This paper focuses on the controversial topic of human sacrifice in ancient Greece, exploring its complex connections between myth, ritual, and reality. The research centers on the core divide between abundant literary and mythological records and scarce archaeological evidence, analyzing academic debates such as Walter Burkert’s functionalist framework and Dennis Hughes’ skepticism. By sorting out different types of practices related to human sacrifice, including pre-war sacrifices, building sacrifices, and the pharmakos ritual, and combining archaeological discoveries from the Minoan-Mycenaean era with the specific process of the “pharmakos” ritual, the study reveals the potential functions of human sacrifice in social cohesion, anxiety alleviation, and polis purification. The research indicates that human sacrifice was likely a rare historical reality limited to the Bronze Age and extreme crisis situations. In the Classical period, it existed primarily in myth and cultural imagination, serving as a thought tool for the Greeks to explore the boundaries of civilization, the nature of divinity, and social order. Its cultural significance far exceeded its actual practice.