Animals in Ancient Greek Religion

Description

This book provides the first systematic study of the role of animals in different areas of the ancient Greek religious experience, including in myth and ritual, the literary and the material evidence, the real and the imaginary. An international team of renowned contributors shows that animals had a sustained presence not only in the traditionally well-researched cultural practice of blood sacrifice but across the full spectrum of ancient Greek religious beliefs and practices. Animals played a role in divination, epiphany, ritual healing, the setting up of dedications, the writing of binding spells, and the instigation of other ‘magical’ means. Taken together, the individual contributions to this book illustrate that ancient Greek religion constituted a triangular symbolic system encompassing not just gods and humans, but also animals as a third player and point of reference. Animals in Ancient Greek Religion will be of interest to students and scholars of Greek religion, Greek myth, and ancient religion more broadly, as well as for anyone interested in human/animal relations in the ancient world. Animals in Ancient Greek Religion Table of Contents Illustrations Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations On gods, humans, and animals Structure of the book A note on conventions Notes Bibliography Part 1: Perspectives 1 The ‘entanglement’ of gods, humans, and animals in ancient Greek religion Notes Bibliography 2 Sources for the study of animals in ancient Greek religion Introduction Categories of sources Sacrifice and the benefits of multiple sources Redirecting the gaze Conclusion Notes Bibliography 3 Approaches: The animal in the study of ancient Greek religion A brief history Moving forward Thinking Doing Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part 2: Representations 4 Gods and heroes, humans and animals in ancient Greek myth Introduction Locating the hero: between the bestial and the divine Entering the wilderness: foundation narratives Conclusion Notes Bibliography 5 The theriomorphism of the major Greek gods Introduction The 20th century The 21st century Equine and bovine divine manifestations: Poseidon and Dionysus Conclusions Notes Bibliography 6 Greek anthropomorphism versus Egyptian zoomorphism: Conceptual considerations in Greek thought and literature Introduction Egyptian zoomorphism as a cultural practice in Herodotus’ Histories Animals as religious symbols in Plutarch’s On Isis and Osiris The divine body as a human and animal body in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana Conclusion Notes Bibliography 7 Philosophers on animals in ancient Greek religion Introduction Sacrifice, vegetarianism, and the animal soul Sacrifice, uncertainty, and philosophy as service Unstable ground, flying horses, and Sirenic cicadas Feelings from and for kin Notes Bibliography Part 3: Beliefs and practices 8 Caloric codes: Ancient Greek animal sacrifice A history of research Sacrificial animals The performance of ordinary animal sacrifices Sacrifices without common consumption Sacrificing to the heroes Mycenaean animal sacrifice Sacrifice as a gift and meal for the gods The critics of sacrifice: philosophers The gradual rejection of sacrifice in later antiquity Conclusion: humans, animals, and sacrifice Notes Bibliography 9 Animals in ancient Greek divination: Oracles, predictions, and omens Introduction Why animals? The natural and the supernatural Animals as divine signs in ‘artificial’ divination Ornithomancy Extispicy and hepatomancy Animal omens Animals in oracles and dreams (inspired divination) Symbolic language in practice: animals and divination in Herodotus’ Histories Conclusion Notes Bibliography 10 Animals in ancient Greek dedications Introduction A bronze horse from Olympia The zoological array in dedications Carriers, caretakers, and hunters Conclusion Notes Bibliography 11 Animals in Asclepian medicine: Myth, cult, and miracle healings Introduction Animals in the myth of Asclepius The iconography of the serpent The cock as a sacrificial animal for Asclepius Miracle healing in Asclepeia: the animal as healer Miracle healing in the cult of Asclepius Glycon Conclusion Notes Bibliography 12 Circe’s Ram: Animals in ancient Greek magic Introduction Talking about Greek magic Animalising the human: transformation Objectifying the human, humanising the animal: binding curses Transgressing the boundary: life, death, and undeath in magical sacrifice Conclusion Notes Bibliography 13 Gods, humans, and animals revisited Multiplicity and ‘entanglement’ Overlaps and correspondences Species matters The cross-cultural perspective Change over time Outlook Notes Bibliography Index