Greeks sacrificed to share a meal with the gods, but Jane Harrison (in her classic Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Cambridge Library Collection - Classics) ) found another sort of sacrifice lurking in the dark corners of Greek religion. According to Harrison, “un-eaten sacrifices . . . . Continue Reading »
Vernant ( The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks ) writes of Greek sacrifice, “Because it is directed towards the gods and claims to include them with the group of guests in the solemnity and joy of the celebration, it evokes the memory of the ancient commensality when, seated together, . . . . Continue Reading »
Greeks also seem to have practiced some form of ancestor cult and, perhaps related, a cult of heroes. In a detailed discussion of the archeology of the cult of the dead in early Greece in the American Journal of Archeology , Carla Antonaccio summarizes the evidence that she wishes to test by . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1973 article in the journal Iraq , Miranda Bayliss reviews the evidence for a cult of the dead in ancient Assyrian and Babylon Little evidence survives a general “cult of deceased kin” except among royal families. For others, most of the evidence involves dealing with ghosts that . . . . Continue Reading »
Though the Greeks built temples for a variety of reasons, housing and serving the cult image of a god was one of the motivations for building a temple in the first place. John Pedley ( Sanctuaries and the Sacred in the Ancient Greek World ) writes that some temples “seem to have been . . . . Continue Reading »
Maybe better: What did he say? Mary Beard’s review of Simon Hornblower’s final volume of commentary on Thucydides, and Robert Kagan’s recent book on the same, complicates matters. Thucydides wrote in sometimes incomprehensible Greek, and some of the most memorable and . . . . Continue Reading »
Taking up and extending the argument of Hugh Lloyd-Jones’ The Justice of Zeus , William Allan argues that, contrary to common opinion, there si no real contrast between the operations of justice in the two Homeric epics. Nor is “popular picture of ‘amoral’ . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1982 article on justice in the Oresteia in the American Political Science Review , Peter Euben observes that the dualism of passion and action, violence adn renewal, obliteration and revelation that stymies politics and ethics in Argos seem to be overcome in the just city of Athens: . . . . Continue Reading »
Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good behavior, not, as true guilt cultures do, on an internalized conviction of sin. Shame is a reaction to other people’s criticism. A man . . . . Continue Reading »
In the Greek honor system, men prove themselves honorable and virtuous by defending women. Explaining Achilles’ reaction to Agamemnon, Peter Walcot writes that “The law of reciprocity applies: when insulted or injured the man of honour must retaliate in at least equal measure if . . . . Continue Reading »
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