o temple construction dates emergence of polis • Sacrifice central to citizenship (Vernant 1989) o right & duty to participate o moral & cosmological guide temple, Corinth

Why? Sources for sacrifice • Many complementary sources o o literature inscriptions art -

Why? Sources for sacrifice • Many complementary sources o o literature inscriptions art - public and private animal bones BM Louvre/wiki

Sources for sacrifice - literature • Odyssey iii: Nestor at Pylos o sacrifices heifer,

Sources for sacrifice - literature • Odyssey iii: Nestor at Pylos o sacrifices heifer, cuts out femur (thigh), burns in fat for gods o human participants eat meat o defines form of classic ‘Olympian’ sacrifice

Sources for sacrifice - literature • Odyssey iii: Nestor at Pylos • Hesiod Theogony

Sources for sacrifice - literature • Odyssey iii: Nestor at Pylos • Hesiod Theogony o Prometheus butchers ox o tricks Zeus to take blood-fatbones, leaving meat for man o Zeus withholds fire from man o Prometheus steals fire for man o Zeus sends woman to man, hides grain in ground – work to eat o rationale for burnt sacrifice & cosmological/moral guide. . .

Sources for sacrifice - literature • Odyssey iii: Nestor at Pylos • Vernant on

Sources for sacrifice - literature • Odyssey iii: Nestor at Pylos • Vernant on Theogony o animals/raw, men/cooked, gods burnt o fire consumes dead o hunt wild, sacrifice (consenting) domestic animals o cultivation/toil ox sacrifice o proper division = social order § by lot or status. . . § strife/trickery dangerous

Sources for sacrifice - inscriptions • Public sacrifices (Jameson 1965) o accounting > ritual

Sources for sacrifice - inscriptions • Public sacrifices (Jameson 1965) o accounting > ritual calendar § date, place, recipient, victim, unusual ritual details, COST § total 56 sheep-goats-pigs § ‘normal’ sacrifices (eaten) § also holocaust pigs o local public sacrifice – varied form and victim ‘Sacrificial calendar’, Erchia, Attica (http: //arachne. uni-koeln. de)

Sources for sacrifice – sculpture • E. g. Parthenon frieze: context + procession =

Sources for sacrifice – sculpture • E. g. Parthenon frieze: context + procession = official polis sacrifice of cattle sacrificial ‘ox’ – Parthenon frieze

Sources for sacrifice – sculpture • E. g. Parthenon frieze: context + procession =

Sources for sacrifice – sculpture • E. g. Parthenon frieze: context + procession = official polis sacrifice • Votive relief o ? family ritual o private contribution to public ritual? Getty

Sources for sacrifice - vases BM • Burning of bone-fat package o sheep/goat-sized? •

Sources for sacrifice - vases BM • Burning of bone-fat package o sheep/goat-sized? • Divination – burning of tail • Portions by weight/lot & status Forstenpointner et al. 2013 Tsoukala 2009

Sources for sacrifice - vases • Sacrificial slaughter o altars, garlands, libations o sheep-goat(-pig)

Sources for sacrifice - vases • Sacrificial slaughter o altars, garlands, libations o sheep-goat(-pig) o also secular? U Penn Mus Nat Mus Spain/wiki Louvre/wiki

Sources for sacrifice – animal bones • Most sanctuaries: thigh (+ tail) o e.

Sources for sacrifice – animal bones • Most sanctuaries: thigh (+ tail) o e. g. Archaic Ephesos Artemision § HK sheep thighs § HN also sheep & cow tails o e. g. Eretria § Geometric Apollo altar: sheep & goats burnt thigh & tail § later layers: unburnt, mixed spp & body parts - except thigh! o some sanctuaries: other parts § Eleusis piglets Forstenpointner 2003

Sources for sacrifice - comparison • Ideal civic sacrifice - literature, public sculpture o

Sources for sacrifice - comparison • Ideal civic sacrifice - literature, public sculpture o ‘Olympian’ burnt cattle bone & fat • Variable victims & form – inscriptions, vases, bones o esp sheep/goats for private & local public sacrifices • Outstanding questions o antiquity of ‘Olympian’ sacrifice o sacrifice, meat & democracy

Antiquity of ‘Olympian’ sacrifice • Burkert – burnt sacrifice o EIA E Mediterranean parallels

Antiquity of ‘Olympian’ sacrifice • Burkert – burnt sacrifice o EIA E Mediterranean parallels = late introduction • LBA animal bones o ‘Olympian’ sacrifice at Pylos palace c 1200 BC o Holocaust pigs at rural Ag Konstantinos • Early roots, continuity? Isaakidou et al 2002

Sacrifice, meat & democracy • Sacrifice = right & ? normal before eating meat

Sacrifice, meat & democracy • Sacrifice = right & ? normal before eating meat (Vernant) o shares vocabulary with butchery o only sacrificed meat eaten? • Meat intake o Erchia: 0. 5 -1. 7 kg/head/yr = 5% of 1947 Crete (Jameson) o N-isotopes in human skeletons? • Polis sponsors sacrifices o limits elite display/embezzlement Athens Kavvadias & Lagia 2009

Sacrifice, meat & democracy • • Sacrifice = right & ? normal Meat intake

Sacrifice, meat & democracy • • Sacrifice = right & ? normal Meat intake v low Polis sponsors sacrifices Sacrificial animals – bones (Ekroth) o incl. dog, horse, donkey, game + consumption cut marks o not sacrificed (unburnt, all parts) o all boiled together – equality o but supply – opportunities for competition? Wiki

Conclusion • Sacrifice central to Greek social-political life • Explored through full range of

Conclusion • Sacrifice central to Greek social-political life • Explored through full range of sources o archaeological data alone will grow significantly o including new finds and new methods of analysis Athens Agora Mac. Kinnon 2014