Etymology and morphology

Adjective verb formed from the verb ἀφίημι with the subject in the zero degree (cf. Chantraine 1961: 283).

Appearances

The verb refers directly to sacrificial animals in Plato's Kritias, in the description of the herd of bulls that grazed in Poseidon's sacred place on Atlantis: ἀφέτων ὄντων ταύρων ἐν τῷ . . ἱερῷ, Pl. Criti.119d (see comment ad loc.). The image of cattle grazing in the meadows belonging to the sanctuary is probably also alluded to by Euripides when he refers to the young Ion abandoned at Delphi with this adjective (ὃ δ᾽ ἐν θεοῦ δόμοισιν ἄφετος, ὡς λάθοι, παιδεύεται, E. Ion 821-822).

The adjective ἄ. may also have referred to a place of free grazing - νομὴ ἄφετος - opposed to a manger, φάτνη, cf. Plut. Lys. 20.

In the geographical conditions of Greece proper, the possibilities for free grazing of cattle were severely limited. At the same time, the development of large sanctuaries where public sacrifices were offered to multitudes of people created a demand for this category of sacrificial animals. Consequently, there was a phenomenon whereby areas close to the sanctuary were set aside for cattle grazing. This was the case, for example, in the territory between Delphi and the Gulf of Corinth, which was transformed into holy meadow as a result of the First Holy War (IG II2 1126 ➚), and in the meadows west of Eleuzis (IG II2 204 ➚, Androtion, FGrH III B 324 F 30 ➚). On cattle farming in the holy meadows see McInerney 2010: 146-172.