Smoke signals for the gods : ancient Greek sacrifice from the Archaic through Roman periods / F.S. Naiden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Naiden, F. S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animal sacrifice--Greece.

Animal sacrifice.

Animal sacrifice--Rome.

Greece--Religion.

Greece.

Rome--Religion.

Rome.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (438 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Animal sacrifice has been critical to the study of ancient Mediterranean religions since the 18th century. Two leading views on sacrifice have dominated the subject: the psychological approach of Walter Burkert and the sociological one by Jean-Pierre Vernant and Marcel Detienne. These two perspectives have argued that the main feature of sacrifice is allaying feelings of guilt at the slaughter of sacrificial animals. Naiden redresses the omission of these salient features to show that animal sacrifice is an attempt to make contact with a divine being, and that it is so important for the worshippers that it becomes subject to regulations of unequaled extent and complexity.

Contents:

Invention of a ritual

Venues and offerings

Prayers and answers

God says no

Rules, rewards, and experts

Markets and messes

Detective story

Demise of a ritual.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed October 16, 2013).

ISBN:

0-19-023271-4

0-19-991641-1

OCLC:

922972483