In ancient Greece, a hecatomb (UK: /ˈhɛkətuːm/; US: /ˈhɛkətoʊm/; Ancient Greek: ἑκατόμβη hekatómbē) was a sacrifice of 100 cattle (hekaton "one hundred", bous "bull") to the Greek gods. In practice, as few as 12 could make up a hecatomb.[1]
Although originally the sacrifice of a hundred oxen in the religious ceremonies of the Greeks and Romans; later "hecatomb" came to describe a large number of any kind of animals devoted to sacrifice. Figuratively, "hecatomb" is used to describe the sacrifice or destruction by fire, tempest, disease, or the sword of any large number of persons or animals; and also of the wholesale destruction of inanimate objects, and even of mental and moral attributes.[2]
- ^ Jones, Peter (1988). Homer's Odyssey : a companion to the English translation of Richmond Lattimore ([Repr.] ed.). Bristol: Bristol Classical Press. p. 5. ISBN 1853990388.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hecatomb". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 194.
