Burkert Homo Necans

FIOMO NECANS TheAnthropology of AncientGreek SacrificiqlRitual andMtlth bV WALIER BURKERT Translated by PETERBING

UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley LosAngeles London

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-L .; i1, cr

For ReinholdMerlcelbsch

Originally published in German by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin, under the title Homo Necans(1972). University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England @ 1983by The Regents of the University of California

Library of CongressCatalogingin PublicationData Burkert, Walter r93rHomo necans. Translationof: Homo necans. Bibliography: p. r. Ritesand ceremonies-Greece. z. Sacrifice. 3. Mythology, Greek. 4. Greece-Religion. I. Title. zgz' .38 77-93423 sr788.a8V3 rg8) rsrwo-5zo-o5875-5

Printed in the United Statesof America 456789 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standardfor llformation Sciences-Permanence of Paperfor Printed Library Materials,ANSI 49.48-r984.

xcti rair'

Eart rd. puarr1pca, cvueltovrt gduut. gouoL xo.i ragoc Clementof Alexandria

et nos servasti_sanguine

fuso

Mithraic inscription,Santaprisca,Rome

Contents

Translator'sPreface xi to theEnglishEdition xiii Preface Listof lllustrations xvii lntroduction xix I . SACRIFICE,HUNTING, AND FUNERARYRITUALS r. Sacrificeasan Act of Killing 1 Explanation: PrimitiaeMan as Hunter z. TheEtsolutionary 3. Ritualization 22 4. Myth and Ritual 29 of Ritual Killing J5 5, TheFunctionand Transformation Funerary Ritual 6. 48 7. TheSexualizationof Ritual Killing: Maiden Sacrifice, PhallusCuIt 58 8. FatherGodand GreatGoddess 72 il. WEREWOLVESAROUND THE TRIPOD KETTLE

72

83

r. Lykniaand Lykaion 84 z. Pelopsat Olympia 93 3. Thyestesand Harpagos 1o3 4. Aristaiosand Aktaion 1o9 5. TheDelphicTripod tr6 6. A Glanceat Odysseus t3o

m. DISSOLUTION AND

NEW YEAR'SFESTIVAL

r. FromOx-Slayingto thePanathenaic Festiaal t36 Dipolieia q6 Skira 74) IX

a35

Arrhephoria 71'o Panathenaia 754 Excursus: The Troian Horse 1 5 8 2 . Argos and Argeiphontes 16r ) . Agrionia $8 4 . Tereusand the Nightingale a79 5 . Antiope and EPoPeus 185 6 . The Lemnian Women 79o 7. The Return of the DolPhin t96 8 . Fish Adaent 2o4

IV. ANTHESTERIA

Translator'sPreface

273

Testimoniaand Dissemination 213 Pithoigia and Choes zt6 3 . Carians or Keres zz6 i SacredMarriage and Lenaia-Vases z3o ?' 5 . Chytroi qnd Aiora 48 6 . Protesilaos 243 7.

2.

V. ELEUSIS t. Documentation and Secret 248 z. TheMyth of Koreand Pig-Sacrifice256 3. Myesisand Synthema 265 in the Telesterion274 4. TheSacrifice Deathand Encountering Death:Initiationand 5. Oaercoming Sacrifice zg3 and Bibliography 299 Abbreaiations Indexof Cult Sitesand Festiuals 3o9

248

walter Burkert'sstyle is often suggestiverather than explicit, his descriptionsare vivid (at times almost visionary)rather than dryly academic,and he does not hesitateto use colroquiarismsso as to make a point more forcefully. In the processof translation, such featuresinevitably undergo a certain levelling. I have tried, however, to maintain the drama and drive of ProfessorBurkert'sprose.In the German, Homo Necansis remarkable for being both an exemplary piece of scholarshipand just plain good reading. It is my hope that itiemains so in the.English. Among the many friends and colleagueswho helped me at various stagesin this translation,specialthanks are due to fames Fanto, ProfessorBruce Frier, ProfessorLudwig Koenen, Charlotte Melin, ProfessorWilliam Owens, and ProfessorSusan Scheinberg.I was privileged to spend severalenjoyable and productive days revising the manuscript with ProfessorBurkert in Uster. Finally my thanki to Doris Kretschmer of the University of California piess who entrusted this project to me and politely,but firmly, kept my nose to the grindstone. PHILADELrHIA, NovEMBnn rg8z

Index of Namesof Godsand Heroes 3a3 PeterBing

and Things )79 lndexof Persons lndex of GreekWords 33a

xi

Prefaceto the English Edition

It is with some hesitation that I present this book, conceivedin the sixties, to an Anglo-American public of the eighties. An holistic synthesisin the field of anthropology may appear preposterousand inadequateat any time; and changesin approach, method, and interest, which have been especiallymarked in these decades-be it through progress in the individual branchesof study, be it through changes.ofparadigmsor even fashions-make such an attempt all the more questionable.When this book appearedin German in 1972,it could claim to be revolutionary in various respects.To a field still dominated largely by philological-historicalpositivism or by the residue of the Tylorian approach in Nilsson and Deubner, it brought a comprehensiveand consistentapplicationof the myth-and-ritual position; it introduced, after Harrison's Themis,functionalism to the study of Greek religion; it used a form of structuralismin interpreting the complexesof mythical tales and festivals;and it made a first attempt to apply ethology to religious history. In the English-speaking world, ritualism and functionalismhad made their mark long before, and much more on all theselines has beenworked out, disseminated, and discussedin the last decade.What was originally novel and daring may thus soon apPearantiquated.The socialaspectof religion in generaland the central role of sacrificein ancient religion are taken for granted today.Much of the credit goesto the schoolof Jean-Pierre and the Vernant and Marcel Detienne in Paris. Ren6 Girard's Violence Sacred, which appearedin the sameyear as HomoNecansand may be seenas largely parallelin intent (cf. L5.n.r), was also instrumental. More generally,we have seen the swift rise of semiology and structuralism, which, though judged by some to be already past their apogee, still command attention and discussion.We have likewise witnessedthe emergenceof sociobiology,which aspiresto a new synthesisof natural and socialsciences.To keep up with all thesedevelwould virtually require opments and iniegrate them into HomoNecans xlll

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

another book replacing the tentative essay that now constitutes my first chapter. Chapters II through V appear less problematical. They elaborate basic ritual structures reflected in myth, demonstrating correspondences and integrating isolated pie-9gsinto a comprehensive whole. As a description-this *ill prorr. ualid.in its own right. The attempt, however, to extrapolate from this an historical-causal explanation of the phenomena-that is, to derive sacrifice from hunting and religion be condemned by the stern rules of from sacrificial ritual-could I have decided to run this risk rather than Yet methodology. a many limit my perspectives by preestablished rules. In so doing, I have inevitably made use of various hypotheses concerning prehistory, sociology, and psychology that are open to error and to the possibility of attack and falsification in the course of further research. There is no denying that a decisive impulse for the thesis of Homo Necans came from Konrad Lorenz's On Aggression, which seemed to offer new insight into the disquieting manifestations of violence, which are so prominent in human affairs and not least in the ancient world. Lorenz's assertions about the innate roots of aggression and its necessary functions have come under vigorous attack by progressive sociologists. Some overstatements no doubt have been corrected, but some of the criticism and subsequent neglect may be viewed as part of the schizophrenia of our world, which pursues the ideal of an ever more human, more easygoing life amid growing insecurity and uncontrolled violence. Fashionable psychology attempts to eradicate feelings of guilt from the human psyche; ideas of atonement appear old-fashioned or even perverse. The thrust of Homo Necans runs counter to these trends. It attempts to show that things were different in the formative period of oui civilization; it arguJs that solidarity was achieved through a sacred crime with due reparation. And while it has no intention of thwarting modern optimism, it tries to warn against ignoring what was formerly the case. Great advances have been made in prehistory and especially in primatology. We now know there are hunts with subsequent ,,distribution of meat" among chimpanzees (seeI.z.n.z3)-showing them to be more human than had been suspected; a chimpanzee ,,rarar,,has been observed, and there are reports of intentionaf kitting by gorillas and orangutans (see I.6.n.5). The picture of evolution hai become ever richer in details but increasingly blurred in its outlines. In reaction to the "hunting hypothesis" of Robert Ardrey and others, specialists are now reluctant to lay claim to knowledge of the importance of hunting behavior. what had been taken to be lhe earliest evidence

for sacrifice has been called into question again (see I.z.n.6). yet the historian of religion still insists that religion must have come into ex_ is.tence at some specific point_chimpir,re"s are apparentlv irreli_ gious-and that it first becomes disceinibre with funera.y uni nrr.,t_ ing ritual. In view of all this it is essential to note that the lor.r" or historical development as delineated in Homo Necqnsdoes not at any stage require that "all" men acted or experienced things in a certain way-e'9., that all hunters feel sympathy for their quairy or remorse over their hunting-but only that ro*" iid indeed instiiute forms of behavior that became traditional and had a formative influence on the high cultures accessible to historical investigation. For the srrange prominence of animal sraughter in ancient rer'igion this still seems to be the most economical, and most humane, exllanation. dealing with tradition, Homo Necanstakes a stance that is . -F hardly popular: it restricts the role of creative freedom a.d fantasy; it reduces "ideas" to the imprinting effect of cultural transfer. on the other hand, modern insistence on ,,creativity,, may simply be an at_ tempt to compensate for the enormous anonymous constraints at work in our society. Nobody wants to question the spiritual achievements of mankind, but these may have it.ung" and opaque substructures. In pointing them out it is perhaps wisest not even to shun the accusation of reductionism, for, though from a structuralist-semiotic perspective one may well describe religion as the relations between men and gods, with sacrifice mediating between them, the term gods nonetheless remains fluid and in need of explanation, while sacrifice is a fact. The thesis that those groups united by religious ritual have historically been most successful seems to conflict *itn tn" modern version of the theory of evolution. That theory now discards the concept 9f qlo"p selection and insists, rather, on ih" self-perpetuation of the "selfish gene" (see I.3.n.9). It may be pointed out bnce more that this is a predictable modern perspective ieflecting the disintegration of our society. whether it applies to the history of culturally dJtermined groups is another question. The thesis of Homo Necansdoes not hypothesize about genetic fixation of ,,human nature.,, It seeks, rather, to.confront the power and effect of tradition as fuily as possibre. In this sense it is radically historical, and factual. pre.paring the translation, I have only been able to rework the ototrography and notes to a limited extent. They still largely reflect the state of the relevant scholarship in 1972. I have, howlver, taken the opportunity to refer to more recent specialized studies and stan-

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

more complete and updard works and to make the documentation to-date. ItremainstothanktheUniversityofCaliforniaPressandPeter Bing, the translator, for their untiring efforts'

List of Illustrations

usrER,yurv r98z WalterBurkert

following pagefi4 r. Sacrificialprocession.Attic black-figurecup. z. Preparation for sacrifice. Attic red-figure bell crater. 3. Leopard men hunting stagand boar. Wall painting from Qatal Htiyrik. 4- Sacrificial feast: roasting and cooking. Caeretan hydria. 5 . Warrior rising from a tripod cauldron. Mitra from Axos. 6. Bulls strolling around an altar. Attic black-figure oinochoe. 'Lenaia-vase'. Attic red-figure stamnos. 8 . Mystery initiation: pig sacrifice. Lovatelli urn. 9 . Mystery initiation: purification by liknon. Lovatelli urn. n

xvll

Introduction

It is not so much the limits of our knowledge as the superabundance of what can be known that makes an attempt to expliin man's religious behavior an almost hopelessenterprise.The mass of available data and interpretation has long exceededthe limits of what an individual can grasp and assimilate.Perhapsthis stream of information will soon be ordered and surveyedthrough a collectiveeffort using computels, but as long as intellectualindependenceprevails and an individual must seek to orient himself within his own world, he may-indeed, he must-take the risk of projectinga model of his situation and reducing a confusing multiplicity into a comprehensible form. A philologist who startsfrom ancientGreek textsand attemptsto find biological, psychological,and sociologicalexplanationsfoi religious phenomenanaturally runs the risk of juggling too many balls at once and dropping them all. And if it is strangefor a philologist to venture beyond scrupulous discussionof his texts, psychology and sociologyare just as reluctant to burden their analysesof contemporary phenomenawith an historical perspectivestretchingback to antiquity and beyond. There is a danger that important biological,psychological, and ethnological findings be overlooked, juit as can happen with archaeologicalfinds, and it is hardly possible for the non-specialistto give the Near Easternevidencethe expert treatment it requires. Yet we must not assumethat all subiectsfii neatlv within the limits of a particular discipline. Even philology depends on a biologically,psychologically,and sociologicallydeteimined environment and tradition to provide its basisfor understanding.And just as biology acquiredan historical dimension with the conceptof evolution,r so sociology,like psychology before it, should uccepfthe notion that 'H. Diels, lnternationale wochenshrift ) (1gog), g9o, discussed the "historicizins of nature" through Darwin's the