@inbook{78579fbae4cb445798341e1daf203700,
title = "A Cognitive Approach to Ancient Greek Animal Sacrifice",
abstract = "This chapter considers whether scholars should be seeking {\textquoteleft}meaning{\textquoteright} when considering animal sacrifice. Ritual activity that can be described as {\textquoteleft}normative Greek sacrifice{\textquoteright} is carried out in different circumstances with very different aims, for example to propitiate and honour a god or goddess, as part of the preparation of a meal, as a process to enable divination, or as a responsibility handed on by tradition. The various ritual actions that make up {\textquoteleft}normative Greek sacrifice{\textquoteright} – including burning incense, killing the animal, examining the entrails, eating the meat, and singing hymns and offering prayers – can be carried out outside the context of animal sacrifice. I make use of theories of ritualization to argue that {\textquoteleft}normative Greek sacrifice{\textquoteright} should be seen as a collection of actions to which those who take part in it bring their own intentions and therefore provide their own meanings. I then examine the sensory impact of these actions to show that they would have been emotionally satisfying in their own right. Finally I consider cognitive theories that might explain why {\textquoteleft}normative Greek sacrifice{\textquoteright} might have been transmitted in the form it was, and suggest directions for future research to provide answers to this question.",
keywords = "Greek religion, normative Greek sacrifice, divination, ritualization, sensory experience",
author = "Hugh Bowden",
year = "2022",
month = jul,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1017/9781009019927",
language = "English",
series = "Ancient Religion and Cognition",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
pages = "19--43",
editor = "Esther Eidinow and Armin Geertz and John North",
booktitle = "Cognitive Approaches to Ancient Religious Experience",
}