Le sel dans l'Antiquité, ou, Les cristaux d'Aphrodite

This study explores the cultural significance of salt in the ancient world. For the ancients, salt was a powerful mediator with a divine nature. We see illustrations of this in Homer, when he depicts Achilles and Patroclus as sprinkling skewers of roasted meat with salt, and in Hesiod, according to whom Aphrodite was born from the salt that resulting from the crystallization of Ouranos' semen. As a mineral with the power to dissolve into water and reappear again (through evaporation), salt plays a role in various rituals or practices of sanctification. Salt can be seen as a mediator in the salt of the Covenant and the salt that accompanied the oblations of the Hebrews; the salt used for oaths and libations of the Greeks; and the making of "mola salsa" and the sacrifices to the Lares of the Romans. This volume gives an overview of salt throughout antiquity, revealing the diverse ways in which it becomes a symbol of life for each of the cultures that contributed to the Roman empire.