Thysia

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A thysia began with a procession where music was played, sung and danced. A young woman, Kanephoros , went ahead . She carried the three- handled sacrificial basket called Kanoun with the ingredients for making the sacrifice. The consecrated sacrificial animals ran with the procession. In the literature it is emphasized that the animals sacrificed voluntarily, but in depictions the animals usually have a rope around their neck. ( Pitsa tablet from near Corinth, around 540-530 BC, NAMA 16464)

The Thysia ( ancient Greek θυσία "victim"; transcription partly also Thusia ) was the most common and widespread victim in the Greek religion . The sacrifice was made for gods and heroes . It included the partial burning of the offerings and the subsequent sacrificial meal. The term has been around since the beginning of the 6th century BC. Chr. Handed down.

Other names

The terms around the ancient Greek verb θύειν thyein ('sacrifice'; Latin sacra facere ) deal with various archaic topics. Not all are derived from the verb, but it is certain that the verb has an important place.

The medial verb thyesthai ( θύεσθαι ) was used when the victim had a goal in mind. A statement by Xenophon makes the meaning visible: "I sacrificed to see whether it was good for you ( sc. The men addressed ) to give me this power and for me to accept it."

There are some compound expressions of Präverben with the verb known: anathyein ( ἀναθύειν ) apothyein ( ἀποθύειν ) exthyein ( ἐξθύειν ) epithyein ( ἐπιθύειν ) katathyein ( καταθύειν ) metathyein ( μεταθύειν ) pedepithyein ( πεδεπιθύειν ) prothyein ( προθύειν ) and synthyein ( συνθύειν ).

The Bouthysia ( βουθυσία , literally "cattle sacrifice") originally meant a sacrifice followed by a meal, which often took place in connection with games and festivals. The term later evolved into a nearly identical meaning to hecatomb , often in an ironic sense.

definition

The sacrifice in this representation took place in the Sanctuary of Delphi , represented by the column architecture and a tripod . Apollo, the recipient of the sacrifice, sits on the right side and holds a branch of laurel in his hand. A young assistant on the right side of the altar carries the holy basket ( kanoùn ) and hands the bowl ( chérnips ). A bearded priest wearing a himation wets his hands in it. Around 420 BC BC, Agrigento Archaeological Museum .

A thysia was an animal sacrifice followed by a feast. It was the most important of all Greek rites and expressed the relationships between the divine order and people and those between people. For most Greeks, it was also the only opportunity to consume meat.

Thysia is one of the many terms derived from the verb θυειν . Originally the verb meant "generate smoke" and later changed to "sacrifice" in the sense of killing and sacrificing an animal. The verb is a very general term that can be used both for sacrifices to the gods who are “above” and for sacrifices to heroes or to the divine dead. The genitive belonging to "thysia" (adnominal genitive) could designate both the source (as in "the sacrifice of Archinos ") and the destination (as in "the sacrifice for the gods"). Sometimes he described the victim in more detail. The Thysia was widespread in the Ionian-Attic region and referred to the act of offering. It comprised the entire ritual, the preparations, the burning of the offerings and the final sacrificial meal. Thysia was associated with pleasure, and when the Greeks thought of this sacrifice "they did not think of the gods but of the festivities connected with it". Paul Stengel called the Thysia a food offering.

Demarcation

ritual

The ritual included the selection, consecration, killing, division and cremation of certain parts of a pet. A knife was used to kill the victim. Parts of the sacrificial animal such as bones, in particular thigh bones ( μηρία mería ), which were previously rubbed with fat, sacrum ( ἱερὸν ὀστέον hieròn ostéon , Latin os sacrum ) and caudal vertebrae ( ὀσφῦς osphýs ) were burned on the altar. The greasy scented smoke ( κνίση knísē ) rose to heaven as an actual gift to the gods. The tail rose from the heat and danced in the air. The greasy thighbones produced spectacularly high and bright flames. These were the signs that the gods accepted the sacrifice benevolently and that the sacrifice had achieved its goal, the rituals consequently being hierá kalá ( τά ἱερά καλά ).

The bridge between the divine and secular ritual was the roasting of the edible entrails ( splanchna ) on the altar. The importance of this part of a Thysia is attested by the many representations on Attic vases . Selected participants in the sacrificial ritual came to the altar, on which thick smoke was still rising and the tail of the sacrificial animal danced in the air. The gods were present through the sacrifice and the food at the altar created a connection between gods and chosen people that helped bridge the separation between the divine and human worlds. The subsequent libation, which extinguished the fire on the altar, ended the ritual for the gods.

The remaining part of the sacrificial animal was eaten by the participants in the sanctuary or at home at the end of the sacrifice. There are numerous traditions about how meat was handled. There were rules for the division of meat between the participants and rules on the privileges of the priest or the priestess. It is also narrated that the flesh was not allowed to leave the sanctuary. There are a few instances where the fur or skin has been sold.

Offerings

The victim's snout is gripped tightly to expose the throat. It is held over the altar so that the blood can flow onto the altar. The shedding of blood on the altar was an important part of the ritual. Sometimes a basin ( sphageîon ) was also used to catch the blood and then shed it on the age. Kalos inscription , approx. 510–500 BC BC, Louvre.

Pigs, goats and sheep are often passed down as sacrificial animals. There were also cattle, cows and oxen. Occasionally, exotic animals such as gazelles , vultures , bears , lions and crocodiles were sacrificed. In the Heraion of Samos, for example, a crocodile's jaw was found, suggesting an animal 5 meters long.

Performing a thysia had its price. The sacrificial animals were the largest expenditure and the selection depended on the means of the respective client. A pig cost 3, a lamb 7 and a sheep between 10 and 15  drachmas . Elsewhere, however, 40 drachmas were paid for a pig and 70 drachmas for a beef. A cow could cost up to 50 drachmas. A 1988 study found that at the local level, the sacrifices sacrificed more or less corresponded to the seasonal animal availability and local geographic conditions were important.

A thysia was regularly accompanied by the burning of grain and cake, the hiera . Sacrifices are known to cost 30 drachmas, and a large part of this was spent on cakes.

receiver

The Thysia is attested for heroes and gods. In the Attic calendar of sacrifices it is listed as the most common sacrifice for heroes. Often no different treatments have been recorded for victims who were carried out on the same occasion for both groups. From the Attic sacrifice calendars, however, it can be seen, despite all the differences, that heroes received fewer sacrifices than the gods in terms of number and financial expenditure. However, they made up about 40% of the total expenditure. On average, the same amount, 14 drachmas each, was spent on heroes and gods per sacrifice. Famous heroes received more expensive sacrifices than unknown ones. The lowest level of heroes, sometimes not even named, received a pig or the cheapest of all sacrifices, a trapeze .

intention

A thysia as the most important ritual act in the Greek religion was a means of communicating with the gods. Through them one wanted to express gratitude to the gods or ask for favors.

In addition to the religious meaning, a thysia had a profane meaning. The common sacrificial meal was a characteristic of Thysia and of great importance in view of the scarcity of meat in antiquity. In the case of the war dead, who were venerated on Thasos , this is clearly evident. The entire ritual was aimed at compensating the families of the fallen for their loss, and a substantial part of the compensation was a banquet for those who attended the ceremony. Another aspect of the common sacrificial meal was the strengthening of the social bonds between the citizens and "a means to show who belonged and who didn't."

Sources

The edible entrails ( splanchna ) were wound on skewers and fried in the altar fire. A privileged part of the participants were allowed to gather around the altar and eat from it. After that, the fire on the altar was extinguished by a libation and the sacrifice to the gods was over. Approx. 430-425 BC Chr.

The ritual of Thysia goes back to a sacrifice agreement between Zeus and humans, the first execution of which the tricky philanthropist Prometheus performed for the benefit of humans. To this end, he divided an ox as a sacrificial animal into two covered piles, the larger of which contained only the bones, the smaller of which contained the meat of the animal. Given the choice, Zeus, although he had seen through the deception, opted for the larger bunch. This event was the milestone of the separate ways between gods and humans, who previously communicated with each other and sat together at the table. At the same time it meant the birth of Thysia.

The oldest known literary source for the Thysia comes from the second hymn to Demeter from the Homeric Hymns , which probably dates to the end of the 7th century BC. BC or in the 6th century BC Is to be dated. One of the most detailed literary descriptions of a Thysia can be found in the comedy Der Frieden von Aristophanes , published in 421 BC. Was first performed.

One of the earliest inscriptions to mention the Thysia is a decree of the Orgeones from the middle of the 5th century BC. The inscription itself dates from the early 3rd century BC. Among the inscriptions, the calendars of sacrifices from Thorikos , Marathon , Erchia and the Attic genos of Salaminioi should be mentioned, which are a rich treasure trove for Thysia offerings. They contain a sizable list of sacrifices to heroes and gods and their costs. The calendars cover a period from 430 to 363/2 BC. From.

From the second half of the 6th century BC BC iconography provides rich material for depictions of victims. In the 6th and 5th centuries it is mainly the preserved vases , while in the 4th century the reliefs predominate. The vast majority of both sources represent thysiai.

literature

  • Walter Burkert : Greek tragedy and sacrificial ritual . In: Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies (GRBS) Vol. 2, 1966, pp. 87-121.
  • Walter Burkert: Homo necans. Interpretations of ancient Greek sacrificial rites and myths . Religious-historical experiments and preparatory work (RGVV) Volume 32.Berlin and New York 1972.
  • Walter Burkert: Greek religion of the archaic and classical epoch. The religions of mankind 15. Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-17-004345-5 (2nd revised and expanded edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-17-021312-8 ).
  • Jean Casabona: Recherches sur le vocabulaire des sacrifices en grec, des origines à la fin de l'époque classique . Aix-en-Provence 1966.
  • Gunnel Ekroth : The Sacrificial Rituals of Greek Hero-Cults in the Archaic to the Early Hellenistic Period (= Kernos . Supplement volume 12). Center International d'Étude de la Religion Grecque Antique, Liège 2002. ISBN 2-87456-003-0 , ISBN 2-8218-2900-0 ( openedition.org ).
  • Gunnel Ekroth: Meat, Man and God: On the Division of Meat at Greek Animal Sacrifices . ”In: A. Matthaiou and I. Polinskaya (eds.): Mikros hieromnemon: Meletes eis mnemen Michael H. Jameson. Athens 2008, pp. 259-90.
  • Paul Stengel : Sacrifice Customs of the Greeks . Leipzig 1910.
  • Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995. ISBN 9004102922
  • Jean-Pierre Vernant : La cuisine du sacrifice en pays grec . With M. Detienne. Gallimard, Paris 1979. ISBN 978-2070286553 .
  • Jean-Pierre Vernant: A General Theory of Sacrifice and the Slaying of the Victims in the Greek Thusia. In: Mortals and Immortals: Collected Essays. Princeton University Press 1991. ISBN 978-0691019314 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995, p. 11.
  2. ^ Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995, p. 100.
  3. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 69.
  4. ↑ Xenophon, Anabasis 6,1,31. : " Ἐθυόμην εἰ βέλτιον εἴη ὑμῖν τε ἐμοὶ ἐπιτρέψαι ταύτην τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἐμοὶ ὑποστῆναι "
  5. ^ Translation from French «  Je sacrifiais pour savoir s'il était bon pour vous de me confier ce pouvoir, et pour moi de l'accepter.  »Casabona: Research . Pp. 87 and 89.
  6. ↑ Cf. also Anabasis, sixth book in the Gutenberg-DE project  : "As soon as I noticed your attitudes, I tried to investigate through a sacrifice whether it would be beneficial for you to transfer supreme command to me and for me to accept it" , Translation by Max Oberbreyer, ca.1880.
  7. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 94.
  8. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 95.
  9. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 95.
  10. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 98.
  11. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 98.
  12. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 101.
  13. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 102.
  14. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 103.
  15. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 108.
  16. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 125.
  17. ^ Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995, pp. 35 and 168.
  18. ↑ a b Michael H. Jameson: Theoxenia. In: Michael H. Jameson: Cults and Rites in Ancient Greece: Essays on Religion and Society. Cambridge 2014, p. 145.
  19. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 69.
  20. ^ Gunnel Ekroth: Holocaustic sacrifices in ancient Greek religion and the ritual relations to the Levant . In: Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò and Marek Węcowski: Change, continuity, and connectivity: North-Eastern Mediterranean at the turn of the Bronze Age and in the early Iron Age . Series Philippika. Classical treatises. Contributions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures, Volume 118. Wiesbaden 2018, p. 309.
  21. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 85.
  22. ↑ «  ‹  Penser à des Θυσίαι  ›, ce n'est pas‹  penser aux dieux  ›, mais à festoyer.  »Casabona: Research . Pp. 76, 126-127, 131-132.
  23. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 84.
  24. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter III, paragraph 132.
  25. ↑ Gunnel Ekroth: “Don't Throw Any Bones in the Sanctuary!” On the Handling of Sacred Waste in Ancient Greek Cult Places. In: Claudia Moser, Jennifer Knust (eds.): Ritual Matters: Material Remains and Ancient Religion (= Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Supplement 13). Michigan Publishing, Philadelphia 2017, pp. 33-55, here p. 33; Gunnel Ekroth: Holocaustic sacrifices in ancient Greek religion and the ritual relations to the Levant. In: Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò, Marek Węcowski (Ed.): Change, Continuity, and Connectivity: North-Eastern Mediterranean at the Turn of the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age (= Philippika. Altertumswwissenschaftliche Abhandlungen. Contributions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures. Volume 118). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 308–326, here p. 309 ( online ). For an illustration of the ritual of a thysia, see Michael H. Jameson : Sophocles, Antigone 1005-1022: An Illustration . In: Martin Cropp, DJ Conacher, Elaine Fantham, SE Scully: Greek tragedy and its legacy: Essays Presented to DJ Conacher . Calgary 1986. pp. 59-65.
  26. ↑ Gunnel Ekroth: Burnt, cooked or raw? Divine and human culinary desires at Greek animal sacrifice . In: Eftychia Stavrianopoulou, Axel Michaels, Claus Ambos (eds.): Transformations in Sacrificial Practices. From Antiquity to Modern Times . Proceedings of an International Colloquium, Heidelberg, 12-14, July 2006. (= Performanzen. Intercultural studies on ritual, play and theater. Volume 15). Berlin 2008. ISBN 978-3-8258-1095-5 . Pp. 87–111, here pp. 93–95.
  27. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 2.
  28. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraphs 31 and 38.
  29. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 76.
  30. ^ Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995, pp. 104-105.
  31. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraphs 32 and 35.
  32. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 16.
  33. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 81.
  34. ↑ Gunnel Ekroth: “Don't Throw Any Bones in the Sanctuary!” On the Handling of Sacred Waste in Ancient Greek Cult Places. In: Claudia Moser, Jennifer Knust (eds.): Ritual Matters: Material Remains and Ancient Religion (= Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Supplement 13). Michigan Publishing, Philadelphia 2017, pp. 33-55, here p. 35 ( online ).
  35. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 16.
  36. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 64.
  37. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 104.
  38. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter III, paragraph 135.
  39. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 29.
  40. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 102.
  41. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 47.
  42. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraphs 62 and 66-67.
  43. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 103.
  44. ^ Gunnel Ekroth: Meat for the Godes . In: Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge and Francesca Prescendi (eds.): Nourrir les dieux? Sacrifice et representation du divin . Liège 2011. ISBN 9782821896437 . ( openedition.org ). P. 16.
  45. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 70.
  46. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 54.
  47. ^ "Also as a means of indicating who did belong and who did not". Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 69.
  48. ↑ Gunnel Ekroth: Burnt, cooked or raw? Divine and human culinary desires at Greek animal sacrifice . In: Eftychia Stavrianopoulou, Axel Michaels, Claus Ambos (eds.): Transformations in Sacrificial Practices. From Antiquity to Modern Times . Proceedings of an International Colloquium, Heidelberg, 12-14, July 2006. (= Performanzen. Intercultural studies on ritual, play and theater. Volume 15). Berlin 2008. ISBN 978-3-8258-1095-5 . Pp. 87–111, here pp. 93–94.
  49. ↑ Hesiod , Theogony 535-564; taken up again in Works and Days 47–50.
  50. ↑ For the interpretation, see Jean-Pierre Vernant : At Man's Table: Hesiod's Foundation Myth of Sacrifice. In: Marcel Detienne , Jean-Pierre Vernant: The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks. University of Chicago Press, Chicago / London 1989, pp. 21-86.
  51. ^ So Jean Rudhardt : Les mythes grecs relatifs à l'instauration du sacrifice: les rôles corrélatifs de Prométhée et de son fils Deucalion. In: Museum Helveticum . Vol. 27, No. 1, 1970, pp. 1-15; He is followed, for example, by Gunnel Ekroth: Holocaustic sacrifices in ancient Greek religion and the ritual relations to the Levant. In: Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò, Marek Węcowski (Ed.): Change, continuity, and connectivity: North-Eastern Mediterranean at the turn of the Bronze Age and in the early Iron Age (= Philippika. Altertumswwissenschaftliche Abhandlungen. Contributions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures. Volume 118). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 308–326, here p. 309 ( online ).
  52. ^ Casabona: Recherches . P. 126.
  53. ↑ Homeric Hymns II, 368: " οἵ κεν μὴ θυσίῃσι τεὸν μένος ἱλάσκωνται " "do not placate with Thysiai your mind" (translation by Annette Kledt: The Abduction Cyrus studies athenisch-Eleusinian Demeter religion (= Palingenesia . . Volume 84) Steiner , Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08615-3 , p. 51).
  54. ↑ For discussion see Helene P. Foley: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter: Translation, Commentary, and Interpretive Essays. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1993, p. 29 f. (650-550 BC); Albin Lesky : History of Greek Literature. 3. Edition. Saur, Munich 1999, p. 108 (end of the 7th century BC); Renate Schlesier : Dionysus in the underworld. On the otherworldly constructions of the Bakchian mysteries. In: Ralf von den Hoff , Stefan Schmidt (ed.): Constructions of Reality: Images in Greece of the 5th and 4th Century BC Chr. Steiner, Stuttgart 2001, p. 160 (6th century BC).
  55. ↑ Aristophanes, Der Frieden, lines 937–1126. See: Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995, pp. 31-32 and 121-123.
  56. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 32.
  57. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 24.
  58. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraphs 61 and 64.
  59. ↑ Ekroth: Sacrificial Rituals . Chapter II, paragraph 63.
  60. ^ Folkert T. van Straten: Hiera kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece (= Religions in the Graeco-Roman World. Volume 127). Brill, Leiden 1995, pp. 2-3.