And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare;
Between their horns the salted barley threw,
And with their heads to heav’n the victims slew;
The limbs, they sever from th’ inclosing hide;
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide:
On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lay from ev’ry part.
The priest himself before his altar stands,
And burns the off’ring with his holy hands,
Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire;
The youth with instruments surround the fire:
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dressed,
Th’ assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest:
Then spread the tables, and repast prepare,
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
Now when the rage of hunger was repressed,
With pure libations they conclude the feast;
The youths with wine the copious goblets crowned,
And pleased, dispense the flowing bowls around.
With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,
The paeans lengthened ‘till the sun descends:
The Greeks restored the grateful notes prolong;
Apollo listens, and approves the song.
(Iliad, 1, 452–474 in the translation of Alexander Pope)In this case Apollo grants the prayer and puts an end to the plague; in other cases the
prayer may be half granted or may simply go to the winds. The dignified ceremonial
language of the translator well reflects the ritual style of the sacrifice and meal. The
sacrifice of a hundred beasts (the literal meaning of hecatomb) is a prelude to general
feasting. The custom was to offer the thighbones to the gods and there was a myth
to account for this. Prometheus, whose name means ‘forethought’ and who is always
represented as a friend to man, had tricked Zeus into choosing the thighbones, a
seemingly useless part of the beast (but rich in marrow), by disguising them with a
covering of rich fat (Hesiod, Theogony, 536–560).
The Homeric poems represent a world in which human life constantly engages
with the divine. In this general respect they are a blueprint for what follows through
the centuries of Greek experience. Sacrifices, prayers and votive offerings in real life
as in the poetic representation were largely to ensure earthly success and well-being
rather than to avoid penalties after death, for the Greek religion did not have anything
comparable to the Christian concepts of universal judgement, salvation and eternal
96 THE GREEKS