Ancient Origins UNLEASHED

Ancient Origins UNLEASHED

Share this post

Ancient Origins UNLEASHED
Ancient Origins UNLEASHED
Throwing Virgins into the Sea and Other Ways to Appease the Gods
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Throwing Virgins into the Sea and Other Ways to Appease the Gods

The Ancient Reasons behind Virgin Sacrifice

Jun 07, 2023
∙ Paid
49

Share this post

Ancient Origins UNLEASHED
Ancient Origins UNLEASHED
Throwing Virgins into the Sea and Other Ways to Appease the Gods
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share
Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids

When the going got tough, it was believed sacrificing a virgin to the gods—by throwing them into the sea, burying them alive, or leaving them for hungry monsters—was the best plan.

Virgin sacrifice could be done for a number of widely accepted reasons: from winning a war, to appeasing an angry deity, or merely to protect architecture. For a time, the practice seemed to be widely recognized as many cultures show traces of virgin sacrifice in their mythologies and religious texts.

The Ancient Egyptians throwing a Virgin into the Nile, 1884
The Ancient Egyptians throwing a Virgin into the Nile, 1884 (Public Domain)

Gods are Listening: Hasty Promises You Shouldn’t Have Made

In Homeric legend, Iphigeneia was to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon to appease Artemis so she would allow the Greeks to wage the Trojan War. An example of a virgin sacrifice is also mentioned in the Bible—the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter in Judges 11, in which Jephthah vows to sacrifice to God whatever or whoever comes to greet him at the door when he returns home if he is victorious. In the Book of Judges 11:31 in which Jephthah says, “whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." Unfortunately, when Jephthah returns from battle, it’s his virgin daughter who comes out of his door to greet him.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Ancient Origins UNLEASHED to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Ancient Origins
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More