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166
there is a sensory division to be considered as well, a contrast between how the sacrifices
were consumed by gods and by men.
Though symbolically sharing a table or an animal created a conceptual link
between the worshipers and the object of worship in that both gods and men were ritually
consuming, the gods were consuming a substance more sublime than the edible meat set
aside for the human ritual participants. As described in Chapter One, the Greek and
Roman gods were thought of as partaking of the epitome of the sacrifices, an ephemeral
sensory representation, the “savor” of the portions burned in their honor. In contrast,
man had a very physical need for food, a need that was clearly articulated in certain
philosophical schools as a barrier between mankind and his gods. Though it was not
possible to overcome altogether the biological need for food, certain ascetics such as the
legendary Abaris, Epimenides (late seventh c. B.C.E.) and Pythagoras (mid-sixth c.
B.C.E.) were said to have developed “superfoods” (álima and ádipsa [sic]), which
probably contained mallow and asphodel.284 These “superfoods” allowed them to
consume very small amounts of wild vegetable matter that required neither cooking nor
the use of animal labor for plowing and cultivation, thus at once freeing them from
exploiting animals and also bringing them as close as possible to the sublime form of
consumption undertaken by the gods. Poster child for the ascetic ideal, Epimenides was
said to take his nourishment in the form of a single daily pill that prevented both hunger
284 M. Detienne 1977, 47. The two noun forms Detienne transliterates as álima and ádipsa are not attested
in the LSJ, although álimos trophé (ἄλιμος τροφή), a food containing mallow and asphodel, is (Hermipp.
Hist. 1.8, Plut. Mor. 157 d, Porph. Abst. 4.20). See LSJ9 65, s.v. “ἄλιμος.” Adipsos (lit. “cure for thirst”)
is found in Latin transliteration in Pliny (HN 12.103), in reference to a type of Egyptian date that was
gathered unripe or, if allowed to ripen, had intoxicating properties when eaten. Unfortunately, he does not
elaborate on the origin of the fruit’s name.
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 184 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 166 there is a sensory division to be considered as well, a contrast between how the sacrifices were consumed by gods and by men. Though symbolically sharing a table or an animal created a conceptual link between the worshipers and the object of worship in that both gods and men were ritually consuming, the gods were consuming a substance more sublime than the edible meat set aside for the human ritual participants. As described in Chapter One, the Greek and Roman gods were thought of as partaking of the epitome of the sacrifices, an ephemeral sensory representation, the “savor” of the portions burned in their honor. In contrast, man had a very physical need for food, a need that was clearly articulated in certain philosophical schools as a barrier between mankind and his gods. Though it was not possible to overcome altogether the biological need for food, certain ascetics such as the legendary Abaris, Epimenides (late seventh c. B.C.E.) and Pythagoras (mid-sixth c. B.C.E.) were said to have developed “superfoods” (álima and ádipsa [sic]), which probably contained mallow and asphodel.284 These “superfoods” allowed them to consume very small amounts of wild vegetable matter that required neither cooking nor the use of animal labor for plowing and cultivation, thus at once freeing them from exploiting animals and also bringing them as close as possible to the sublime form of consumption undertaken by the gods. Poster child for the ascetic ideal, Epimenides was said to take his nourishment in the form of a single daily pill that prevented both hunger 284 M. Detienne 1977, 47. The two noun forms Detienne transliterates as álima and ádipsa are not attested in the LSJ, although álimos trophé (ἄλιμος τροφή), a food containing mallow and asphodel, is (Hermipp. Hist. 1.8, Plut. Mor. 157 d, Porph. Abst. 4.20). See LSJ9 65, s.v. “ἄλιμος.” Adipsos (lit. “cure for thirst”) is found in Latin transliteration in Pliny (HN 12.103), in reference to a type of Egyptian date that was gathered unripe or, if allowed to ripen, had intoxicating properties when eaten. Unfortunately, he does not elaborate on the origin of the fruit’s name. |
