Abstract

An ancient Greek sanctuary was a temenos, “that which has been cut off” (from the verb temnein, “to cut”), a space reserved for the gods where their worship took place. Use and access was circumscribed by particular rules, and a boundary was set to protect the purity of the precinct. Still, even if the temenos functioned as a space for communication with the divine world, the interaction between immortals and mortals was not always without friction.

In my presentation I will explore the use of temenos space by gods and humans with a particular focus on the consumption of food. The reason for using this parameter is related to how the ancient Greeks worshipped their gods, namely through animal sacrifice. This ritual involved consumption of the animal by both the divine and human parties, but in different ways. There were differences as to what each group ate, how they ate, where and why. Preparation and consumption of food may therefore help us define the relationship between gods and humans, and also the ancient Greek view of the divine. Furthermore, the preparation and consumption of food can tell us something about how Greek sanctuaries were structured and used, and if divine and human space inside the temenos interacted, overlapped, or excluded each other.