What happened to sacrificed animals in ancient Greece?

Upvote:-3

It depends on what time period.

In the Homeric period, sacrifice was a big deal. For example, in the Iliad you can read of "hecatombs" (hundreds of heads) being sacrificed at a time. Most sacrifices in old Greece did not happen at temples. You could (and were expected to) sacrifice everywhere. Normally only the less desirable parts were burned, such as the entrails, the rest being eaten. If you did your own sacrifice, you ate the cow. If you sacrificed at a temple, the priests got the cow. In case of a REALLY big deal, you could do a "holocaust" (burn the whole thing) in which case you burned the whole animal, which was expensive both in terms of fuel and time and of course you lost the whole cow (or sheep).

In later "classical" times, Greek sacrifice became more ceremonial. Often just a token chunk of the animal was burned and this was usually done at a temple. When the gods just got the token chunk, often it was one of the choice pieces of the animal (I guess one piece of filet mignon is better than 20 pounds of entrails).

The ashes were dumped into a pit and in some temples and oracles the ash pit could get very big. The ash pit at the oracle of Delphi was known as the "Omphalos", meaning "navel", insinuating it was the center point of the world.

Upvote:8

Cthonic sacrifices generally resulted in the animals being burnt entire. Totally cremating doves meant the smell of burnt feathers as well as burning meat.

Normally sacrifices resulted in bones and fat being burnt for the gods on high altars. I suspect the height was not only part of the spectacle but got the greasy smoke above the heads of the crowd rather than driving them away.

Temples had big kettles as part of their normal equipment. The full-time priests took the meat and boiled it like pot roast (no veggies mentioned). They were the cooks. The meat was then shared out among the congregation as a communal sacramental meal. It was said that for poor men this might be the only meat they ate.

So you didn't watch the sacrifice and go home. Waiting for the rest of the ceremony gave you time to socialize with other Greeks and citizens.

SOURCES:

Pausanias. Guide to Greece trans by Peter Levy because the notes are so good.

EDIT: About those ashes, the only thing I can find is in one of Pausanias's chapters on Olympia (he has two), where the ashes are mixed with water and plastered onto the hill on top of which the altar stands. This ash-hill was out in the open so it seems it never got too huge. If this had been normal, he would not have remarked on it.

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