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206
between the temple and the altar was fully paved in slabs of marble. This surface,
especially when wet with sacrificial blood, would have been extremely treacherous for
hooved animals, and it is possible that steps were taken to mitigate the likelihood of
animals losing their footing. The first century B.C.E. poet Virgil describes a sacrifice
during a time of plague thus:
Often in the middle of divine rites a victim, standing by the altar, while the white
woolen fillet’s band was placed around its brow, fell dead surrounded by the
hesitating ministrants. Or if, before that, the priest had sacrificed a victim with
the knife, neither did the altars burn with the entrails nor was the seer, when
consulted, able to give a response, and the knife applied to the throat was hardly
wetted with blood and only the surface sand was stained with meager gore.” 335
The fact that Virgil speaks of gore falling to “surface sand” (harena) during animal
sacrifice suggests that sand may have been scattered in sacrificial areas. It could be that
he is describing a sacrifice in an area other than the temenos of a large temple – that is, in
an area with an unpaved surface. However, in Latin literature the term harena (from
which we take our modern term “arena”) is employed to refer both to areas of natural
sand such as deserts and specifically to areas marked off for gladiatorial combat or other
events, such as in an amphitheatre or arena, where sand was strewn over a built floor.336
Therefore, it is possible that Virgil refers here to sand purposefully introduced to the
sacrificial area. If this were common practice in antiquity, the temporary surface would
335 G. 3.486-93. Saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aram, lanea dum nivea circumdatur infula
vitta, inter cunctantis cecidit moribunda ministros. aut si quam ferro mactaverat ante sacerdos, inde neque
impositis ardent altaria fibris, nec responsa potest consultus reddere vates, ac vix suppositi tinguntur
sanguine cultri summaque ieiuna sanie infuscatur harena.
336 Thus, for example, Ovid speaks in Met. 4.617 of the sands of the Libyan Desert (Libyras…harenas) and
Suetonius of Nero fighting in the amphitheatre: in amphitheatri harena (Nero 53).
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 224 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 206 between the temple and the altar was fully paved in slabs of marble. This surface, especially when wet with sacrificial blood, would have been extremely treacherous for hooved animals, and it is possible that steps were taken to mitigate the likelihood of animals losing their footing. The first century B.C.E. poet Virgil describes a sacrifice during a time of plague thus: Often in the middle of divine rites a victim, standing by the altar, while the white woolen fillet’s band was placed around its brow, fell dead surrounded by the hesitating ministrants. Or if, before that, the priest had sacrificed a victim with the knife, neither did the altars burn with the entrails nor was the seer, when consulted, able to give a response, and the knife applied to the throat was hardly wetted with blood and only the surface sand was stained with meager gore.” 335 The fact that Virgil speaks of gore falling to “surface sand” (harena) during animal sacrifice suggests that sand may have been scattered in sacrificial areas. It could be that he is describing a sacrifice in an area other than the temenos of a large temple – that is, in an area with an unpaved surface. However, in Latin literature the term harena (from which we take our modern term “arena”) is employed to refer both to areas of natural sand such as deserts and specifically to areas marked off for gladiatorial combat or other events, such as in an amphitheatre or arena, where sand was strewn over a built floor.336 Therefore, it is possible that Virgil refers here to sand purposefully introduced to the sacrificial area. If this were common practice in antiquity, the temporary surface would 335 G. 3.486-93. Saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aram, lanea dum nivea circumdatur infula vitta, inter cunctantis cecidit moribunda ministros. aut si quam ferro mactaverat ante sacerdos, inde neque impositis ardent altaria fibris, nec responsa potest consultus reddere vates, ac vix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultri summaque ieiuna sanie infuscatur harena. 336 Thus, for example, Ovid speaks in Met. 4.617 of the sands of the Libyan Desert (Libyras…harenas) and Suetonius of Nero fighting in the amphitheatre: in amphitheatri harena (Nero 53). |
