Topic: 3. Sacrifice and politics (16th-18th Century)
During the transformative period of the 16th to 18th centuries, the notion of the State evolved into a nearly mystical entity, perceived as immortal and worthy of the ultimate sacrifice. This section delves into the complex interplay between sovereignty, resistance, and sacrifice, a theme explored by early proponents of political tolerance. It also examines revolutionary acts and regicide, viewed through the lens of sacrificial rites. This section includes early modern printed and iconographic sources, along with a comprehensive bibliography from the 19th to 21st centuries, providing a historical and modern perspective on this complex theme
Olimpia (18th Century)
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Damascus Affair. “Ritual Murder”, Politics, and the Jews in 1840
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Why do we call the Holocaust 'The Holocaust'?
in: Shoah: The Paradigmatic Genocide, pp. 51-66
Lanham: UPA, 1994.
An Irish ritual of kingship: the sacrifice of a white mare and preparation of a stew, in which the king bathes and which his supporters ea (ca 1196-1223)
British Library, London [ms Royal 13 B. VIII, fol. 28v]
The Sacrifice of Jephtah’s Daughter (18th Century)
Royal Collection Trust, London
Iphigénie de la Grèce antique à l'Europe des Lumières
Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1985.
The Headless RepublicSacrificial Violence in Modern French Thought
Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005.
Des Herrn Racine Trauerspiel Iphigenia, vor einigen Jahren ins deutsche übersetzt, Nunmehro aber mit einer Vorrede und einem Auszuge aus der griechischen Ipigenia des Euripides ans Licht gestellet
Leipzig: Bernhard Christoph Breitopf, 1734.
The martyrdom of Simon of Trent; a small child tied to a pole with two men cutting his skin while another holds a bowl underneath the boy's feet to collect the blood; illustration to Jacobus de Voragine, 'Passionael efte dat levent der hyllighten', Basel: Adam Petri, 1517. (1517)
from: Jacobus de Voragine, Passionael efte dat levent der hyllighten', Basel, Adam Petri, 1517
British Museum
The Fatal Sacrifice (18th Century)
Wellcome Collection, London
Racine: From Ancient Myth to Tragic Modernity
Minneapolis - London: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.