« La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque

Given the enormous variety of Greek sacrificial practices, the presence of fire on the altar was to be one of the few constant elements in the experience of the participants : in blood and bloodless offerings, the presence of a bright fire was essential for the good outcome of the rite. In tragedy,...

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Main Author: Gloria Mugelli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Anthropologie et Histoire des Mondes Antiques 2019-04-01
Series:Cahiers Mondes Anciens
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/mondesanciens/2406
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author Gloria Mugelli
author_facet Gloria Mugelli
author_sort Gloria Mugelli
collection DOAJ
description Given the enormous variety of Greek sacrificial practices, the presence of fire on the altar was to be one of the few constant elements in the experience of the participants : in blood and bloodless offerings, the presence of a bright fire was essential for the good outcome of the rite. In tragedy, where the sacrifice is often portrayed as a perverted ritual, the description of the sacrificial flame is an alternative strategy to represent the sacrifice, instead of focusing on the blood of the victim, the slaughter and the sacrificial violence. Focusing on the interferences between the ritual and the dramatic experience, this article analyses the different dramatic configurations of a ritual image in the texts of Greek tragedy. The image of the fire burning in the sacred space is used by the tragic poets to represent the different dynamics of the sacrificial action. The tragic modes of action of the sacrificial fire are thus explored in the interaction with the ritual spaces and the agents of the sacrifice, focusing on the networks of actions which determine the effectiveness of the rite. Observing how a ritual image is adapted to the plot of the tragedy allows us to reflect on the tragedy as a complex ritual experience, which exploits the various forms of plasticity of the rite.
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spelling doaj-art-9bdca376f8dd458ab1aed9b189fa74052025-08-20T02:02:28ZengAnthropologie et Histoire des Mondes AntiquesCahiers Mondes Anciens2107-01992019-04-011210.4000/mondesanciens.2406« La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecqueGloria MugelliGiven the enormous variety of Greek sacrificial practices, the presence of fire on the altar was to be one of the few constant elements in the experience of the participants : in blood and bloodless offerings, the presence of a bright fire was essential for the good outcome of the rite. In tragedy, where the sacrifice is often portrayed as a perverted ritual, the description of the sacrificial flame is an alternative strategy to represent the sacrifice, instead of focusing on the blood of the victim, the slaughter and the sacrificial violence. Focusing on the interferences between the ritual and the dramatic experience, this article analyses the different dramatic configurations of a ritual image in the texts of Greek tragedy. The image of the fire burning in the sacred space is used by the tragic poets to represent the different dynamics of the sacrificial action. The tragic modes of action of the sacrificial fire are thus explored in the interaction with the ritual spaces and the agents of the sacrifice, focusing on the networks of actions which determine the effectiveness of the rite. Observing how a ritual image is adapted to the plot of the tragedy allows us to reflect on the tragedy as a complex ritual experience, which exploits the various forms of plasticity of the rite.https://journals.openedition.org/mondesanciens/2406ritualsacrificetragedyperformanceagencyfire
spellingShingle Gloria Mugelli
« La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque
Cahiers Mondes Anciens
ritual
sacrifice
tragedy
performance
agency
fire
title « La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque
title_full « La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque
title_fullStr « La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque
title_full_unstemmed « La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque
title_short « La flamme dévoratrice d’offrandes » : feu et agentivité rituelle dans la tragédie grecque
title_sort la flamme devoratrice d offrandes feu et agentivite rituelle dans la tragedie grecque
topic ritual
sacrifice
tragedy
performance
agency
fire
url https://journals.openedition.org/mondesanciens/2406
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