Hepatoscopy in the Homeric epics (1)

Text
The Etruscan discipline of taking omens from liver inspection (hepatoscopy, haruspicina) shows remarkably close correspondence to the form of divination developed in Mesopotamia. The cuneiform material is overabundant, but the Etruscan material is lost and can be reconstructed only piecemeal from Latin and Greek texts. The internal tradition of the Etruscan discipline goes back to the seventh century, to precisely that period whose glory is reflected in so many oriental imports. It seems that hepatoscopy had no place in the older strata of Homeric epic, but it makes its appearance in the final version we have, dating to around 700 BCE. Calchas, Agamemnon’s seer, is the best of the “bird-diviners,” and by virtue of this art he has “led” the army (Iliad 1.69). But a “sacrifice-diviner” (thyoskoos) is mentioned in the Iliad (24.221) and has a role in Odyssey (21.145, 22.318-323). The observation of the liver remained by far the most predominant divination practice in Greece, from Plato (Phdr. 244c) we learn that hepatoscopy enjoyed greater prestige than bird augury. The name of the Etruscans, Tusci, was subsequently derived from thyoskoos by Greek speculation (Dion.Hal. Ant. 1.30).

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Dionysius of Hallicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 1.30
Homer, Iliad 1.69
Homer, Iliad 24.221
Homer, Odyssey 21.145
Homer, Odyssey 22.318-323
Plato, Phaedrus 244c

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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