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77
discussed below) and at the same time have been a ritually significant means of contact
with the gods. It is therefore not necessary to understand the various contemporary
interpretations of the functions of music during sacrifice that are noted by ancient
commentators as competing claims. It is, however, useful to consider the possible
reasons for the variety of roles music seems to have played in cult and what they may
signal about ancient understandings of the utility of sound in worship. In what follows, I
shall discuss the most important modern theories for the purposes of music in Greco-
Roman cult and consider the ancient evidence for those theories, as well as suggest some
implications of the role of music in Greek and Roman sacrifice that have not previously
been identified.
One popular modern theory about a primary ritual purpose of music in Greco-
Roman cult holds that the earliest cult music was intended to magically control the
actions of the gods, while later Greek and Roman thinkers understood it rather to please
and pacify them.128 Certainly by the Roman period the latter explanation held currency,
as is illustrated in the works of Tibullus (b. c. 55-48 B.C.E) and Horace (65-8 B.C.E.), as
well as in the writings of early Christian apologists who scoffed at the notion of gods
whose moods could be swayed by pleasant music.129 A somewhat tongue-in-cheek
passage in the work of the grammarian Censorinus (third c. C.E.) illustrates not only the
128 The possibility of music serving as an epiclesis (a prayer meant to summon a deity) was acknowledged
in antiquity and carried over into Christian liturgy in the form of hymns invoking the Holy Spirit. See
Quasten (1983) for a general discussion of music in early Greek cult. My focus is on the normative
practice of cult ritual, therefore I will not consider here the Greek and Roman arguments for the exclusion
of music from ancient sacrifice, for a brief discussion of which see Quasten 1983, 51-57.
129 See Tib. 2.1.51 ff., Hor. Carm. 1.36.1 ff. For the early Christian reaction see, for example, Arn. Adv.
nat. 7.32.
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 95 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 77 discussed below) and at the same time have been a ritually significant means of contact with the gods. It is therefore not necessary to understand the various contemporary interpretations of the functions of music during sacrifice that are noted by ancient commentators as competing claims. It is, however, useful to consider the possible reasons for the variety of roles music seems to have played in cult and what they may signal about ancient understandings of the utility of sound in worship. In what follows, I shall discuss the most important modern theories for the purposes of music in Greco- Roman cult and consider the ancient evidence for those theories, as well as suggest some implications of the role of music in Greek and Roman sacrifice that have not previously been identified. One popular modern theory about a primary ritual purpose of music in Greco- Roman cult holds that the earliest cult music was intended to magically control the actions of the gods, while later Greek and Roman thinkers understood it rather to please and pacify them.128 Certainly by the Roman period the latter explanation held currency, as is illustrated in the works of Tibullus (b. c. 55-48 B.C.E) and Horace (65-8 B.C.E.), as well as in the writings of early Christian apologists who scoffed at the notion of gods whose moods could be swayed by pleasant music.129 A somewhat tongue-in-cheek passage in the work of the grammarian Censorinus (third c. C.E.) illustrates not only the 128 The possibility of music serving as an epiclesis (a prayer meant to summon a deity) was acknowledged in antiquity and carried over into Christian liturgy in the form of hymns invoking the Holy Spirit. See Quasten (1983) for a general discussion of music in early Greek cult. My focus is on the normative practice of cult ritual, therefore I will not consider here the Greek and Roman arguments for the exclusion of music from ancient sacrifice, for a brief discussion of which see Quasten 1983, 51-57. 129 See Tib. 2.1.51 ff., Hor. Carm. 1.36.1 ff. For the early Christian reaction see, for example, Arn. Adv. nat. 7.32. |
