Architectural Space as Metaphor in the Greek Sanctuary

QUESTIONER

why was the ritual sacrifice of animals very important?
Specifically the way people divided up the parts by giving
the Gods the inedible parts

The sacrifice of an animal was an outdoor cult activity that took place at the altar and was a very important part of the Gee

The sacrifice of an animal was an outdoor cult activity that took place at the altar and was a very important part of the Geeek religion. The animal would be dismembered into edible and non-edible parts. the edible parts was the flesh and would be served roasted to the worsipors. The non- edible parts which were the bones was served to the Gods. This goes back to when the men and Gods would dine together and Prometheus slaughtered an ox and cut the carcass into unequal shares and offered Zeus bones and fat instead of the meat. Prometheus hid fore from the mortals, however stole it and returned it to earth again.

What did the people gain from their devotion to the Gods
by building sanctuaries and temenous?

Greek sanctuaries had more than several buldings and they contained at least one temple. For example, the Acropolis sancruary

Greek sanctuaries had more than several buldings and they contained at least one temple. For example, the Acropolis sancruary had two temples dedicated to Zeus, Hera and the Mother of Gods. On Delos there were three temples of Apollo. Some temples were considered unnessacary to the cult but it was soon understood that these monumental structures hold great value and carry expensive offerings to the Gods. The inscriptions made in the temples was a way of managing God's property.

What was the reformulation of sacred space in
monumental terms?

The Greek Renaissance was the beginning of a new era in the eight century. Increase in populations, foreign goods wereimporte

The Greek Renaissance was the beginning of a new era in the eight century. Increase in populations, foreign goods wereimported and technical skills and literacy was reintroduced. Visual arts started to change and the developement of temples and sanctuary as an invention connected to the "temple culture".

CONNECTOR

Between the reading
and Me

• Having a belief in God is an important aspect of religion. Most people just pray and have a believe that god is hearing them and therefore, save them from any difficulties which is absolutely a blind belief. What I was taught being in a Hindu religion is, Believing in God is only to motivate ourselves for betterment our of lives. It is a belief that some super power is watching behind us in the form of deity and it gives us expected results only if we truly work hard and put all our efforts.

• Having a belief in God is an important aspect of religion. Most people just pray and have a believe that god is hearing the

• Altar – The site of central ritual of Greek religion, the sacrifice of an animal, (pg-231 from the article), this took back me to remember where my grandparents used to perform a ritual at home, where the ritual focus was to sacrifice an animal to the deity (God). What I understood by this ritual was, my grandparents prayed to the god about the families well being and they had a vow that they will offer a votive to the God. I didn’t understand that why would god ask for a sacrifice to fulfil one’s wish if he took the responsibility for peoples needs. Which left me with an answer, it is people’s superfluous mindset and unlimited wants which make them think that if they sacrifice an animal then god will fulfill their wish. Because, our holy book Bhagavat Geetha doesn’t state about the sacrifice of an animal would fulfill peoples wish but, people still follow many rituals which doesn’t make sense

• Altar – The site of central ritual of Greek religion, the sacrifice of an animal, (pg-231 from the article), this took back

• Not only in my religion but there are lot of religions where people sacrifice animals for various reasons, some people for their family’s well being, some for community well being. For instance, I have a Muslim friend who celebrate a festival of Bakrid by scarifying an animal ( a male goat) and distribute the edibles to needy people as a kind gesture for people who are less privileged. This made me think why only animals are being sacrificed even for good acts like donations. I think it’s a belief that every religion and every person has and it is the belief which makes them act in a certain way.

Between the reading
and wider world

• Although temples were accessible, but not to all and not all the time. This line from the text reminded me of a famous Tirumala Devasthanam a Famous temple in Tirupati, India. This temple is constructed in Dravidian architecture and is believed to be constructed over a period of time starting from 300 AD. It is also know for its Golden Sanctuary which is covered with gold on a copper plates. It have an average of 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims everyday and an average of 35 to 40 million annually, making it on of the most visited holy place in the world and pilgrims offer around 20 million worth gold, cash and gifts, which are placed in the coffers everyday. This temple’s polis is spread over 16.2 acers of land where many devotees continued to construct the entrances on the ramparts of the temple over generations. It is people’s cult and belief on God which makes them to follow these rituals.

• Although temples were accessible, but not to all and not all the time. This line from the text reminded me of a famous Tiru

• God does exist but in a form of superpower. God just doesn’t fulfil people’s prayers just by offerings and sacrifices, it is one’s effort which make them successful, worship of God only keeps them motivated. People build a screen between God and blind beliefs, as mentioned in the article where it states looking at night sky though a heavily smoked glass which has some clear lines on it. Like night sky, belief in God consists of limitless components but people build a boundary where god is only heard by sacrificing and offerings.

Illustrator

In this image we've decided to illustrator the power of metaphors, but have created an alternate cultural representation giving it an new visual shape and visual roles.

The man is looking through a sheet of smoked glass, referred to the Black 1981. Aristotle introduces an idea of an screen organizing structures, much like the screen the glass window acts in an similar way. Man can not see what is on the other side of the smoked glass, but his mind will "associate the commonplaces" and will "project upon" his own train of thought.

For example the man in the image:
Assumes the worse then the herd of women will want to kill him, the pack of wolfs will want to eat him, and god will want to punish him.
Assumes the best then the herd of people are celebrating, the pack of wolfs is strolling along together, and god will assist him in accomplishing his goals.

SUMMARIZER

Vocabulary Enricher/
Word Wizard

Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech used to create
an image in the mind, in order to understand a
certain concept or idea - we tend to visualize things however we need to understand them.
In this article, the author believes that "images produced
within the frame of a metaphor inform visual representations
and draw the viewer into the mental spaces that produced them.
This is significant because the metaphor of the sanctuary as the gods place helps to configure the "sacred" into political terms.

Interaction

This word stood out in the article because, in terms of the metaphor, the author believes that a "metaphor as an interaction consists of the connection of two subjects in a single frame" - one being the focal image which organizes the other, which is the idea in question.

Sanctuary

A sanctuary is generally defined as a place of refuge or safety. The author states that many scholars see the creation of a sanctuary as an invention, which are connected to the emergence of temple culture. The idea of a sanctuary first originated from the ancient palaces.

Temenos

Temenos is the physical site of the sanctuary. It means "portion of land cut off, reserved for the god". This word is significant because the establishment of the temenos itself is a crucial step, as it assigns a certain god its share of sacred space. These sites may bear witness to the presence of the gods that they are built for.

Literary Luminary

1. Cult activity principally took place outdoors, at the altar. This was the site of the central ritual of Greek religion, the sacrifice of an animal. The beast would be dis-membered and the parts distributed as follows: edible portions would be
roasted and distributed to the worshipers; inedible parts, including the bones, would be burned on the altar for consumption by the gods.

I found this significant because the Greeks didn't have a religious text to follow like Christians with the Bible or Islam's with the Quran. They followed blinded believing that this was the connection between the them and the gods.

Also why did Prometheus think he could fool Zeus? Zeus saw through his unfair division of the Ox he slaughtered and "withheld fire from mortals" because of the act. I think Prometheus didn't believe the power the gods had to give and take from mortals and all of man suffered for his ignorance.

The weight of stories like Prometheus would have built a connection between those not there for the events which creates a structure. Built of stories that holds the gods in high regard.

2. When Prometheus stole the fire, Zeus inflicted on men the worst of punishments by creating Pandora, the creature from whom the ‘‘deadly race of women’’ was born. Like the bones wrapped in fat, by which Prometheus attempted to deceive Zeus, Pandora is made of vile matter, earth, under the appearance of a beautiful maiden tricked out in splendid clothes and jewels.

Pandora is very puzzling as Zeus created her to trick Prometheus' brother into falling for her. She was a pawn and apart of her creation was Pandora's Box. An artifact that when opened unleashed horrible things upon man. But Zeus slipped one thing in: Hope. He want there to be some structure in chaos. It is quite powerful because it proved people cared enough in horrible times which strengthen the belief the gods had peoples best interest in mind.

Structure in chaos is everywhere in Greek mythology as the reading mentions the beginning of the Olympics as a sacred event but ritual slaughter was seen as the bridge between people and gods after people were no longer allowed to dine with the gods.

3. The kind of record keeping in stone which building accounts and inventory steles present to us attests to the scrupulous discharge of what the citizens owe. The metaphor of the sanctuary as the god’s palace thus configures the sacred in political terms, according to a mentality of equity and accountability, which are the guiding principles in the polis.

The Greeks accounted for everything. In it's simplest form they kept records carved into stone to show the work that went into building these sanctuaries or building cities to worship the gods.

They also decided that to permanently remember their work for others to read and believe/follow built trust with the gods.

Also mentioned in the reading is the "accounting mentality" to record evidence of a monumental structures expenditures and they were stored in the temple archives engraved in stone as previously mentioned.