Did ancient Greeks practice ritual murder?
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Quid est Veritas?
In Memoriam to CS Lewis
Yes. The Pharmakos of many Ancient Greek cities was a person rejected to bear the evils of the rest. While in Classical times this often entailed banishment, it is obvious that in Archaic Greece it likely involved a ritual murder. It is silly to conclude this is not so when ancient authors unanimously mention it, as a limited case sacrifice of this nature would leave few archaeological traces. They were often outcasts or handicapped individuals.
It reminds me of when the Romans sacrificed a greek and gaulish slave after the defeat at Cannae as mentioned by Livy for instance. This was such a rare occurance that it is unreasonable to expect archaeologic evidence. It was not done anywhere near the extent of the Aztecs, Maya or even Gauls for that matter.
Also exposing of unwanted infants had an element of ritual to it, so there is that as well.
It reminds me of when the Romans sacrificed a greek and gaulish slave after the defeat at Cannae as mentioned by Livy for instance. This was such a rare occurance that it is unreasonable to expect archaeologic evidence. It was not done anywhere near the extent of the Aztecs, Maya or even Gauls for that matter.
Also exposing of unwanted infants had an element of ritual to it, so there is that as well.
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Constantine the Sinner
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Maybe prior to the Homeric Age, but certainty not by the Classical Period. The most famous story, that of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, features the goddess who demands it whisking the victim away out of mercy, which is probably a later development because the Greeks, while they could handle gods committing adultery, were simply to repulsed by the idea of human sacrifice.
I haven't seen a single ancient Greek author mention this practice, unless you mean in application to someone the gods are supposedly angry at, in order to prevent them from punishing the whole city.
I haven't seen a single ancient Greek author mention this practice, unless you mean in application to someone the gods are supposedly angry at, in order to prevent them from punishing the whole city.
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Quid est Veritas?
In Memoriam to CS Lewis
Mostly yes, but the occasional one is recorded, similar to Roman practice. For instance Euphantides sacrificed three Persian captives before Salamis to Dionysus, without any attempt by Themistocles to stop him, according to Phanias of Lesbos. This is also reported by Plutarch, perhaps derived from Phanias.
The clearest description of the yearly rituals as done at Athens, Leucas, Chaeronaea, Massilia and Abdera are from Hipponax, who frequently use the motif in his iambic verse.
Petronius also described it at Massilia in Roman times. It is mentioned by Phaedrus, Pindar, Aristophanes to name a few and it is the underlying concept referenced in Plato's Phaedrus when he speaks of pharmakeia or pharmakon or pharmakeus, as shown by Derrida.
Some say Aesop's death was also as a pharmakos, but this is modern speculation.
This is of course for the historic practice. The mythological equivalents are of course legion.
It is not difficult to find the specific citations from Ancient writers as many Academic studies have been done on this topic.
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