Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

200 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
reminded the deity of his or her relationship with the petitioner.
Following the prayer, the petitioner made a sacrifice, poured a libation
(drink offering), or offered a votive offering (an offering that
was “vowed” or promised to the deity in recompense for his or her
assistance), since the gods did not do anything for nothing. The
sentiment is nicely epitomized in an inscription on a bronze statuette
of a naked youth (or kouros ) that is dated to the early seventh
century b.c.e. The inscription, one of the earliest in Greek to survive,
reads: “Mantiklos offers me as a tithe to silver-bowed Apollo.
Give me something nice in return, Phoibos [Apollo].” It seems that
Mantiklos was prepared to ascribe any windfall that came his way
to Apollo. A sacrifice might consist merely of first fruits, grain,
beans, cakes, wine, or milk. The most powerful sacrificial offering,
however, involved the spilling of animal blood, preferably in large
quantities, since the gods were thought to derive both pleasure and
sustenance from the smoke of the victim that wafted up from the
altar and entered their nostrils. Victims include chickens, goats,
sheep, oxen, pigs, and bulls. Each deity had his or her favorite:
Hermes favored goat, while Demeter liked pork. Before the battle
of Marathon in 490 b.c.e. , the Athenians, understandably apprehensive
at taking on the vastly superior Persian army, vowed to sacrifice
a she-goat to Artemis for every Persian they killed. Much to
their surprise, they slew 6,400 Persians. Not having that number of
she-goats available, they vowed instead to sacrifice 500 per annum.
As Xenophon (Anabasis 3.2.12) reports, they were still continuing
the practice nearly a century later.
Votive offerings took many forms. They could be either as paltry
as a crudely fashioned terra-cotta figurine or as costly and impressive
as a temple. It was customary to offer a tenth of the spoils captured
from the enemy after a victory in fulfillment of a vow made
to the gods who had been invoked beforehand and who were
believed to have contributed to it. The sacred way leading to the
temple of Apollo at Delphi was lined with miniature temples, conventionally
called “treasuries,” that had been erected by victorious
Greek states from the spoils filched from vanquished Greek states,
because Apollo was invoked as a god of victory whenever states
entered the fray.
Festivals
The most important festivals were those that were celebrated
annually in honor of the deities who were worshiped and funded