Homo necans
Encyclopedia
Homo Necans: the Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth is a book on ancient Greek religion
and mythology
by Walter Burkert
, which won the Weaver Award for Scholarly Literature, awarded by the Ingersoll Foundation, in 1992. The book's core thesis is that when paleolithic
man became a hunter, in spite of the generally omnivorous
orientation of the great apes
, lack of a predator instinct was made up for by turning patterns of intra-species aggression
against the prey: Homo necans means "man the killer". Thus, the animal hunted by ancient man automatically acquired aspects of an equal, as if it were of one of the hunter's relations. In a first attempt at applying ethology
to religious history, Burkert confronts the power and effect of tradition in uncovering traces of ancient hunting rituals so motivated in historical animal sacrifice
and human sacrifice
(by his thesis unified as deriving from the same fundamental principle) in specific historical Greek ritual
s with relevance to human religious behaviour
in general. Burkert acknowledges that a decisive impulse for the thesis of Homo Necans derived from Konrad Lorenz
' On Aggression
(1963).
The thesis set out in the first chapter, "Sacrifice, hunting and funerary rituals", is an extension of the hunting hypothesis
, which states that hunting as a means of obtaining food was a dominant influence on human evolution and cultural development (as opposed to gathering vegetation or scavenging). The guilt incurred in the violence of the hunt was reflected in sacred crimes, which through rituals of cleansing and expiation served to unify communities.
The remainder of the book supports the opening thesis by integrating a multitude of examples that elaborate primitive ritual as it is reflected in Greek mythology
. There are four further sections that examine various cult-complexes in detail, confronting "sacrificial ritual with its tension between encountering death and affirming life, its external form consisting of preparations, a frightening central moment, and restitution", and affirming in detail the initial hypothesis.
The book was conceived in the 1960s; it controversially introduced functionalism, along the lines of Jane Ellen Harrison
's Themis, to a German audience, and employed a form of structuralism
in interpreting complexes of ritual and festival, to apply some findings of ethology
for the first time to mythology. By chance, René Girard
's Violence and the Sacred appeared the same year. The book that was controversial at its first appearance was less revolutionary when it finally appeared in English, Burkert noted, in an introduction to the English translation (1983).
Ancient Greek religion
Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These different groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or "cults" in the plural, though most of them shared...
and mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
by Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert is a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.An emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States...
, which won the Weaver Award for Scholarly Literature, awarded by the Ingersoll Foundation, in 1992. The book's core thesis is that when paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
man became a hunter, in spite of the generally omnivorous
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
orientation of the great apes
Great Apes
Great Apes may refer to*Great apes, species in the biological family Hominidae, including humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans*Great Apes , a 1997 novel by Will Self...
, lack of a predator instinct was made up for by turning patterns of intra-species aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
against the prey: Homo necans means "man the killer". Thus, the animal hunted by ancient man automatically acquired aspects of an equal, as if it were of one of the hunter's relations. In a first attempt at applying ethology
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
to religious history, Burkert confronts the power and effect of tradition in uncovering traces of ancient hunting rituals so motivated in historical animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...
and human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
(by his thesis unified as deriving from the same fundamental principle) in specific historical Greek ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s with relevance to human religious behaviour
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
in general. Burkert acknowledges that a decisive impulse for the thesis of Homo Necans derived from Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...
' On Aggression
On Aggression
On Aggression is a book by ethologist Konrad Lorenz written in 1963. As he writes in the prologue, "the subject of this book is aggression, that is to say the fighting instinct in beast and man which is directed against members of the same species." According to Lorenz, animals, particularly...
(1963).
The thesis set out in the first chapter, "Sacrifice, hunting and funerary rituals", is an extension of the hunting hypothesis
Hunting hypothesis
In paleoanthropology, the hunting hypothesis is the hypothesis that human evolution was primarily influenced by the activity of hunting for relatively large and fast animals, and that the activity of hunting distinguished human ancestors from other primates....
, which states that hunting as a means of obtaining food was a dominant influence on human evolution and cultural development (as opposed to gathering vegetation or scavenging). The guilt incurred in the violence of the hunt was reflected in sacred crimes, which through rituals of cleansing and expiation served to unify communities.
The remainder of the book supports the opening thesis by integrating a multitude of examples that elaborate primitive ritual as it is reflected in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. There are four further sections that examine various cult-complexes in detail, confronting "sacrificial ritual with its tension between encountering death and affirming life, its external form consisting of preparations, a frightening central moment, and restitution", and affirming in detail the initial hypothesis.
The book was conceived in the 1960s; it controversially introduced functionalism, along the lines of Jane Ellen Harrison
Jane Ellen Harrison
Jane Ellen Harrison was a British classical scholar, linguist and feminist. Harrison is one of the founders, with Karl Kerenyi and Walter Burkert, of modern studies in Greek mythology. She applied 19th century archaeological discoveries to the interpretation of Greek religion in ways that have...
's Themis, to a German audience, and employed a form of structuralism
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
in interpreting complexes of ritual and festival, to apply some findings of ethology
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
for the first time to mythology. By chance, René Girard
René Girard
René Girard is a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science. His work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy...
's Violence and the Sacred appeared the same year. The book that was controversial at its first appearance was less revolutionary when it finally appeared in English, Burkert noted, in an introduction to the English translation (1983).