PERSPECTIVES ON THE PHENOMENON OF RITUAL SACRIFICE, SACRALIZATION OF FOOD AND CONVIVIALITY IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD
PERSPECTIVES ON THE PHENOMENON OF RITUAL SACRIFICE, SACRALIZATION OF FOOD AND CONVIVIALITY IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to offer an overview of modern bibliography and scholarship on ritual banquets and sacrifice. To this end we show some examples provided by ancient literary sources and archaeology for the nexus between banquets, ritual and sacrifice in Classical antiquity. The central role of sacrifice is based in its sacralisation capability to transform the common food into a divine one. The banquet is at the epicentre of religious life and it is one of the most important symbolic elements of community life, as an instrument of cohesion and expression of belonging to the group. It is there, precisely, where its importance lies. What differentiates the banquet from any everyday food is specifically the ritual and the special quality of the consumed product; so, it is the sacralization of food and the symbolic value of the form in which it is consumed.

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