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177
ceremony to make suggestions regarding the sensory experience of blood sacrifices in
antiquity. Let me be clear: I am not suggesting any direct comparisons between these
modern sacrifices and the ancient practice of cult in terms of either process or meaning.
Though some technical similarities are present – both rituals center on the same action of
killing a large animal by non-mechanized means – my intention in this study is not to
identify or comment on the similarities or differences between the two traditions; this is
not a comparative religion project.293 Rather, I shall demonstrate that careful analysis of
my experience of large-scale modern sacrifice has allowed me to develop important
questions and considerations concerning the sensory elements of Greek and Roman
sacrifice.
My methodological approach in considering my personal experience of sacrificial
slaughter may be termed autoethnographic. There is no single methodology designated
by the term “autoethnography.” Since the word was first coined in the 1970s,294 it has
been assigned a wide variety of definitions by ethnographers, and its value as a diagnostic
293 Such research has been carried out in studies of neo-Greek sacrifice. See S. Georgoudi (1989) for an
analysis of modern Kourbánia (animal sacrifices) in Greek Orthodox practice and their relationship to
ancient Greek sacrificial rites.
294 The ethnographer Karl Heider was perhaps the first to use the term, in an article on the Dani culture of
the highlands of West Papua New Guinea published in the Journal of Anthropological Research in 1975, in
which he reported the findings of a project based on simply asking Dani children about “what Dani do.”
He assigned a double meaning to the prefix auto-. For him, it referred both to the autochthonous and
automatic nature of his research – the former because he was using the words of Dani natives, the latter
because this method of research was for him “the simplest routine-eliciting technique imaginable” (Heider
1975, 3). This usage of the term to designate an almost “auto-pilot” form of research has not met with
many adherents.
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 195 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 177 ceremony to make suggestions regarding the sensory experience of blood sacrifices in antiquity. Let me be clear: I am not suggesting any direct comparisons between these modern sacrifices and the ancient practice of cult in terms of either process or meaning. Though some technical similarities are present – both rituals center on the same action of killing a large animal by non-mechanized means – my intention in this study is not to identify or comment on the similarities or differences between the two traditions; this is not a comparative religion project.293 Rather, I shall demonstrate that careful analysis of my experience of large-scale modern sacrifice has allowed me to develop important questions and considerations concerning the sensory elements of Greek and Roman sacrifice. My methodological approach in considering my personal experience of sacrificial slaughter may be termed autoethnographic. There is no single methodology designated by the term “autoethnography.” Since the word was first coined in the 1970s,294 it has been assigned a wide variety of definitions by ethnographers, and its value as a diagnostic 293 Such research has been carried out in studies of neo-Greek sacrifice. See S. Georgoudi (1989) for an analysis of modern Kourbánia (animal sacrifices) in Greek Orthodox practice and their relationship to ancient Greek sacrificial rites. 294 The ethnographer Karl Heider was perhaps the first to use the term, in an article on the Dani culture of the highlands of West Papua New Guinea published in the Journal of Anthropological Research in 1975, in which he reported the findings of a project based on simply asking Dani children about “what Dani do.” He assigned a double meaning to the prefix auto-. For him, it referred both to the autochthonous and automatic nature of his research – the former because he was using the words of Dani natives, the latter because this method of research was for him “the simplest routine-eliciting technique imaginable” (Heider 1975, 3). This usage of the term to designate an almost “auto-pilot” form of research has not met with many adherents. |
