Looking at Livers: Hepatoscopy in Greek Images and Texts

by Luisa Balandat

Hesperia, Volume 95, Issue 3
Page(s): 401-430
Stable URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/1001165
Year: 2026
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ABSTRACT:

In this article, the fragments of an Attic black-figure neck amphora in Bonn are taken as a starting point for general considerations on the prevalence of hepatoscopy in ancient Greece. Despite abundant studies on this divinatory practice, the evidence for its popularity during the Archaic and Classical periods remains sparse. A critical analysis of the few relevant literary texts demonstrates that they are vague and sometimes misread. Against this background, the long-standing theory that Attic vases depicting hepatoscopy were targeted at Etruscan customers is examined in detail for the first time. Given the paucity of texts and the lack of further images, it is proposed that the custom’s importance in pre-Roman Greece has been overestimated.