Editing Sacrificial tripod (section)

{{Short description|Type of furniture}}
[[File:Herakles Apollo tripod Louvre G180 n2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Apollo]] and [[Heracles]] struggle for the Delphic tripod; side A from an Attic red-figure stamnos, {{circa|480 BC}}. Louvre]]

A '''sacrificial tripod''', whose name comes from the Greek meaning "three-footed", is a three-legged piece of religious furniture used in offerings and other ritual procedures. This ritual role derives from its use as a simple support for a cooking vessel placed over a fire. As a seat or stand, the [[tripod]] is the most stable furniture construction for uneven ground, hence its use is universal and ancient.

Tripods had two types and several functions. Firstly, some oracles sat on large tripods to pronounce. Far more common were the tripods and bowls in which smaller sacrifices were burnt. These are particularly associated with [[Apollo]] and the [[Delphic oracle]] in [[ancient Greece]]. These were also given to temples as [[votive offering]]s, awarded as prizes in contests associated with religious festivals, and just given as gifts between individuals.