Sacrificial bull
animal · 5 works · 5 mentions · 8 anchored passages
the bull · a bull · beasts of mighty strength · bull · bulls with gilded horns · great bulls · the fat bodies of bulls
spoken of as
2 expressionsSacrificial bulls3 mentions
Barlaam and Josaphat (Greek) · Alcibiades 2 (Greek) · On Providence (Latin)
bringing as many great bulls as possible to be slaughtered;
The Sacrificial Bull“cosmic bull”1 mention
Atharvaveda (Paippalāda) (Sanskrit)
Śakra chose the drop of Soma;
in the texts
Atharvaveda (Paippalāda)
A cosmic sacrificial bull, identified with Indra, Soma and the sacrifice itself, whose body is ritually divided among the gods and whose gift to a Brāhmaṇa is praised as bringing prosperity.
Śakra chose the drop of Soma;
Thou bearest a full vessel of Soma;
Heaven and Earth have become thy sacrificial grass.
Helen
A bull given by Theoklymenos as a funeral blood-offering, which Menelaos sacrifices aboard ship as the ambush against the crew begins.
Among barbarians it is customary to sacrifice a horse or a bull.
and, standing over the bull to slay it, with no mention of any dead man, he cut its throat and prayed:
but the bull did not want to go forward along the plank, but kept bellowing loudly, rolling his eyes around;
Barlaam and Josaphat
Bulls slaughtered as part of the pagan festival celebrating Josaphat's birth.
bringing as many great bulls as possible to be slaughtered;
Alcibiades 2
Bulls adorned with gilded horns, cited as a typical costly offering in Greek sacrifice.
For the Greeks in general either lead up bulls with gilded horns, or else present the gods with votive emblems, and pray for any odd thing, whether it be good or bad:
On Providence
Sacrificial bulls whose great bulk collapses at a small wound to the neck, cited as an image teaching how easily life can be ended.
The fat bodies of bulls fall at a tiny wound, and a stroke of the human hand fells beasts of mighty strength;