Sacrificial Rituals in Religions: Favors Factor & Purification - Essay Sample

Introduction

The nature of sacrificial ritual may differ between religions; however, the most common is n animal, either a steer, pig, or a goat with particular specifications depending on which animals are highly favored by the gods. Unlike the Jewish religion, the Greeks did not regard the pig as an unclean animal. The favors factor played a key role since it was not the preferred animal to be used in making the rituals of purification. This paper aims to highlight the sacrificial rituals that were performed in ancient Greece all through to the Hellenistic period, which was heralded by Alexander the Great. Moreover, it shows how the aforementioned rituals are to be explained and understood by the masses, and what message they pass about the role and use of the said cult Heroes in Greek religion. Armed with the aforementioned artillery, this will create a link between the sacrifices offered to cult heroes and the rituals made to appease the gods and the ordinary souls in the Greek underworld. There are striking differences and similarities in how rituals were performed and offered to gods and cult-heroes in the Greek community. How the thysia ritual was performed when it comes to cult-heroes is different from the gods. This paper highlights the similarities and differences between sacrifices offered to gods and cult-heroes in Greek community

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Sacrificial Types

Unlike the popularly held beliefs, the ritual that was mostly recurring when it came to hero cults was the animal sacrifice. Here, the meat that was derived from the animals was preserved, and then it would be part and parcel of the feast by worshippers later. Besides a myriad of terms used to highlight honor to the hero cults, the names given to these kinds of sacrifices were thyein and thysia. Subsequently, where these feasts were covered, especially in the epigraphical documents, there was no use of a standout name to refer to the sacrifices - this meant that thyein and thysia were prominently used by the masses which ruled out any further explanation on the matter.

Based on the factual happenings such as the careful dealing of the meat, sharing of meat among the masses, dining amenities, and the terminology of the feasts - It is clear how highly regarded the meat was, from getting kept to be feasted rather than being thrown away. There is also a highlighted number of occurrences, to be precise epigraphical inscriptions with a touch of literary writings, where arguments can be drafted to the fold with regards to the contextual form in which the sacrifices in that dining must have been part and parcel of the ritual. With the factual and circumstantial evidence surrounding thysia sacrifices backed by the dining as a group by the masses in hero-cults, it is a no brainer to arrive at the verdict, when no clear specifics were highlighted showing how the sacrifices were made or the meaning behind the sacrifices being undertaken, the ritual was fueled by the meat feasts from the animals slaughtered.

To expound further on the aforementioned point, if the economic, communal and health-giving importance emphasis of thysia in the Greek collective is thrust in to the limelight, it is a no brainer that hero-cult sacrifices, which took the largest share in the sacrifices carried out by the masses, should have included other types of rituals other than sacrifices where the worshippers partook in meat consumption.

To put things into perspective, just like the chronology in the sacrifice of the gods, thysia was the main agenda of the hero-cults closely followed by dining. Just like the celestial figures, the cult heroes were held in the same regard as the gods in the religious arrangement of the Greeks. To be precise, from the emphasis placed on the hero's cult by the sacrificial calendars as highly regarded figures but also that they maintain parity with the gods in many cases, especially when it comes to the receivership of expensive victims or even more high profile animals. If a comparison was drawn to mere mortals, ordinary dead, or other men, the hero's cult commanded the same respect as the gods.

Drafting the rhythm of hero-cults' thysia sacrifices into consideration, the stand adopted by the ritual of heroes as mimicking or safeguarding an earlier model of the cult of the dead can be challenged in a major way. In archaic and classical times, the ordinary dead were gifted animal victims - This was a frequent occurrence in early times too. Saying that these animals were sacrificed during the thysia period is a major doubt, because the handling of these high profile animals set aside for sacrificial purposes, which involved burning, distribution and feasting of special parts, was directed solely at bringing out the celestial mannerisms of the person who was receiving the offering, and in the process showing the differences between them and the ordinary worshipper.

Theoxenia

Theoxenia rituals were used to substitute for thysia, although it was not a major occurrence as the main ritual presented to a hero. Theoxenia was a less expensive ritual to thysia where a hero of private rank was showered with a table filled with gifts. This practice was undertaken as a means of supporting a thysia, where the cult hero received an animal offering or theoxenia. On the other hand, a less important recipient, in this case, mostly a heroine, was presented with a table filled with offerings. The aforementioned heroine was showered with a table filled to the brim with offerings, better known as trapeza, while a more advanced offering was accorded to a major hero.

A high profile method of persuading a hero to be in attendance was adopted, and entertainment accorded to them in a high profile way. This way of doing things was adopted to create a rapport between the hero and worshippers, which was nonexistent in thysia, which created a crystal clear contrast between celestials and mortals. Theoxenia, where interaction was created between the two parties, was highly preferred on both private settings and state cults, which is clearly highlighted by the practice of a Heroxeinia festival. A Heroxeinia was a festival held on the Greek island Thasos, where the use of blood from animal offerings was employed to entice the hero to make an appearance during public held sacrifices.

In Theoxenia where food gifts were offered to the departed, in this case as a link with burial proceedings, a major doubt was always on show whether this festival was a link between the hero-cults and the cult of those who passed on - This was because those who had passed on were not part and parcel, and neither were they to be subjected to entertainment accorded to cult heroes and gods being gifted Theoxenia. The ubiquitous employment of the ritual accorded to the gods and the myriad correlation in how it was performed to both parties, in this case, the gods and the heroes, clearly show that Theoxenia was birthed in the cult of gods than ceremonies held to honor the dead.

Rituals Involving Blood

In hero cults, there was a frequency of blood rituals practices, but also the terminologies had a degree of diversity - The technique involved in the deed of slaughtering and bleeding the animal victim was termed as Haimakouriai for starters. Other terms drafted into the fold ranged from entemnein to phonai. Another term that made a frequent appearance in the collective was sphagai. Lastly, protoma was also a mainstay in these rituals. In the case of blood rituals, their appearance in the epigraphical inscriptions is reserved to a few mentions, because they were undertaken as the opening acts of thysia sacrifices which heavily relied on ceremonial dining linked to the rituals.

In common thysai rituals accorded to both gods and cult heroes, the blood was always preserved and eaten by the masses. The only instances where blood was done away with was when the thysia sacrifices were altered, which was done on the grave or tomb of the hero. Another peculiar thing in this modification of the thysai, was the beheading of the animal victim in its entirety. To debunk the myth held that animal victims were slaughtered with the head facing the ground, the aforementioned statement puts that up for serious questioning. The iconographical and epigraphical representation clearly shows a varying trend in the slaughtering of the animal victims.

These practices that involved blood rituals in the Greek cult focused more on deeds such as purification for starters. Secondly, there was the deed of oath-taking, which was a very coercive practice and helped bind two or more people together or a single or more than one is to the gods. The compulsion behind upholding an oath was to underline accountableness. Finally, in Battle-line sphagia, it involved killing of the animal victim with a knife blow to the neck, which was then followed by placement of the splanchma: gall bladder, urinary bladder, kidney in the fire - and the where observation of the fire was made.

There was also adoption of blood rituals being performed to the winds, the rivers, and the sea. In this case, the meat from the animal victim was consumed. In most cases where hero cults received blood rituals, it was to highlight their association with war. These blood sacrifices presented to cult heroes were employed to remind them of the bloodshed that was a common appearance on the battlefield. In addition, these blood rituals helped remind the cult heroes of the battle-line sphagia. With the modifications drafted into the fold involving thysia, blood rituals have gone from a one-off ritual to a full-fledged recurring practice, which ends in the feasting of the animal's meat.

Another role that blood rituals have taken over in relation to hero-cults is initiating contact and enticing the hero to make an appearance at the ceremonial festivities and games. With regards to the aforementioned role, the blood rituals relied heavily on the principles of theoxenia, but on the other hand, the constituents and handling of the offerings showed a major difference. The spillage of the blood on the ground done to initiate contact is related to rituals that are linked to the world of the dead and the abode of the damned. In this frame of reference, the blood could be used to cleanse the cult-hero and make him reachable by others.

When it comes to the commemoration of the dead, blood rituals were done to legendary figures or heroes and folkloric characters, as documented in the epigraphical inscriptions, which take the form of inspiration by hero-cults, but above all, highlighting the varying angles between gods and the ordinary dead. To expound more on blood rituals and have the reader grasp the teachings, another term bothros is drafted into the fold. The frame of usage surrounding bothros points to the directions of both cult-heroes and gods, using bothroi for recurring sacrifices, which was not followed by dining.

Also, the bothroi where both the gods and hero-cults were involved, made sure that these blood rituals took place in designated altars, away from the society - this was to ensure the contact was initiated with the gods and the exceptionally dead. One standout occurrence involving the bothroi was by Homer's piece detailing Nekyia of Odysseus sacrifice, which transformed him into a bothros. On the flip side in the era where most masses were identifying with the Greeks and the Roman era, the rituals that involved bothroi for both gods and cult-heroes were thrust into the limelight where they became literary topos. The line of argument used to debate the bothroi is lacking, and the sources available to support it is not concrete.

Throwing Away of Sacrifices

Where dining was nonexistent, sacrifices were thrown away or subjected to destruction. Here terms such as holokautos inscribed in the epigraphical representations and enagizein, which consisted of bu...