Detail of Altar of Athena at Troy by Astarita Painter
Detail of Altar of Athena at Troy
Astarita Krater.
Black-figured column krater. Astarita Painter (eponymous vase), c. 560 BCE.
Gregorian Etruscan Museum 35525, Vatican.
- In ancient Greece, religious practice centered on the outdoor altar (bomos) rather than the interior of the temple (naos), which functioned strictly as the deity's house housing the cult statue. Situated outside facing the temple’s main entrance—almost always oriented toward the east—the altar accommodated large communal gatherings for animal sacrifices, allowing smoke to rise to the heavens while the morning sun illuminated both the ritual and the statue within. Over time, some altars evolved into monumental platform structures accessible via sweeping flights of steps, most famously exemplified by the Great Altar of Pergamon, which elevated the sacrificial act into a grand public spectacle of civic pride and divine reverence.
- Beyond hosting rituals, altars and temple precincts served a vital spiritual and social role as inviolable sanctuaries for suppliants (hiketai). Under the protection of divine law—specifically guarded by Zeus Hiketes—anyone fleeing violence, exile, or persecution could claim asylum by physically touching an altar or temple structure. Violating this sacred space or forcibly removing a suppliant was regarded as a severe sacrilege (miasma) that brought divine wrath upon the transgressor and the polis. Thus, the outdoor altar served a dual sacred purpose: a site for communal devotion and an absolute threshold of divine mercy, justice, and protection.
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