Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Washed in the Blood of the Pig
Walter Burkert (1931-2015), Greek Religion, tr. John Raffan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985; rpt. 2001), p. 81, with note on p. 379:
Another view of the krater:
‹Older
After Aeschylus it was imagined how Apollo himself had purified Orestes at Delphi with a pig sacrifice. Vase paintings give an idea of the procedure, similar to that used for the purification of the Proitides: the piglet is held over the head of the person to be purified and the blood must flow directly onto the head and hands.60Louvre K. 710, from Dyer, Plate II, fig. 1:
60 Esp. the bell-krater Louvre K. 710, Harrison (1) 228, JHS 89 (1969) Pl.2.1. The purification of the Proitides: krater from Canicattini AK 13 (1970) Pl.30.2. That the purification in Delphi does not rest on local cult practice, but only on Aesch. Eum. 282 f. is emphasized by R.R. Dyer, JHS 89 (1969) 38–56.
