1. SACRIFICE

2. thysia < thuein < *IE dhw- (smoke) cf. Engl. fume

3. Mythology of Fire SPECIES PREPARATION LONGEVITY animal raw meat
short-lived
human
cooked meat
longer-lived
deity
incinerated meat (smoke)
immortal
• warmth
• food preparation (raw  cooked)
• stranger  guest
• sacrifice

4. Choreography of Sacrifice
procession : victim, water, basket
consecration : victim sprinkled with water and barley
dedication : prayer (eukhê)
offering : hair from victim into fire
violence 1 : victim stunned
ritual cry : ololugmos
violence 2 : throat of victim slit, blood caught in bowls
offering : thigh bones wrapped in fat placed on altar
meal : intestines and organs skewered and roasted
meal : meat roasted, shared, eaten

5. Victim
• Victim always domesticated, not wild * Homeric : cattle * Dark Age : smaller animals; occasionally cow * Archaic & Classical Periods : sheep, goat; pig (rural) piglet (esp. holocausts) • Criteria for selection of victim • Adornment of victim in uranian sacrifice

6. Celebrant
• purification (bathing) • clothing (robes) • wreaths and fillets • barefoot

7. Procession
• kanêphoros (basket-carrier) : aristocratic girl; basket contains sacrificial knife covered with barley • male adolescents lead victim • musical accompaniment; piper sets pace of procession

8. Consecration
• basket and jug carried around altar • sacrificer dips hands in water • sacrificer sprinkles altar, participants, victim • sacrificer sprinkles barley on altar and victim • victim assents to sacrifice

9. Sacrifice
• scattering of barley reveals knife • sacrificer cuts, dedicates hairs of victim

10. Sacrifice • ritual silence (euphemia) • victim stunned with axe by
boutypos (ox-striker)
• female ululation (ololugmos)
• victim lifted above altar
• sacrificer slits victim’s throat
• blood caught in bowls or
allowed to flow on altar

11. Division of Victim
• victim butchered by mageiros

12. Offering
• meat divided into shares for god and participants • thigh bones and fat burnt on altar • share of gall bladder, tail, splanchna • roasting on spit (obelos) • libation of wine

13. Communal Meal
• remaining meat carved and boiled • distribution of meat among participants • roasted viscera eaten by inner circle • boiled meat eaten by wider group • distribution establishes status

14. Sacralization of Victim
• elevated status of victim (adornment, lustration) • transitions : profane  sacred raw  cooked individual  communal • thuein (to sacrifice)  hiereuein (to sanctrify)

15. Sacred Violence
• domestic vs. wild : sacralization (hiereuein) vs. violence (biazein) • myth of voluntary sacrifice • concealment of knife • transfer of blame from agent to instrument • willingness of victim • suppression of depiction of actual kill • suppression of depiction of feasting • sacred offering or pretext for communal consumption?