This volume brings together studies on Greek animal sacrifice by foremost experts in Greek language, literature and material culture. Readers will benefit from the synthesis of new evidence and approaches with a re-evaluation of twentieth-century theories on sacrifice. The chapters range across the whole of antiquity and go beyond the Greek world to consider possible influences in Hittite Anatolia and Egypt, while an introduction to the burgeoning science of osteo-archaeology is provided. The twentieth-century emphasis on sacrifice as part of the Classical Greek polis system is challenged through consideration of various ancient perspectives on sacrifice as distinct from specific political or even Greek contexts. Many previously unexplored topics are covered, particularly the type of animals sacrificed and the spectrum of sacrificial ritual, from libations to lasting memorials of the ritual in art.

Experts in Greek language, literature and material culture re-examine the role of animal sacrifice in Greek life across the Mediterranean.

About the Author
Sarah Hitch has held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at Corpus Christi College where she is now the Associate Director of the Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity. She has researched and published widely on various aspects of Greek religion. Ian Rutherford is Professor of Greek at the University of Reading. He is one of the foremost experts on ancient religion and has published widely on the topic, including his recent monograph State Pilgrims and Sacred Observers in Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 2013).


Book Information
ISBN 9781108820202
Author Sarah Hitch
Format Paperback
Page Count 350
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 510g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 230mm * 15mm