Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece

Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece

Author: Dennis D. Hughes

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-01-11

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1134966385

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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; Locrin girls are hunted down and slain by the Trojans; on Mt Lykaion children are sacrificed and consumed by the worshippers; and many other texts report human sacrifices performed regularly in the cult of the gods or during emergencies such as war and plague. Archaeologists have frequently proposed human sacrifice as an explanation for their discoveries: from Minoan Crete children's bones with knife-cut marks, the skeleton of a youth lying on a platform with a bronze blade resting on his chest, skeletons, sometimes bound, in the dromoi of Mycenaean and Cypriot chamber tombs; and dual man-woman burials, where it is suggested that the woman was slain or took her own life at the man's funeral. If the archaeologists' interpretations and the claims in the ancient sources are accepted, they present a bloody and violent picture of the religious life of the ancient Greeks, from the Bronze Age well into historical times. But the author expresses caution. In many cases alternative, if less sensational, explanations of the archaeological are possible; and it can often be shown that human sacrifices in the literary texts are mythical or that late authors confused mythical details with actual practices.Whether the evidence is accepted or not, this study offers a fascinating glimpse into the religious thought of the ancient Greeks and into changing modern conceptions of their religious behaviour.


The Bookseller

The Bookseller

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1885

Total Pages: 1742

ISBN-13:

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Official organ of the book trade of the United Kingdom.


The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Author: Hugh Binning

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2022-08-01

Total Pages: 1468

ISBN-13:

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DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning" by Hugh Binning. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.


Selected Sermons of Hugh Latimer

Selected Sermons of Hugh Latimer

Author: Hugh Latimer

Publisher: Associated University Presse

Published: 1978-07

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780918016430

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A selection from the sermons of the most popular preacher of the English Reformation. The only edition of the sermons now in print, this volume contains a chronological table of Latimer's life and an introduction outlining his reformist ideas and the steps which led to his martyrdom.