ABSTRACT
The study of animals in ancient Greek religion is dependent on a broad range of sources. The categories of sources raise conceptual and methodological issues and have invited various interpretations. The study of animals has over the course of a century moved from a predominance of textual and in the main literary sources to include other textual genres (epigraphy) as well as non-textual sources (iconography and material relicts). Since the 1970s, zooarchaeology — the study of animal remains — has offered additional information. Sources include texts, material objects, images, and zooarchaeological material. Research on blood sacrifice has broadened its scope from the use mainly of texts to consulting multiple sources, with zooarchaeology and animal remains the most recent successful additions. The ancient sources available for the study of the role of animals in ancient Greek religion are complex and multilayered. Different categories of sources and genres illuminate different aspects of the relationships between gods, humans, and animals.
