Power of Blood : Blood and Blood Ties in Greek and Roman Discourse

Blood was a substance given considerable power in the Greek and Roman world – but why and how was this power used?

The ancient world was a world where blood flowed freely – from often large-scale public animal sacrifices, to violence in the arena, to menstruation in cramped living conditions and many other occasions. But despite this ubiquity of blood in everyday lives, sources for the Greek and Roman world only mention blood in specific circumstances and with specific meanings. With our contributions on blood in medicine, popular culture, religion, historiography, family and community identity as well as conflict and othering narratives the volume for the first time offers a comprehensive insight into the many contexts in which blood was a topic in Greek and Roman discourse. The contributions by renowned international experts show that blood was considered to be a substance charged with meaning where attitudes towards blood from different contexts interacted to give it a particular power for the ancient world.