A fragment of an amphora of Panathenaic shape from about 500 BC found on the Acropolis, where it was surely a dedication, allows us to shift our focus from the ways the Greeks used the images to what images can tell us about Greek religious practices (Van Straten 1995: fig. 18). Though the shape is Panathenaic, the imagery on it is unique, and it clearly was not a prize amphora. Two men followed by a third move to the right with a goat on a leash. Other fragments show that they were part of a larger procession of men. The lead man has a large amphora on his shoulder, also of Panathenaic shape. A sacrifice is in the offing; the goat could have no other purpose. The scene has been interpreted as a victor at the Panathenaic games ‘on his way to the Acropolis to sacrifice a goat as a thank-offering, and to dedicate part of his prize as a tithe to the goddess’ (Van Straten 1995:25). This is a reminder that individuals, as well as cities, could make thank-offerings to gods in hope of continued benevolence. In fact, the Acropolis would have been covered with thousands of offerings of every conceivable type. An inscription on the base of the bronze figurine of Athena Promachos from the Acropolis mentioned earlier, which would have stood on a small column, tells us that it was dedicated to Athena by Meleso as a tithe. Another fragment of a pot from the Acropolis, this one a red-figure krater, was clearly a dedication from a potter (Figure 26.7). On it, in an upper band, are artisans at work on vases in a pottery workshop, while below youths lead a sheep or a ram to the right. Again, a sacrifice is in the offing. Each object was dedicated to a deity for a specific purpose with the hope of a reasonable return. We must remember that Greek religion was not about love or warm feelings for a deity; rather, it was about a relationship between unequals where a mortal hopes for some sort of reciprocity for his or her offerings to the immensely more powerful god.
Sacrifice was the central act of Greek religion, but unlike a vase or a statue dedicated to a deity, a sacrifice was an ephemeral gift; once it was over there was no evidence that it had happened. The more than 150 Attic black-figure and red-figure vases that have depictions on them that relate to sacrifices are a rich source of information about the ritual that accompanied this central rite. But why is sacrifice a subject on these vases? Many fragments with sacrificial scenes on them have been found on the Acropolis, and it is possible that they were dedicated there as permanent reminders for forgetful gods of past sacrifices (Van Straten 1995:53). For others, particularly those found in Etruscan tombs, the motive is less clear.
The actual killing of the animal at the altar is seldom if ever shown on Greek vases (cf. Chapter 8). Rather, depictions of sacrifice focus on the procession and activities before the killing or the rituals after the fact. Most of the scenes are generalized so that it is only occasionally possible to know to which deity a sacrifice is being offered. A scene on a krater from about 430 BC found in a tomb in Greek Agrigento in Sicily in 1962, where it may have served as an ossuary, is of particular interest here because
Figure 26.7 Potters in their workshop and youths leading an animal to sacrifice on a fragment of an Attic red-figure krater from the Acropolis. After Graef and Langlotz 1925-33: no. 739
It is one of the few scenes that include the god to whom the offering is being made along with the sacrificers (Figure 26.8). Four males prepare to sacrifice a he-goat at an altar in front of a temple in which the god Apollo, with a laurel branch, sits on a throne observing them. The temple is indicated by two doric columns and an architrave; a tripod on a doric column stands beside the altar. But before we look at the details of the sacrifice, a word should be said about the way painters and sculptors conceived of deities.
The conventions of archaic and classical Greek art were such that the human body, mortal or immortal, was almost always depicted as an ideal form. Thus, for painters and sculptors, context and attributes (clothing or accessories) were the only ways to distinguish gods from mortals. When looking at the face of Athena or Artemis or Apollo on a vase or a statue, one sees only an ideal face, but one sees the same ideal face when looking at a representation, as here, of a priest or an athlete or a hetaira or even a vase-painter. Lacking attributes or an inscription, it is often difficult to tell whether a god or a mortal is intended by the figure. For painters and sculptors, beauty or perfection of form was not unique to immortals and was certainly not a defining characteristic.
On the Agrigento vase, all of the figures are wreathed with what appear to be laurel wreaths, as they are in virtually all depictions of sacrifice. A youth to the right of the altar holds a sacrificial tray with three upright sprigs (kanoun) with his left hand. This tray is sometimes shown with three semi-circular handles, and from other depictions
Figure 26.8 Preparation for the sacrifice of a goat in the presence of Apollo on an Attic red-figure krater from Agrigento ca. 430 BC. Agrigento 4688. Photograph: Museo Archeologico Regionale
We know that it holds the sacrificial knife as well as barley corn; later it can be used to hold the organs of the animal. With his right hand the youth holds out a metal vessel with concave sides (chernips) which holds water in which a bearded priest washes his hands at the beginning of the ritual. Behind the priest a youth steadies the goat; the priest will turn and sprinkle its head with water from the chernips so that it will, by nodding, give its assent to the sacrifice. To the far left a youth accompanies the ritual with the sound of his double pipes ( aulos). All of the figures, including the god, wear himatia draped over the left shoulder.
A red-figure stamnos of about the same date found in a tomb at Etruscan Cervetri in central Italy illustrates well the aftermath of the killing (Figure 26.9). Four wreathed males stand at an altar as a Nike hovers above. Damage to the surface obscures what she holds, but it was probably a pitcher from which she poured a libation into the cup held by the bearded priest. The altar, which is streaked with blood from the sacrifice, has wood carefully stacked on it and a fire burning. On top of the wood is the tail of the sacrificed animal attached to part of the sacrum (osphus). The curling of the tail in the fire was considered an indication that the sacrifice was well received (Van Straten 1995:118-30; cf. Chapter 9). Two nude youths hold spits with meat attached. These are the splanchna, the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys of the sacrificed animal. They are roasted over the fire and then consumed warm by those participating in the sacrifice. To the far right a youth plays his aulos to
Figure 26.9 Aftermath of a sacrifice with youths preparing to roast splanchnaoptai over a fire on an altar on an Attic-red figure stamnos from Cerveteri ca. 430 BC. London E 455. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum
Accompany the ritual. He wears a phorbia, a leather strap that holds the mouthpiece of the instrument to his lips.
The priest here raises his left hand in what is probably a gesture of prayer. A particularly clear representation of prayer appears on an Attic red-figure vase from before the middle of the fifth century found at Etruscan Nola in central Italy (Figure 26.10) There the blind Thracian king Phineus raises both his hands palms out, and the painter has written the word ‘‘gods’’ ( theoi) as if the word is coming out of his mouth.
Both of the vases with detailed representations of sacrifices on them discussed above were made in Athens, but one was found in a tomb in Greek Sicily, the other in an Etruscan tomb in central Italy. Both are of shapes designed for the symposion, a form of ritualized drinking common throughout the Greek and Etruscan worlds, where they would have held the mixed wine and water that was a central part of that ritual. Whether these vases were ever used for symposia or whether they were bought specifically for the tomb is impossible to say. In any case, the vases were export commodities, but the fact that the imagery is generally in keeping with imagery of sacrifice on fragmentary vases found in Athens can perhaps reassure us that it gives us some idea of the details of sacrificial rituals in Athens during the second half of the fifth century.
The care we must take in reading images on vases is illustrated well by a scene on another Attic red-figure krater, ca. 440 BC, found in a rich tomb at Spina, an Etruscan commercial center at the head of the Adriatic (Figure 26.11). A bearded
Figure 26.10 Phineus raising his hands in prayer as he addresses the gods on an Attic red-figure neck-amphora from Nola ca. 460. London E 291. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum
Male and a female holding offering bowls {phialai), presumably a god and a goddess, sit in a temple in front of which is an altar with a fire burning on it. A white-haired figure with a draped winnowing basket (liknon) on his or her head approaches from the right, followed by a woman playing pipes and another beating a tympanon.
Figure 26.11 Ecstatic worship in the presence of two deities on an Attic red-figure volute krater from Spina ca. 440 BC. Ferrara 2897. Photograph: Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Ferrara
Behind the temple, with his back to it, is a professional aulete in a long, ornately decorated chiton and a phorbeia. By him are two women dancing with snakes in their hands. The seated goddess wears a crown and holds a scepter with her left hand; a small lion stands on her outstretched arm. The god wears a fillet entwined with two snakes and holds a scepter. On the other side of the vase are more dancers, including a youth, with snakes and pipes and a tympanon.
What sense might fifth-century Athenians have made of this scene? Would they have seen it as a representation of something with which they were familiar or would they have understood it as an imaginary picture of what goes on in ecstatic cults (perhaps confirming preconceptions or prejudices), perhaps derived from a theatrical performance?
The scene is unique. Though every element of imagery in it appears on other Attic red-figure vases, they never appear in this combination, and there is disagreement amongst scholars as to who the deities are. The god has been variously called Dionysus, Sabazios, Dionysus Hades, and Dionysus Sabazios. The goddess has been called Ariadne, Semele, Kybele, and Demeter. In fact, Sabazios does not appear at all on any Greek vases and, aside from here, no other deity is shown with snakes in his hair. The lion standing on the arm of the goddess has parallels with Hera and with nymphs associated with Dionysus, and in sculpture the lion is associated with Kybele. The liknon as a sacrificial basket instead of a kanoun is later associated with Dionysus. The tympanon, which first appears on red-figure vases not long before this vase was made, is limited to Dionysiac scenes until the end of the century. Earlier in the century snakes were common attributes of nymphs who accompanied Dionysus. So there are Dionysiac associations, but the seated god has none of the attributes of Dionysus (kantharos, ivy wreath, thyrsos), one of the most common deities to appear on Attic red-figure vases. Had the vase-painter wanted us to see him as Dionysus he would have given us some indication. The presence of the professional musician is also puzzling, because he is usually associated with performances. In short, given the peculiarities of the scene we would be unwise to look at it as a document defining aspects of Attic religious practices. We would probably be closer to the mark if we saw it as a depiction of what the Attic painter thought ‘‘other people’’ did.
A group of Attic red-figure vases, mostly stamnoi, from the middle of the fifth century, which have been said to show mortal worship of Dionysus, should also be considered in this context. A stamnos from an Etruscan tomb at Falerii Veteres in central Italy illustrates well the basic elements of the scene (Figure 26.12). Two women flank a table on which two stamnoi stand on either side of a stack of cakes or bread. Behind the table is a column to which a bearded mask with an ivy wreath is attached. A cloak hangs down from the mask while ivy sprigs stick out above it. Both women hold cups ( skyphoi), and the one to the left dips into one of the stamnoi with a ladle. The stamnoi with this scene are often called ‘‘Lenaia vases,’’ implying that they represent that Dionysiac festival, about which we know very little. In fact, there is no sound evidence to support that association.
The mask-idol first appears on a group of black-figure vases, mostly lekythoi from a small group of workshops at the beginning of the fifth century, and may well represent a rustic idol with which Athenians would have been familiar. Women move about the idol, sometimes accompanied by satyrs and ithyphallic donkeys,
Figure 26.12 Women worshiping at mask image of Dionysus on an Attic red-figure stamnos from Falerii Veteres ca. 440 BC. Villa Giulia 983. Photograph: Soprintendenza per i Bene Archeologici di Lazio, Sezione Etruria Meridionale
Suggesting that these are figures from myth. The last of the ‘‘Lenaia’’ stamnoi, ca. 420 BC, has women given names used exclusively for nymphs on other vases. On another stamnos one of the women holds a satyr child. It is entirely possible that all of the women on the Lenaia vases should be seen as nymphs rather than as mortals, and that the scene has nothing to do with an Attic festival (Carpenter 1997a:79-84).
The shape of the stamnos (a modern name for the vase) originated in Etruria, and most Attic stamnoi have been found in Italy, including most of the ‘‘Lenaia’’ stamnoi. Also, the only depictions of the stamnos shape on Greek vases are precisely on these stamnoi, where it is used in place of a krater for mixing wine. Thus there is reason to see the Attic stamnos as primarily an export commodity. This does not necessarily mean that the imagery was specially designed for export, but it does give us pause if we want to use it as evidence of Attic religious behavior.
It should be clear by now that treating depictions of religious activity on vases as evidence for actual practices needs to be done with great care. The images provide an immediacy lacking in textual material, yet at the same time our understanding of details depends in large part on texts, which raises the danger of circularity in our discussions. We must be extremely careful not to ignore contexts or problematic elements of imagery, and not to focus only on elements we think we understand. The stamnos with the sacrificial scene on it discussed above is a case in point.
The stamnos discussed earlier with a depiction of the aftermath of a sacrifice on it was certainly made in Athens, though it was found in an Etruscan tomb along with another stamnos with a nearly identical scene on it. The sacrificer on our stamnos is named with a Greek inscription, Archenautes, which may be the name of an Athenian citizen, but the similar figure on the other stamnos is named Diomedes, who is more likely the epic hero. The Nike hovering above in both scenes hints at a larger-than-life context. We have no idea why the painter included the names on objects made for export, or what the names meant to the Etruscans or for that matter to Athenians. While these questions may not affect our understanding of the details of the sacrifice in Athens, they should nonetheless give us pause.
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