Preface
Spelling and Abbreviations
List of Figures
1. The Invention of a Ritual
2. Venues and Offerings
3. Prayers and Answers
4. God Says No
5. Rules, Rewards, and Experts
6. Markets and Messes
7. A Detective Story
8. The Demise of a Ritual
Appendix A
Appendix B
Bibliography
Index Locorum
Index Verborum
Index Nominum
Index Rerum
F. S. Naiden is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"Naiden is the first scholar to pull together so many accounts of
sacrifice in such a sophisticated fashion, and he exhibits a
masterful range. His collection of anecdotes and testimonia will
benefit generations of scholars, who could only look to the
abbreviated entries in lexica or handbooks like ThesCRA, which do
not aim to be comprehensive. Naiden embraces the full spectrum and
is able to collapse it all into an accessible paradigm based on
human
desire for divine approval and assistance. It's brilliantly simple
and the narrative he creates renders a dizzying variety of ancient
testimony and criticism into a bite-sized format. He has
effectively
dismantled the 20th century theories, creating a new point of
reference for Classical studies on this topic."--Bryn Mawr
Classical Review
"Naiden's Ancient Supplication cogently demonstrated that
supplicating the gods was a complex, multi-stage ritual. He now
turns to the act of (especially blood) sacrifice, focusing on the
centrality of the ritual in ancient Greece, but with due
consideration of Hebraic and Roman practices.... He argues, often
wittily, that current explanatory models are constructed of
theories, prejudices, and ancient literary evidence, inadequately
incorporating
iconographic and epigraphic evidence. The author considers the full
range of evidence to place the gods as central to the sacrificial
ritual. More precisely, he analyzes what those sacrificing expected
of the gods
(and humans did not always receive what they requested).... Those
who follow Walter Burkert, Marcel Detienne, and Jean-Pierre
Vernant, for example, may wish to reconsider their understanding of
sacrifice.... Essential."--P. B. Harvey Jr., CHOICE
"Sacrifice has long been recognised as the central Greek ritual.
Fred Naiden's book puts its study on a completely new footing and
transcends the older studies by Walter Burkert and Jean-Pierre
Vernant. All students will from now on have to start with his book.
It is a milestone in the field."--Jan Bremmer, University of
Groningen
"A game-changing book that should be read by anyone with an
interest in ancient religions. Intensely learned, and bristling
with theoretical insight, Naiden sweeps away the standard paradigm
of how animal sacrifice works in ancient Greece, and reveals how
that paradigm was shaped by agendas and prejudices of modern
European thought. The study of animal sacrifice in ancient Greece
will never be the same again."--Ian Rutherford, University of
Reading
"A landmark study of Greek sacrifice... Naiden's volume is a joy to
read -- breezy and witty, but obviously the product of deep
exposure not only to classical sources but to modern classical
scholarship." --First Things
"Naiden is the first scholar to pull together so many accounts of
sacrifice in such a sophisticated fashion, and he exhibits a
masterful range. Naiden embraces the full spectrum and is able to
collapse it all into an accessible paradigm based on human desire
for divine approval and assistance. ... He has effectively
dismantled the twentieth-century theories, creating a new point of
reference for Classical studies on this topic." --Bryn Mawr
Classical
Review
"This well-written book is essential reading for those interested
in Greek sacrifice for its own sake--but also for those interested
in early Christian (or, for that matter, early modern) reactions to
Greek sacrifice." --Religious Studies Review
"I would say that this is the most important book on ancient Greek
sacrifice to have appeared for many a year. In many instances,
Naiden seems simply right, both in his broad approach and in his
particular conclusions; at any rate, the book will certain play an
important part in subsequent discussions of sacrifice in ancient
Greece and elsewhere." -- The Heythrop Journal
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
