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49
of sustenance. He challenges the concept of anthropomorphic gods, arguing that the
polytheists cannot have it both ways: if their gods exist in the form of men and women,
they must need human food. If, on the other hand, they exist on burnt offerings of
“incense and salted barley”80 and therefore do not require solid food, their human-like
bodies would be misshapen. Should it then be understood, Arnobius asks, that “like little
ones they are toothless, and are without all inner organs, inflated like bladders, hanging
there, because of the emptiness of their swollen bodies?”81
Christian apologists had a vested interest in making the polytheists look ridiculous
and were therefore willing to deride theological assumptions that had a lengthy history
and to which even some of their own had given credence. It is impossible not to point
out this apparent hypocrisy of the Christian theologians who mocked the idea that the
gods of the polytheists made use of the corporeal sense of smell, or that their gods would
prefer certain scents to others. The god of the Hebrews, the Christian God, passed
instructions to Moses in which He specified the precise spice mixture to be offered to
Him upon the altar of incense in the Temple. It was to be composed of gum resin,
onycha, galbanum, frankincense and salt, and was considered holy and reserved for the
80 Adv. nat. 3.24. tura et salsas…fruges.
81 Adv. nat. 3.14 (transl. McCracken 1949, 202). …edentulous eos esse parvolum credendum est ritu et
viduatos interioribus cunctis tamquam utres sufflatos turgidorum corporum inanitate pendere? Though the
picture he draws is amusing and somewhat hyperbolic, elsewhere (3.18) the author remarks quite
philosophically that God may see and hear “in His own way, possibly, not in ours” (suo fortisan genere,
non nostro).
Object Description
| Title | Making sense of sacrifice: Sensory experience in Greco-Roman cult |
| Author | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Author email | candaceweddle@gmail.com; weddle@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Art History |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-04 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Pollini, John |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Yasin, Ann Marie Bitel, Lisa |
| Abstract | Performing a sacrifice was one of the most sensorially full actions undertaken in the Greco-Roman world. The production and control of the correct movements, scents and sounds were prerequisites for summoning, communicating with and propitiating deities. Sacrifice was also ubiquitous, occurring on an almost continual basis as a range of sacrificial activities were celebrated publicly and privately in a variety of locations in urban areas. Cultivating a multi-sensory understanding of the full range of sensory elements that accompanied ancient cult rites – visual and auditory cues, things smelled, tasted and touched - provides a platform for achieving a more thorough knowledge of the meanings of the rites.; This dissertation examines the archaeological, literary and epigraphical evidence for the role of the senses in Greek and Roman sacrifice in order to analyze the social and ritual importance of the senses, the impact of sacrificial rituals within ancient urban spaces, and the sensory experience of the ancient worshiper. Given the ephemeral nature of much of the evidence for sensory elements of worship, as well as the subjectivity inherent in representations of sensory experience in literature and art, this dissertation argues for the necessity of crossing disciplinary boundaries in order to appreciate the sensory impact of ancient sacrifice. Therefore, in addition to utilizing traditional historical and art historical approaches, methodological tools from the field of anthropology and evidence from studies in the animal behavioral sciences and consumer sciences are employed. For example, I suggest that greater understanding of the experience of ancient sacrifice may be acquired through an autoethnographic investigation of modern religious sacrifice. To that end, I analyze my experience of the slaughter of large numbers of bovines during the Islamic Kurban Bayram sacrifices in Istanbul to make suggestions concerning certain elements of the sensory experience of ancient blood sacrifice. I focus not only on the sensory experience of humans participating in (or within range of) sacrifices, but also on that of the animal victims. Given the immense ritual importance of the behavior of sacrificial animals in antiquity, I suggest that it is possible to identify some sensory aspects of the sacrificial process that may have been intentionally manipulated in order to control the reactions of the victims as far as possible.; Particular attention is paid to mundane aspects of the process of sacrifice not often addressed in ancient literary sources or represented in art that would have resulted in notable sensory impacts on areas surrounding urban temples, for example the removal of sacrificial refuse. I conclude not only that these elements of sacrifice formed an important part of the sensory experience of Greco-Roman cult, but also that their effects were more far-reaching – in terms both of how great an area they affected and how long they lasted – than has previously been recognized. Using fresh interdisciplinary approaches to well-known examples of texts and images, this dissertation employs a more visceral approach to the study of the sensory experience of ancient sacrifice than is possible when considering textual and archaeological evidence alone. |
| Keyword | archaeology; autoethnography; cult; Greece; religion; Rome; sacrifice; senses |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Rome |
| Geographic subject (country) | Italy; Greece |
| Coverage date | circa -0600/0600 |
| Coverage era | Greco Roman |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3788 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Weddle-4363 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume48/etd-Weddle-4363.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 67 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 49 of sustenance. He challenges the concept of anthropomorphic gods, arguing that the polytheists cannot have it both ways: if their gods exist in the form of men and women, they must need human food. If, on the other hand, they exist on burnt offerings of “incense and salted barley”80 and therefore do not require solid food, their human-like bodies would be misshapen. Should it then be understood, Arnobius asks, that “like little ones they are toothless, and are without all inner organs, inflated like bladders, hanging there, because of the emptiness of their swollen bodies?”81 Christian apologists had a vested interest in making the polytheists look ridiculous and were therefore willing to deride theological assumptions that had a lengthy history and to which even some of their own had given credence. It is impossible not to point out this apparent hypocrisy of the Christian theologians who mocked the idea that the gods of the polytheists made use of the corporeal sense of smell, or that their gods would prefer certain scents to others. The god of the Hebrews, the Christian God, passed instructions to Moses in which He specified the precise spice mixture to be offered to Him upon the altar of incense in the Temple. It was to be composed of gum resin, onycha, galbanum, frankincense and salt, and was considered holy and reserved for the 80 Adv. nat. 3.24. tura et salsas…fruges. 81 Adv. nat. 3.14 (transl. McCracken 1949, 202). …edentulous eos esse parvolum credendum est ritu et viduatos interioribus cunctis tamquam utres sufflatos turgidorum corporum inanitate pendere? Though the picture he draws is amusing and somewhat hyperbolic, elsewhere (3.18) the author remarks quite philosophically that God may see and hear “in His own way, possibly, not in ours” (suo fortisan genere, non nostro). |
