Ifigenia e le altre. Archetipi greci del sacrificio femminile o degli incerti confini tra sacrificio, oblazione eroica e crimine politico nella cultura ateniese del V secolo

There are no clear historical evidences witnessing the practice of human sacrifices in ancient Greece. We have however numerous images and tragedies concerning human (and especially female) sacrifices, whose archetype is represented by Iphigenia. The present knowledge suggests to approach the study of female sacrifices not only in the perspective of history of religions, but also in that of semiotics. The motif of human female sacrifices, intertwined with the motif of sovereign power, seems to recur in tragedies written during particularly violent periods of Athenian history, and it often alludes to the political crime.