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66
everyday. As Harvey has aptly pointed out, smells in antiquity were
“uncontainable…transgressive in movement, crossing human and divine domains as
intersecting paths of interaction.”109
I do not refer simply to the overflow of scent from temple areas into the
surrounding city, but to the intentional use of scents to carry the sacred out into the wider
world.110 For example, the presence and rank of cult personnel could be signaled by
aroma, and this marker of their role was certainly not confined to the grounds of the
temples. We have some evocative literary evidence for the scent of cult personnel in
Asia Minor whose role may have been related to the celebration of sacrifices in the
imperial cult. In the second half of the first century C.E., Dio Cocceianus (Chrysostom),
whose writings provide us with a vivid picture of the life of the upper classes in the
eastern parts of the empire, wrote thus of the Asiarchs, the priests of the imperial cult in
Asia Minor: “I refer to the ‘blessed ones’ who exercise authority over all your priests,
whose title represents one of the two continents in its entirety. For these men too owe
their ‘blessedness’ to crowns and purple and a throng of long-haired lads bearing
frankincense.”111
109 Harvey 2006, 7.
110 One of the commonest ways in which not only the scents of sacrifice and ritual but also the sights,
sounds and other sensory elements were dispersed throughout the city and surrounding countryside in
antiquity was through processions. Though this is certainly an important consideration, the scholarship on
the topic is extensive and therefore the subject will not be considered at length here. See, for example, in
general W. Burkert 1985, 99-102; for the imperial cult in particular, Price 1984, 110-12; for Ephesos, G.M.
Rogers 1991, 80-126.
111 Or. 35.10. τοὺς μαχαρίους λέγω, τοὺς ἁπάντων ἄρχοντας τῶν ἱερέων, τοὺς ἐπωνύμους τῶν δύο
ἠπείρων τῆς ἑτέρας ὅλης. ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι τὰ ποιοῦντα χαὶ τούτους εὐδαίμονας, στέφανος χαὶ
πορφύμα χαὶ παιδάρια χομῶντα λιβανωτὸν φέροντα. For the role and status of the Asiarchs, see L.R.
Taylor 1979; Price 1984, 62; P. Herz 1992; L.M. White 1995; S.J. Friesen 1999; P. Weiß 2002.
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 84 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 66 everyday. As Harvey has aptly pointed out, smells in antiquity were “uncontainable…transgressive in movement, crossing human and divine domains as intersecting paths of interaction.”109 I do not refer simply to the overflow of scent from temple areas into the surrounding city, but to the intentional use of scents to carry the sacred out into the wider world.110 For example, the presence and rank of cult personnel could be signaled by aroma, and this marker of their role was certainly not confined to the grounds of the temples. We have some evocative literary evidence for the scent of cult personnel in Asia Minor whose role may have been related to the celebration of sacrifices in the imperial cult. In the second half of the first century C.E., Dio Cocceianus (Chrysostom), whose writings provide us with a vivid picture of the life of the upper classes in the eastern parts of the empire, wrote thus of the Asiarchs, the priests of the imperial cult in Asia Minor: “I refer to the ‘blessed ones’ who exercise authority over all your priests, whose title represents one of the two continents in its entirety. For these men too owe their ‘blessedness’ to crowns and purple and a throng of long-haired lads bearing frankincense.”111 109 Harvey 2006, 7. 110 One of the commonest ways in which not only the scents of sacrifice and ritual but also the sights, sounds and other sensory elements were dispersed throughout the city and surrounding countryside in antiquity was through processions. Though this is certainly an important consideration, the scholarship on the topic is extensive and therefore the subject will not be considered at length here. See, for example, in general W. Burkert 1985, 99-102; for the imperial cult in particular, Price 1984, 110-12; for Ephesos, G.M. Rogers 1991, 80-126. 111 Or. 35.10. τοὺς μαχαρίους λέγω, τοὺς ἁπάντων ἄρχοντας τῶν ἱερέων, τοὺς ἐπωνύμους τῶν δύο ἠπείρων τῆς ἑτέρας ὅλης. ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι τὰ ποιοῦντα χαὶ τούτους εὐδαίμονας, στέφανος χαὶ πορφύμα χαὶ παιδάρια χομῶντα λιβανωτὸν φέροντα. For the role and status of the Asiarchs, see L.R. Taylor 1979; Price 1984, 62; P. Herz 1992; L.M. White 1995; S.J. Friesen 1999; P. Weiß 2002. |
