Sacrificing to the Thesmophorion

After an update on the various sacrifices scheduled at the Thesmophorion in Delos, Demeter's obvious predilection for pigs is analyzed, particularly but not only when she is Thesmophoros. Whether in literary, epigraphic, zooarchaeological or coroplastic data, the association with this animal species, if not exclusive, is massively represented. What's more, while Demeter and her daughter are far from being the only deities to receive this type of animal as an offering, their rituals and sanctuaries are certainly at the fore line for sacrifices of this type, at all stages of the species' development and, for females dedicated to Demeter, when they are also in foal. At the Thesmophoria, thusia-type sacrifices, followed by a festive banquet, involved the immolation of pigs. One or other holocaust could also be performed. As for the rushing of piglets into the cavities known as megara, in the current state of our documentation, it is particularly tricky to generalize the practice described by the text of the scholia to Lucian and to grasp the detail (were the piglets still alive ?) Local variations are rarely apparent, although we know, for example, that the second day of the Athenian Thesmophoria was called Nesteia (" the fast "), while the corresponding day in Thasos was called Prostropè (" the supplication "). These distinctions were undoubtedly more important than the fragments of information available to us suggest. However, wherever she was worshipped, the goddess Thesmophoros held some of the keys to the future of the polis  : obtaining cereal food for the community and the fertility of its female citizens, two elements essential to its continuity.