Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece

ISBN-13: 9780415034838 / Angielski / Twarda / 1991 / 316 str.

Dennis D. Hughes

Opis

Numerous ancient texts describe human sacrifices and other forms of ritual killing: in 480 BC Themistocles sacrifices three Persian captives to Dionysus; human scapegoats called pharmakoi are expelled yearly from Greek cities and, according to some authors, they are killed. Many texts speak of human sacrifices performed regularly in the cult of the gods or during emergencies such as war and plague. Archaeologists have also frequently proposed human sacrifice as an explanation for their discoveries.

Spis treści

Preface, Abbreviations, 1 Sacrifice and ritual killing: terminology and types, 2 Archaeological evidence, 3 Funerary ritual killing in Greek literature and history, 4 Human sacrifice in Greek myth, cult, and history, 5 The pharmakos and related rites, 6 Strangers in a strange land: the Locrian maiden tribute, 7 Conclusion, Appendix A Cut marks and mass burials, Appendix B Pylos tablet Tn 316, Bibliography, Index locorum, Subject index

O autorze

Dennis D. Hughes