Blood sacrifice, the ritual slaughter of animals, has been basic to religion through history, so that it survives in spiritualized form even in Christianity. How did this violent phenomenon achieve the status of the sacred? This question is examined in Walter Burkert's famous study.
Homo Necans The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth
About the Book
Reviews
"A milestone, not only in the field of classics but in the wider field of the history of religion. . . . It will find a place alongside the works of Jane Ellen Harrison, Sir James George Frazer, Claude Levi-Strauss, and van Gennep."—Wendy Flaherty, Divinity School, University of Chicago"This book is a professional classic, an absolute must for any serious student of Greek religion."—Albert Henrichs, Harvard University
Table of Contents
Translator's Preface
Preface to the English Edition
List of Illustrations
Introduction
I. Sacrifice, Hunting, and Funerary Rituals
II. Werewolves around the Tripod Kettle
III. Dissolution and New Year's Festival
IV. Anthesteria
V. Eleusis
Abbreviations and Bibliography
Index
Awards
- 1992 Ingersoll Prize in the Richard M. Weaver Award for Scholarly Letters category, Rockford Institute