Smoke Signals for the Gods

Oxford University Press

2013

438 p.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes

9780199916412

Invention of a ritual -- Venues and offerings -- Prayers and answers -- God says no -- Rules, rewards, and experts -- Markets and messes -- Detective story -- Demise of a ritual

Animal sacrifice has been critical to the study of ancient Mediterranean religions since the 18th century. Two leading views on sacrifice have dominated the subject: the psychological approach of Walter Burkert and the sociological one by Jean-Pierre Vernant and Marcel Detienne. These two perspectives have argued that the main feature of sacrifice is allaying feelings of guilt at the slaughter of sacrificial animals. Naiden redresses the omission of these salient features to show that animal sacrifice is an attempt to make contact with a divine being, and that it is so important for the worshippers that it becomes subject to regulations of unequaled extent and complexity

Английский