Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice
Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice
F. S. Naiden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
The interpretation of animal sacrifice, now considered the most important ancient Greek and Roman religious ritual, has long been dominated by the views of Walter Burkert, the late J.-P. Vernant, and Marcel Detienne. No penetrating and general critique of their views has appeared and, in particular, no critique of the application of these views to Roman religion. Nor has any critique dealt with the use of literary and visual sources by these writers. This book, a collection of essays by leading scholars, incorporates all these subjects and provides a theoretical background for the study of animal sacrifice in an ancient context.
- Proposes a new view of an important ancient religious ritual
- Combines Greek and Roman material
- Includes perspectives from philologists, historians and literary critics
Reviews & endorsements
'This is an interesting and thought-provoking book that encourages us always to be aware of the limits of our evidence and to ask where our ideas have come from. It renders a service to scholarship in doing so.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'F. S. Naiden's essay takes up the question of sacrificial commensality, and poses obvious practical questions: how much meat did an animal yield? How many people ate? How much did they get? He doesn't give definite answers to any of these questions, but employs a fascinating range of evidence … making use of the latest studies, Greek and Roman Animal Sacrifice provides a fine introduction to the state of the question.' Christopher S. Faraone, First Things
Product details
No date availablePaperback
9781108456524
223 pages
230 × 153 × 14 mm
0.35kg
32 b/w illus. 1 table
Table of Contents
- Introduction Christopher A. Faraone and F. S. Naiden
- Part I. Modern Historiography:
- 1. From Bergaigne to Meuli: how animal sacrifice became a hot topic Bruce Lincoln
- 2. One generation after Burkert and Girard: where are the great theories? Fritz Graf
- Part II. Greek and Roman Practice:
- 3. Blessèd are the parasites F. S. Naiden
- 4. Roman sacrifice and the system of being John Scheid
- Part III. Visual Representation:
- 5. Sacrificing stones: on some sculpture, mostly Athenian Richard Neer
- 6. Sacrifice in late Roman art Jas Elsner
- Part IV. Literary Representation:
- 7. Animal sacrifice and comedy James Redfield
- 8. Animal sacrifice in Greek tragedy: ritual, metaphor, problematizations Albert Henrichs
- Afterword Clifford Ando.
