Animal sacrifice in ancient Greece was seldom a terrible "sacrifice," as we moderns use the word. Occasionally the entire animal was burnt on the altar for the god or gods, holocaustos (wholly burnt) - but this was rare. Usually, an animal sacrifice meant a major party, with meat for everyone, and only bones wrapped in fat burnt as the gods' portion.

Indeed, the current scholarly consensus, according to all the best books about food in ancient Greece, is that flesh meat was seldom eaten except as part of a sacrifice - which were by no means all major state occasions. A sacrifice could be arranged by anyone who could pay for the animal and for the mageiros, the specialist sacrificer and cook who did the hard work.

I'm adding here a description of a sacrifice from my short historical novel,  The Priestess and the Slave. The 5th century BC narrator has suffered a stillbirth that nearly killed her; a year later, her husband is celebrating the birth of a healthy baby to their slave Glukera. 
Picture

... A few days later, he held the proper feast for all his  friends and relatives, even my parents, hiring a man to sacrifice a full-grown  sheep. After the sacrificer-cook slit the sheep's throat and let the beast's blood pour over the small altar in our courtyard, he sliced up the animal on the table he'd brought with him, removed the skin, and wrapped long bones and other morsels in fat to burn on the altar as the gods' rightful portion. We prayed that all the gods would enjoy the smoke, as the sacrificer-cook poured unmixed  wine over the flames.     
     Next, the man cut up the best of the animal's insides,  the heart, the spleen, the kidneys and the tender liver, and slid them onto iron  skewers. They went on the altar to roast as special treats for the guests of  honor. While they were on the flames, the sacrificer-cook skillfully butchered the remaining carcass, cutting the muscle meat into chunks and setting them to  boil in a tripod cauldron, with onions, herbs and barley. Slaves mixed great bowls of wine with water, and served it out to all, while we waited for the meat to stew.
    I was not sad, during this merriment. The gods had willed my childless state; it seemed to fit, somehow, with my odd ways of thought. I'd been a distant, unsatisfactory daughter to my mother, a constant source of discontent to her. Perhaps it was better that one like me did not bring up a child. Perhaps . . .
    Glukera sat her baby boy on my childless lap, and his starfish hands grasped for my empty breasts. I gently disengaged his tiny hands and gave him my gold bangle instead. He made a soft noise, bringing the bright bangle to his mouth, and Glukera smiled at me. 
     I nodded; it was good. When Kinesias grew to adulthood, he and his future wife would tend the family graves, giving the dead the oil, milk and honey that was their due, as I did now. My own dead baby would not go hungry, down there in the dark earth.

- Jenny
3/16/2013 02:03:40 am


Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually realize what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Please also seek advice from my website =). We will have a hyperlink exchange contract between us

Reply
4/22/2013 10:04:38 pm

There are so many myths and reality behind the ancient Greek culture. Animal sacrifice and human sacrifice are followed in their community to please the God. The article that you given above tells the whole story. Thank you for the new information.

Reply
10/21/2013 01:31:00 am


Hi! I'm at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 3gs! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the excellent work!

Reply
11/25/2013 08:48:42 am

Animal sacrifice was part and parcel of virtually every religious practice including Christianity. I guess it's a good thing we don't need to do it anymore.

Reply
eddie coleman
1/27/2014 10:42:16 pm

I noticed that is hard to find your blog in google, i found it on 14 spot, you should add some quality backlinks, search in google for - k2 seo services - it helped my site a lot

Reply
2/5/2014 06:14:19 am

The nature of a sacrificial ritual as well as that which was to be sacrificed could vary somewhat, but the most basic sacrifice was that of an animal - usually a steer, pig, or goat (with the choice depending partially upon cost and scale, but even more upon what animals were most favored by which god).

Reply
9/28/2014 05:40:02 am

In the Indian subcontinent the concept of animal sacrifice is still prevalent in the form of "balli" and for Muslims the world over, the Abrahmaic tradition of slaughter will be fervently adhered in the next coming week. But the excerpt whetted my appetite (pun intended!) is your book out? :)

Reply

Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://freecodezilla.net/jetsmartfilters-plugin-for-elementor/

Reply
9/11/2022 02:16:12 pm

Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://kurma.website/

Reply
9/12/2022 12:13:23 am

Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://odemebozdurma.com/

Reply
9/30/2022 09:38:03 am

It's great to have this type of content. Good luck with your spirit. Thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma

Reply
10/4/2022 05:32:19 pm

I think this post is useful for people. It has been very useful for me. Looking forward to the next one, thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/bursa-escort/

Reply
10/5/2022 04:58:27 am

It was a post that I found very successful. Good luck to you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/bolu-escort/yenicaga-escort/

Reply
10/6/2022 01:48:35 am

I follow your posts closely. I can find it thanks to your reliable share. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/ankara-escort/ayas-escort/

Reply
10/6/2022 11:32:09 am

I support your continuation of your posts. I will be happy as new posts come. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/samsun-escort/havza-escort/

Reply
10/7/2022 04:28:43 am

I think the content is at a successful level. It adds enough information. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/canakkale-escort/gokceada-escort/

Reply
10/7/2022 11:40:00 pm

Thank you for your sharing. I must say that I am successful in your content. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/kastamonu-escort/cide-escort/

Reply
11/13/2022 03:25:30 am

Sitemizi ziyaret et: https://taksikenti.com/

Reply
11/22/2022 02:46:02 pm

It was a successful post.These types of posts are very helpful.

Reply
11/22/2022 11:32:28 pm

Tıkla evde calismaya basla: https://sites.google.com/view/evden-ek-is/

Reply
12/6/2022 08:42:25 pm

Congratulations for the successful article. I can't wait for the sequel.

Reply
12/8/2022 03:59:11 pm

This is nice work. Seeing good works on good days gives one peace of mind.

Reply
12/9/2022 06:17:59 am

Congratulations, it's a nice post. I'm always waiting for such nice posts in the future.

Reply
12/10/2022 04:31:17 am

I follow your work closely. Congratulations for this beautiful content.

Reply
12/10/2022 08:34:24 pm

Düşmeyen bot takipçi satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/

Reply
12/10/2022 10:50:06 pm

İnstagram beğeni satışı yapan firmamıza göz atın: https://takipcialdim.com/instagram-begeni-satin-al/

Reply
12/16/2022 03:43:49 pm

takipci satın almak için tıkla: https://takipcim.com.tr/

Reply
12/16/2022 03:44:17 pm

Tıkla: https://www.smsonay.com/

Reply
12/17/2022 03:49:53 am

Betmatik giriş adresine ulaşmak için tıkla.

Reply
12/18/2022 09:38:12 pm

Betpark giriş adresi burada.

Reply
12/19/2022 10:06:15 pm

İnstagram takipçi satın almak istiyorsan tıkla.

Reply
12/28/2022 10:17:13 pm

online bahis oyna: http://haikuboy.com

Reply
1/5/2023 05:17:45 am

100 tl deneme bonusu veren siteleri öğrenmek istiyorsan tıkla.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Loading

    Authors

    Eric T. Reynolds
    Shauna S. Roberts
    Jenny Blackford
    Distinguished guests

    Archives

    June 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012

    Hadley Rille
    Archaeology Series Novels

    Song of the Swallow (2011)
    Thrall (2010)
    Like Mayflies in a Stream (2009)
    The Priestess and the Slave (2009)

    Blogs We Enjoy

    ◆ A Very Remote Period Indeed
    ◆ Ancientfoods
    ◆ Ancient Foods Today
    ◆ Deborah Small's Ethnobotany Blog
    ◆ Food and Think
    ◆ Prehistoric  Archaeology Blog
    ◆ Roman Archaeology Blog
    Reflections on Past, Present and Future