Sacrifices in Homer's Odyssey and in the Jerusalem Temple

At the end of book 3 of the Odyssey, Nestor brings sacrifices to Athena - or Minerva in Butler's translation. I chanced to be reading it when the Daf Yomi is finishing Zevachim - Sacrifices, and I found the parallels very exciting.

On seeing the goddess transform herself into a eagle and fly away, Nestor utters a vow: "Holy queen," he continued, 'vouchsafe to send down thy grace upon myself, my good wife, and my children. In return, I will offer you in sacrifice a broad-browed heifer of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by man under the yoke. I will gild her horns, and will offer her up to you in sacrifice."

Here he promises an animal, but not a specific one, so that if one is lost, he will be responsible to bring another. He also adorns the cow like they did in Israel for the first-fruit procession.

As he mixed the wine, he prayed much and made drink-offerings to Minerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove.
As we have recently learned in Avodah Zarah, the usual intention of an idolater is to pour the first drop to his god, and the upright heroes of Homer do this without fail.

Then Nestor began with washing his hands and sprinkling the barley meal, and he offered many a prayer to Minerva as he threw a lock from the heifer's head upon the fire.

The kohanim washed their hands. The barley meal agrees with the opinion of the opponents of Rabbi Yehudah that flour offerings are brought on private altars. Prayer is required in the Temple before a thanksgiving offering - which Nestor's one is.

Thrasymedes dealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a stroke... then they lifted the heifer's head from off the ground, and Pisistratus cut her throat.

The kohanim would stun the animal, and the slaughter was done at the neck.

They cut out the thigh bones all in due course, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them; then Nestor laid them upon the wood fire.
That is burning the limbs and fats on the Altar.

Meanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor's youngest daughter, washed Telemachus.

That's special - I do not think kohanim were getting such treatment at the Temple.

When the outer meats were done they drew them off the spits and sat down to dinner...
This goes according with the opinion in the Talmud that peace offering are allowed on private altars and that they can be eaten.

Why are there such strong parallels and connections? One explanation is exchange of experiences. The other - that the sacrifices were given to mankind, only people started using them in the service of the idols, and then later the Torah restored the correct laws (as in Bieberfeld, "The Universal History of the Jews.")

Art: Nestor and his sons sacrifice to Poseidon on the beach at Pylos