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eirene · 1 year

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Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces, 1763 Sir Joshua Reynolds

#ancient religions #ancient greece #the graces #goddess #deity #art #painting #art history #fashion #portrait #english art #british art #Sir Joshua Reynolds #1760s #18th century

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crazycatsiren · 1 year

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Also, the religions of my native land have been doing just fine for thousands of years with our own gods and goddesses, thank you very much.

#witches of color #religions #deities #world religions #asian religions #ancient religions #polytheism #eastern spiritualities

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violetmoondaughter · 10 months

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At the origin of the Myth of Medusa there is probably the ancient apotropaic symbol of the gorgoneion, the head of the gorgon.

Gorgoneion is a grinning mask with glaring eyes and protruding beast-like tusks and pendent tongue used in antiquity to banish evil spirits from temples. The origin of the symbol is probably a cultus object, a ritual mask used as the vehicle of the divine power. The big wide-open eyes were used in the past to recall the idea of the divine eye always watching. Gorgoneion was in fact seen as an underworld bogey. The figure is depicted in the typical fashion of the Mistress of Wild Things, the dark side of the Great Mother. She is the snake goddess, the snakes in her hair represent the chthonian symbol of rebirth and sexuality while the wings symbolize the divine power and transformation. These powerful symbols were used since antiquity to depict the ancestral divine feminine control over life and death. The apotropaic power of the gorgoneion comes from the representation of the divine energy always watching and scaring away with its monstrous figure.

The rise of patriarchal society and the subsequential change from a divine feminine power to a divine male power brings the necessity of demonizing the ancestral powers and iconographies. The figure of the gorgon endures a change from the goddess of snakes to a monstrous creature defeated by the male hero Perseus. The myth of medusa tells us the story of a woman punished for her beauty, for her feminine power, and transformed into a monstrous creature by a goddess. The gorgon’s name in the myth is Medusa, which in ancient Greek means Protectress or Guardian and she is transformed in a winged creature with serpents’ hair and the power of petrify people with her gaze. For patriarchal society this supernatural creature must be defeated and subjugated to male power, and for this reason in the myth Perseus, after killing her, will use her head as a powerful defensive weapon on his own shield.

With the myth of Medusa, the highest divinity of ancient religion became a harmful bogey to be slayed to represent the female oppression. Patriarchal society used the female figure of Athena to legitimize female oppression and retells the apotropaic gorgoneion symbol as a male hero trophy only indirectly connected with the female power of a goddess.

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divinum-pacis · 2 years

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Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia

In this episode, we finally explore the vast and important religious tradition of ancient Mesopotamia!

#religion #ancient religions #mesopotamian #mesopotamian mythology #annunaki #sumerian #akkadian #babylonian #assyrian #let's talk religion #video #divinum-pacis

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aboutanancientenquiry · 7 months

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"Chronique des activités scientifiques

Revue des livres

Comptes rendus et notices bibliographiques

Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote

Theodora Suk Fong Jim

p. 290-293

Référence(s) :

Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote, Paris, Les Belles Lettres / Collège de France, 2020. 1 vol. 13,5 × 21 cm, 251 p. (Docet Omnia, 6). ISBN : 978-3-515-12809-4.

Texte intégral

1 The last half century has seen a dazzling array of new approaches in the study of Greek polytheism. Moving away from a polis-centred model into which every student of Greek religion was once initiated, scholars have now advocated alternative frameworks ranging from ‘personal’ and ‘lived’ religion, to ‘network’ analyses, comparative perspectives, and the application of cognitive theories. Pirenne-Delforge’s latest book is a nuanced response to recent shifts in scholarly trends, and a critical reflection on current debates on the character of Greek polytheism. While revisiting old issues central and fundamental to the study of Greek religion, it offers a whole host of new insights into the analysis of Greek gods, the tension between unity and diversity, and the choice of conceptual tools by ancient historians.

2 The author confronts the thorny question of terminology from the outset: can we speak of Greek ‘religion’ when studying the ancient Mediterranean? Carefully tracing the history of the terms ‘religion’ and ‘polytheism’, she demonstrates that neither represents the ancient Greeks’ own use of word, and that their subsequent use is closely bound up with Christian polemics. Nevertheless, she reminds us, in historians’ attempt to avoid or get rid of terms with Christian associations, not only will we leave ourselves with no interpretive tool, we will also be perpetuating, consciously or unconsciously, the prejudice that Christianity is the true religion. In fact this ‘purge’ in terminology can go on: what about ‘religious’, ‘piety’, ‘thanks-giving’, ‘miracle’, and so on? Whether or not modern historians can give credence to the relations between the ancient Greeks and their gods, what is important is that they are recognized by the Greeks themselves. The definition of ‘religion’ chosen by the author aptly emphasizes this: its key element consists in ‘les relations avec la sphère supra-humaine dont cette culture postule l’existence’ (p. 55).

3 A central issue threaded through the whole book is the constant, and seemingly unreconcilable, tension between unity and diversity, the general and the particular, inherent in Greek polytheism. The question of ‘one or many’ has attracted scholarly attention in recent theoretical analyses of Greek cult epithets: to what extent is Zeus Meilichios the same as Zeus Ktesios? How much difference is there between the innumerable Zeuses bearing different epithets? Pirenne-Delforge shows, significantly, that the plurality (poly-) in the word ‘polytheism’ is not restricted to divine figures but is manifest at every level of Greek religion, from sacrificial and other ritual practices, to cult places and sanctuaries, divine names and epithets, and conceptions of the divine: these might vary between different levels of organization (Panhellenic, regional, polis, sub-polis, and so on), from place to place, from one individual to another, and across different time periods. So overwhelmingly diverse is every aspect of Greek polytheism that the singular ‘religion’, one may object, can hardly capture its diversity. Pirenne-Delforge categorically emphasizes the plurality and multiplicity inherent in Greek polytheism on the one hand, but on the other reaffirms the value and validity of Greek ‘religion’ in the singular. To speak of Greek ‘religion’ (rather than ‘religions’), in her view, is not to obscure or obliterate the bewildering plurality in Greek polytheism, but to recognize that ‘une certaine unité sous-tend les relations que les Grecs entretenaient avec leurs dieux’ (p. 95).

4 To demonstrate that this unity is not a construct invented by the historian, Pirenne-Delforge puts her arguments to the test by using Herodotus, who best documents the diversity of religious customs (nomoi) across and within ancient Mediterranean cultures. Close analysis of his Histories and other sources reveals that ‘Greek gods’ and ‘Greek sacrifice’ existed in the ancient Greeks’ own representation of theia pragmata. Such categories tend to lie ‘dormant’ in the Greeks’ perception of religious matters, but come to the surface when a contrast is made with non-Greek phenomena or in a foreign milieu. A question nevertheless remains: in the absence of a centralized religious authority, what gives unity to Greek polytheism? How far can regional, local, and personal variations go before any element loses its ‘Greekness’? Other eminent scholars have conceptualized aspects of this tension using the symbolism of a concertina (capable of expansion and contraction) or kaleidoscope (capable of changing from one to many varied visions),1 whereas Pirenne-Delforge stresses that both unity and diversity are constitutive of our understanding of Greek polytheism, and have to be studied together at every level of analysis. These two forces, the unifying and diversifying, the centripetal and centrifugal,2 hold each other in check, so that there was a limit to how far variations could go.

5 The analysis of the Greek gods has undergone various important shifts in paradigms over the last few decades. The ‘structuralist’ approach associated with Vernant and Detienne emphasizes that Greek gods were divine powers rather than persons, and that they need to be defined in relation to other powers in the pantheon. Versnel in Coping with the Gods (2011) is similarly preoccupied with the question of ‘one or many’, but he is anti-structuralist in stressing the inconsistencies in the Greeks’ perception of the gods and their ability to entertain multiple conceptions of a divine figure. Pirenne-Delforge’s present volume builds on what one might call the ‘neo-structuralist’ approach which she has developed in collaboration with Pironti. While recognizing the anthropomorphic tendencies in the Greeks’ perception of their gods, she follows Vernant in stressing that a god is not a ‘person’, but a divine power with a broad spectrum of competences (technai). Despite the potential plurality of each divine figure, she argues, ‘quelque chose de stable paraît transcender la polyonymie de chaque figure divine’ (p. 128). She uses the symbolism of a ‘network’ (réseau) to capture the dynamic powers and different attributes of each god. Nevertheless, it is unclear if the concept of a network necessarily leads to ‘quelque chose de stable’: all that it emphasizes is the interconnected nature of a god’s different powers, but that was already the assumption underlying what Parker calls the ‘snowball theory’ of polytheism.3

6 After almost two decades of lively debates on the relevance of ‘belief’ in the study of Greek polytheism, most historians now recognize that ‘belief’ existed among the Greeks in a broad sense without Christian overtones, that a plurality of different ‘beliefs’ coexisted, and that ‘belief’ is indispensable in making sense of the Greeks’ relations with their gods. Nevertheless, beyond these broad consensuses, progress in the investigation of ‘belief’ seems to have reached an impasse. Pirenne-Delforge takes the subject further by taking a fresh look at the closest Greek equivalent nomizein. The two aspects of its meaning—the ritualistic sense of ‘to practice and observe as a custom’, and the cognitive sense of ‘to believe’, ‘to recognize as gods’—have often been considered separately, whereas Pirenne-Delforge emphasizes that they are two sides of the same coin. To recognize a certain figure as god, in her view, implies a whole series of rituals and cultic actions rendered to the god concerned, and therefore nomizein tous theous in effect means to integrate the gods in the nomoi of the society. The cognitive recognition of a god in one’s mental sphere is expressed in religious customs, and so we should no longer prioritize ritual as primary or more important than belief. Even for phenomena such as divination and sacrifice, which seem manifestly ritualistic, Pirenne-Delforge demonstrates that these practices are in fact closely linked with the Greeks’ representation of the gods.

7 Other key issues arising from the book include the relations between gods in literature and gods in lived religion, the boundary between ‘public’ and ‘private’ religion, and the relations between the Panhellenic and the local. Each side of these dichotomies tends to form a separate object of analysis in existing studies and is rarely brought together or considered on the same plane in any given analysis. Yet Pirenne-Delforge almost effortlessly brings together different aspects, reminding us that the boundary in these polarities is fluid, permeable, and often ill-defined. In fact hardly any phenomenon in Greek religion can be studied solely from the perspective of either the polis or the individual, the literary or the cultic, the general or the particular, when both aspects are complementary to each other.

8 Forcefully argued and remarkably well-informed, this profoundly thoughtful book beautifully brings together a great deal of valuable insights and an impressive amount of learning resulting from many years of reflection on this subject. It challenges future generations of students and scholars in Greek religion to aspire to a new standard: to study Greek polytheism in its different manifestations and in its totality, and to deploy a multiplicity of perspectives for understanding the complexity of what can justifiably be called Greek religion.

Haut de page

Notes

1 R. Parker, On Greek Religion, Cornell, 2011, p. 87; H. Versnel, Coping with the Gods, Leiden, 2011, p. 212; M.S. Smith, Where the Gods Are, New Haven, 2016, p. 57.

2 E. Kearns, “Archaic and Classical Greek Religion”, in M.A. Aweeney, M.R. Salzman, E. Adler (eds.), The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World, Cambridge, 2013, p. 281–284.

3 R. Parker, On Greek Religion, Cornell, 2011, p. 86.Haut de page

Pour citer cet article

Référence papier

Theodora Suk Fong Jim, « Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote », Kernos, 34 | 2021, 290-293.

Référence électronique

Theodora Suk Fong Jim, « Le Polythéisme grec à l’épreuve d’Hérodote », Kernos [En ligne], 34 | 2021, mis en ligne le 31 décembre 2021, consulté le 03 octobre 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/3913 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.3913Haut de page

Auteur

Theodora Suk Fong Jim

University of Nottingham

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The vocabulary of ἀπάρχεσθαι, ἀπαρχή and related terms in Archaic and Classical Greece [Texte intégral]Paru dans Kernos, 24 | 2011 "

#herodotus #ancient religions #vinciane pirenne delforge #theodora suk fong jim

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cavelions · 1 year

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The year is about 30,000 BCE.

You are from a hunter-gatherer tribe in what is now Germany.

You walk with a small group of your friends, intending to hunt mountain hares on the hillside not far from camp. It is a cool Spring day and you can hear many song birds chirping. As you pass an area known to be frequented by cave lions, you see something in the near distance.

It's a lion, Stone cold lying on the ground. He appears to have been an unlucky casualty from a territorial battle with another male.

Before you get too close you grab a small rock and throw it at the lion to see if he's still alive. It hits his side and you are met with no reaction.

Lions are considered somewhat sacred to your people, they are not to be killed except in self-defense or otherwise absolutely necessary.

You run your fingers through his small mane-like ruff on his neck. It stretches from the back of his head to his shoulders and is a bit longer than the rest of his fur, and quite softer.

As you inspect the body it appears that the Ravens and other scavengers have not yet found him, which means other than the wounds on his neck and front legs his Pelt is in great shape.

The tallest of your three friends is in training to become a shaman. He still has several years to go but is already quite knowledgeable in the gods and healing. Before you take out your knives he speaks the last rights to the lion. As he finishes you take out your obsidian knife and the four of you turn the lion onto his stomach.

You take your blade and cut from the top of his rib cage to near his groin, slowly you and your friends peel away his skin. using a hand ax to separate his head and paws from the rest of his body.

The four of you Carry the Lion's Pelt back to camp, he will be worn in ceremonies by your friend. The gatherers of the tribe will take parts of the lion's brain, and tan his hide to preserve for many years.

#writing #short story #paganism #history #prehistory #historical fiction #vulture culture #taxidermy #ancient religions #animal death #gore

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siliconpoems · 2 years

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‘What Went Before’ Poem

#poetry #poem #poetic #prehistory #prehistoric #prehistoric art #prehistoric living #ancient cultures #ancient beliefs #ancient craft #nature #poems about change #archaeology #natural #landscape #wild places #ancient religions #paganism

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telleroftales-blog · 10 months

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www.echoesofantiquity.net

Ancient epic tales come alive through bardic recitation, imagery and music.

#storytelling #ancient warrior #classical art #mythologyart #history #mythology #women in history #epic #poetry #ancient religions #ancient civilizations

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violetmoondaughter · 1 year

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On December the 21st we celebrate the First Sabbath of the Wheel of the year, we celebrate the Winter Solstice, the longest night, the end of the dark half of the year and the beginning of a new year of light.

We Celebrate Demeter and Dionysus and the Aloa Festival.

We celebrate the birth of the sacred child, the god of light, the sun god.

We celebrate the clash between darkness and light, between life and death, and the victory of light with the rebirth of a new life, the rebirth of the sun.

We feast to celebrate and honour the gods; we light the sacred fire and keep it lit so that its light awakens the sun of a new day.

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grimmborg-in-the-bog · 1 year

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The Sun Altar

A portion of the Bronze Age monument Fluberget near Stavanger in Norway.

Fluberget is a rock covered in 170 visible carved figures and 80 cup marks, most of them surrounding giant's kettles formed in the last ice age. The largest concentration of carvings can be found in the depression on the south facing wall called the Sun Altar.

It may have been an important gathering place of religious significance, especially since two large bronze Lurs were found in a bog 200 meters away.