Talk:Olla (Roman pot)

Also a sun-dried earthenware pot?

Taylor describes a "meal for the Mater Larum"; puls of some kind, contained in a sun-dried earthenware pot, thrown down the slope on which the temple stands. Is this the same kind of vessel? If so, I'll link here from The Mother of the Lares. Haploidavey (talk) 20:28, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Yes. "Of primitive manufacture" might be a phrase I saw. I think my source (or another not added) mentioned the Mother of the Lares specifically, and her porridge, but I haven't had a chance to figure out what this is all about. Presumably Wiseman in Remus would be of help in understanding the overall narrative.

Adding to this article has been on my to-do list forever, but the other day I happened on a bit and decided to go about it piecemeal. Evidently the olla in this sense is like the Greek pithos which turns up in myth as well as archaeological reality. The pithos article only touches on the funerary use, and not on the myth — I think the sniveling royal but mortal brother of Herakles hid in a "jar" (pithos?) when the son of god returned successfully from his labors. But notice that the pithos is typologically not the same shape as an olla. The olla of Sucellus, one of the candidates for the Gallic "Dis Pater" named by Caesar as their divine progenitor, is very intriguing in this regard. As is his sometime connection to Silvanus. (And in my private crackpot view — pun intended — with the Dusios in the notion of divine "pollination" among humans.) Cynwolfe (talk) 18:01, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

For "sniveling royal but mortal", allow me to award you the Divine order of The Scurrilous Plum. The Gallic and Greek connections are very intriguing, aren't they? I'm increasingly drawn to this background; very intriguing (not wishing to labour or repeat the point) and sometimes quite thrilling. The sun-dried, unfired pot seems somehow important - raw, untransformed and reversible in form. Anyhow, I'd not thought of looking in Remus and shall do so dreckly. Haploidavey (talk) 18:37, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

However … I am now confused about the exta in the pots, which is what I get for haste. See here on the porridge pots. (This is Hendrik Wagenvoort; the Google Book version is strangely unattributed.) Cynwolfe (talk) 20:39, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Scheid (p 266 of the handy volume you told me about) "...the victim was divided up. The parts due to the divinity (the exta, the vital organs) were set aside to cook in a pot (in the case of cattle victims) or roasted on a spit (sheep and pigs). It was for this reason that the temples always contained a kitchen area. After cooking, the sacrificer turned out the divine portion, duly sprinkled with mola salsa and wine, onto the sacrificial fire which burned on the altar. Offerings to aquatic deities were plunged in water. Those for chthonic deities (for example, the Lares) or those connected with the Underworld, were thrown onto the ground, where they were cooked on the earth or in a ditch." So I think you're OK. Haploidavey (talk) 21:12, 21 March 2010 (UTC) But re-reading this; isn't that curiously sophisticated? The meal is cooked, seasoned, sauced and dressed, then burned. In view of all the forgoing, the cena Matri Larum seems the oddity. But I share your puzzlement about the exta being cast down the slope, already cooked and in their pot. I'll have a look elsewhere. Haploidavey (talk) 00:33, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Please do add as you find things. Cynwolfe (talk) 00:37, 22 March 2010 (UTC)