What was the role of sacrifice in ancient culture?
Ancient cultures used sacrifice to suppress uncontrolled violence caused by mimetic rivalry with unanimous violence against a single victim. As more people came into conflict with each other in ancient cultures, the threat of chaos – all-against-all violence – was on the rise. People united against a scapegoat, and that scapegoat was sacrificed. This sacrificial act changed chaotic violence into orderly violence against a single victim and was seen as “good violence” because it brought unity to the people. Traditionally, sacrifice in ancient and primitive cultures has been interpreted as appeasing the wrath of God, or the gods. According to Girard, there is indeed a sacred aspect to sacrifice, but to characterize sacrifice as simply appeasing the wrath of God is simplistic. Girard hypothesizes that cultures are founded by unanimous violence against a single victim before mimetic rivalry threatens the survival of the community with all-against-all violence. Unanimous violence against a
