Ritual

The use of the term “ritual” has been criticized as imposing an artificial distinction between thought and action. Especially in scholarly traditions of religious studies influenced by Protestantism, “ritual” may carry a negative connotation of mindless repetition. “Performance,” which recognizes the scripted nature of ritual behavior, yet avoids the baggage attached to “ritual,” is sometimes preferred, though I choose to retain the latter term in this book. Established scholarly understandings of religious ritual point to its role in transmitting ideas, socializing the young, and creating group solidarity. In these ways, it functions much like a language and similarly has a vocabulary of acts that can be repeated in different combinations to convey different meanings. Burkert and other experts on ancient Greek ritual have stressed the way rituals create temporary disorder, fear, or uncertainty, only to decisively reaffirm order and convention. More recent approaches emphasize human agency in the construction of ritual/performance and view it as a fluid activity shaped by individuals, who use it to create culture. This perspective suggests that while some individuals may be passively indoctrinated by their participation in ritual, people are also agents who may create and modify rituals for their own ends.6

There is no ancient Greek word for ritual; the closest equivalents are perhaps ta nomizomena (customary things) and ta patria (ancestral customs). The basic components of Greek ritual practice include various forms of sacrifice, libation, and the offering of gifts to the gods; purifications; processions, dances, and competitions held in festival contexts; hymns and prayers; and divination. Of these rituals, which are common to the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean, animal sacrifice has attracted the most scholarly attention. Starting in the nineteenth century with Edward B. Tylor and W. Robertson Smith, animal sacrifice was explained by turns as a gift to the gods, a form of communion with them, a method of exchange between humans and gods, a conduit for human contact with the sacred, and so on. The concept of sacrifice as a gift has been the most enduring of these, for anthropological studies of reciprocity suggest that offerings to supernatural figures can be understood as an extension of “secular” gift exchange and systems of food distribution.7

Karl Meuli and Burkert sought the origins of sacrifice in the transition from Paleolithic hunting to the raising of domesticated animals, and in the fundamental anxiety produced in human beings by slaughter, while Rene Girard saw in the ritualized killing of animals an outlet for human aggression and even the substrate of all later culture. These influential theories have lost ground in recent years. Anthropologists no longer place hunting at the center of Paleolithic life, and the emotional impact of killing an animal is difficult to detect among many modern practitioners of sacrifice. The abundant evidence for sacrifice as a joyous and festive occasion in antiquity also seems to outweigh the hints of guilt and anxiety, though these are indisputably present.8 A different approach is represented by Vernant and Marcel Detienne, who focus on the role of sacrifice in articulating the relationships between gods (who enjoy only the savor), humans (who carve and cook), and beasts (who consume raw food). Sacrifice also involves a formal distribution of food that reflects social and political structures: for example, meat may be divided into strictly equal portions among a group of political equals, or portions of honor may be allotted to certain individuals, while others are excluded from participation.9

Figure 1.1 A sacrificial bull is led to the priest at the altar, overseen by the cult statue of a goddess. Attic red-figured pelike, fifth century. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung, Vienna. Erich Lessing/Art Resource.

The religious experience of the Greeks was organized by a lunar calendar of festivals and sacrifices unique to each place and time. Such calendars were in use as early as the Mycenaean period, for the Linear B tablets contain the names of months (including a month named after Zeus) and festivals. Festival calendars and month names correspond broadly to the ethnic background of a given city or region: Karneios and Agrianios are common Dorian months, while Anthesterion and Poseideon are found among Ionians. The month-names typically refer to gods and festivals (which allowed for arbitrary changes in order), rather than seasonal events or the rhythms of the agricultural year.10

A standard feature of Greek communal worship was the pompe or procession. While the endpoint was usually the sanctuary of the deity to be honored, the starting point varied. Starting at the city gates and moving toward the citadel emphasized that a deity on the akropolis was at the heart of the city. Starting at the prutaneion (city hall) emphasized the state sponsorship of the cult in question. Because most processions culminated in sacrifice, the participants led the victims and carried certain items to be used in the ritual. They might also escort the cult statue of the god on a given route.

While processions often included members of different social classes and categories, they were typically organized so as to draw attention to these differences and to highlight the gulf between citizens and noncitizens.11

Prayers were offered, above all, at the beginning of any endeavor, large or small: a season’s ploughing, a meeting of citizens, the start of a journey. Greek worshipers usually prayed standing, with one or both arms raised. Prayers were spoken aloud rather than silently. Communal worship often involved the singing of hymns, and hymnic genres developed with respect to specific deities and occasions. An aspect of Greek worship far less familiar to moderns is the constant emphasis on agon, competition. Many festivals, especially those that gained wide popularity and drew a Panhellenic audience, involved contests. The best drama, song and dance by a chorus, flute composition, display of horsemanship, or athletic performance would please the god or goddess, and the winners dedicated statues and other gifts in thanks for their victory.12