Paralus wrote:That said, it shouldn't surprise then that one morning's sacrificial lamb or piously butchered bird - misshapen lobes of liver aside - might become that evening's succulent souvlaki or drunken chicken.
The piety didn't end with the butchering though - how the animal was cooked was also part of the sacrificial ceremony.
Athenaeus Book XIV. 659 d – 660 a
It is, therefore, not to be wondered at if the ancient cooks were also versed in the ritual of sacrifice; for they presided, at any rate, over weddings and festival-sacrifices. Hence Menander in The Flatterers represents the cook who served the people at the festival of Aphrodite Pandemus on the fourth day of the month as saying, in these words: “A libation! You, there, follow me and give me the viscera. Where are your eyes? A libation! Come, my slave Sosias, a libation. Good. Now pour in. Let us pray to all the Olympians, gods and goddesses alike. Take the tongue. For this may they grant us safety, health, and blessings many, and, for us all, enjoyment of our present blessings. Be this our prayer.” And another cook says in Simonides: “How I singed that hog and cut up its meat in ritual fashion; for I understand that well.” Their skill is revealed in the Letter to Alexander from Olympias. Urging him to purchase from herself a cook versed in sacrificial rites, his mother says: “Buy Pelignas the cook from your mother. For he knows the manner in which all sacred rites of your ancestors are carried out, both the Argadistic and the Bacchic, and all the sacrifices that Olympias offers he knows. Do not neglect this, therefore, but buy him and send him to me with all speed.”
I suspect that in the Greek cities the consumption of
all four-legged creatures was related to sacrificial victims. That seems to be the implication in
The Cuisine of Sacrifice Among the Greeks anyway. I also recall reading that animals which were hunted were NOT eaten! Now, how much this applied to an army on the march I do not know, but before the Persian campaign began Alexander "entertained great numbers in person besides distributing to his entire force sacrificial animals and all else suitable for the festive occasion, and put his army in a fine humour." (Diodorus XVII.16.4) I think it's interesting (and relevant) that Diodorus doesn't say Alexander gave his men a great feast, but that he
distributed sacrificial animals. Food for thought, anyway.
Umm, sorry about the pun ...
Best regards,
_____________
Amyntoros
PS. Have just recalled the occasions when Alexander's men were reduced to eating their horses or mules. Obviously this consumption had nothing to do with sacrifice, but this was not the norm.