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Quod gaudium est rivos sanguinis cernere? The suffering of animals in the christian critique of the traditional graeco-roman sacrifice

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Burliga B.

Studia Elbląskie

2015

vol. 16

337-354

The Latin quotation in the title of the article ('What joy is there in observing the rivers of blood?') comes from the apologetic work of Arnobius "Against the Heathen" (Adversus nationes). The seventh book of this work contains perhaps the most explicit Christian critique of the Greeks and Romans who sacrificed animals. One of the arguments used by the learned speaker is the suffering of these animals, which were killed unnecessarily because the gods do not require sacrifices from men. Emphasising the fact that suffering is given to the victims and that there is no point in killing of the animals, Arnobius introduces the shocking details of what this sacrificial ritual (killing) was in practice. In this article, I try to draw attention to the fact that in presenting this information, the Christian advocate referred to earlier statements of classical authors such as Pythagoras and Plutarch, who also criticised the common ritual. Although one occasionally hears opinions today that the early Christian thinkers were indifferent to the fate of sacrificial animals, the writer of Sicca Venera affirms that it would be very difficult to apply generalisations, just as it would be very difficult to apply generalisations to the fate of sacrificial animals.just as it is justified to speak of sensitivity and empathy in this case.

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1 Studia Elbląskie

1 Burliga B.

1 2015

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Quod gaudium est rivos sanguinis cernere? The suffering of animals in the christian critique of the traditional graeco-roman sacrifice