PBP: S - Sex in Ancient Greece

A brief overview.

Aphrodite and Eros were key deities of love and sexual delight, both gifting mortals and gods alike with desire as well as cursing them with burning passion. The ancient myths are filled with tales of nymphs and mortals being ravished by the gods and more beastly creatures such as Satyrs. (The subject of rape is a larger topic that I might address at some point.)

Sex and sexuality in Ancient Greece were more liberal than today in some ways and more strict in others. A male citizen could partake of a multitude of sexual acts, with both males and females, though female citizens were more restricted.

Women were the guardians of citizenship. An Athenian citizen had to make sure all his wife's children were his. To keep her away from temptation, she was locked away in the women's quarter and accompanied by a male when she went outside. If she were caught with another man in flagrante delicto, the man could be killed or brought to court. When the woman married she was a piece of property transferred from her father (or other male guardian) to her husband. In Sparta, the need for Spartan citizens was strong, but women were encouraged to bear children to a citizen who would sire well if her own husband proved inadequate. There she wasn't so much her spouse's property as the state's -- as were her children and her husband.


Prostitutes were despised then as they are today, although for slightly different reasons. They might have been looked upon as victims (of pimps), but they were also greedy and deceitful. Even if they were honest financially, they used makeup and other artifices to make themselves more attractive.

Sex between wife and husband was just one of many choices available -- at least to the male. There were slaves of both sexes, concubines, and hetairai, all of whom were available, if only for a fee. Men could also try to entice a young man just past puberty. These relationships were the ones celebrated on vases and in much of Athenian literature.

In Plato's Symposium (a treatise on Athenian eroticism) Aristophanes offers a colorful explanation for why all these sexual options existed. In the beginning there were three types of double-headed humans, varying according to sex: male/male, female/female, and male/female. Zeus, angered at the humans, punished them by splitting them in half. From then on, each half has forever sought out his other half.

Homosexuality was also more common, especially in Sparta where homosexual relationships were even encouraged to help form comradeship between soldiers. Pederasty was also practises, where a more middle aged man cultivated a relationship with a teenage boy in order to teach him the ways of men, usually philosophy, sex and war.

Patron Deities, uh oh.

Disclaimer - Personal opinion below, not fact.

Something I've seen discussed a lot lately and not just in relation to Hellenic deities. There seems to be a lot of interest in Loki as far as Tumblr is concerned and I'm not going to go into his influence in this post.

Patron Deities: Are they a form of objectional devotion? is a small post written by Timothy Alexander that I found interesting, but not exclusively correct. Having started out with Wicca and Neo-paganism myself, I know where this focus on having a relationship with the gods comes from. In most of the books on the subject, you're told to pick a god and a goddess and venerate them. Which works if you're a soft polytheist in some regards, but if you approach this from a harder polytheistic attitude then you start to run into problems. Do you pick and choose one god and one goddess from the same, or differing pantheons? What if you don't identify with either or both gender aspects? As much as I once belonged to the eclectic ball park, this sort of blasé cherry picking annoys me a little. Sure, if a certain deity calls to you, then I can't argue with that but that's personal UPG.

But that is not the core of the issue, that would be the nature of this relationship with a 'patron' deity. Personally, I don't believe that I will be picked by some higher force in the universe and treated like a special snowflake, I just won't, because I'm mortal and there are a lot of us on this planet. Nor do I think it's especially polite to try and force that sort of relationship on a deity by trying to jump on the bandwagon.

From a Hellenic stand point, the gods historically gave their patronage to skills and trades, cities and heroes, and seeing as the Heroic Age is long over, then that last one I think would be extremely rare. As a writer/administrator technically my patrons could be either Apollo, Hermes or the Muses but they're not singular in their honours, so it would be hard to pin down one in particular. Plus, I don't feel particularly drawn to any. There's no muse of fiction, so it could be any, including Kalliope (epic poetry), Thaleia (comedy), Melpomene (tragedy) or Erato (erotic poetry).

Also not to say that there weren't select groups of people who focused on one deity in particular, there were hundreds of cults all over the period and Hellenic area. But cult worship takes a hell of a lot of time and dedication and a singular person cannot make up a cult.

I think that those of us who get the choice of what pantheon to worship have one picky decision to make and that's it. Who are we to narrow the field and only choose one or a few deities to offer worship to? Like I've mentioned before I don't think the rest of the pantheon would be particularly pleased with that and if one day you suddenly need help with your marriage, why would Hera choose to help you just out of the blue?

Many other people have said it before me but the gods are not your friends, they're not buddies to call up and chat with or to ask idle favours of. They deserve respect and I think it is disrespectful to pick and choose one deity you like the look of, but shun the rest of the family.

But to reiterate again, this is personal opinion and in no way do I blow off anyone who does have a so called patron/personal relationship with a deity. I'm not shoving my opinion down anyone's throat and how they can and cannot worship.

PBP - R

Things relating to Ancient Greece that begin with R.

Rhymma - A cleanser used in bathing.

Rhamnous - A fortified Attic deme (a subdivision of land belonging to Athens). Home to ancient cults of Nemesis (indignation and retribution for Hubris) and Themis (Titan goddess of Divine Law).

'Round ships' - Merchant vessels so called because of their much rounder form than military ships.

Rural Dionysia - The second Dionysia festival celebrated in the winter month of Poseideion. Usually celebrated with procession with a statue of the god Dionysis as well as theatre performances and poetry.

Rhea - Titan goddess of female fertility and the mountain wilderness. Her husband, Cronos, swallowed every one of their children before she could hide their youngest, Zeus, who eventually overthrew his father and became king of the Olympians.

PBP: R - Reincarnation

The idea of which didn't originate in Ancient Greece but the topic was brought into a better light by some of its most famous philosophers. The earliest Greek who mused on the topic of 'metempsychosis' was Pherecydes, the purported teacher of Pythagoras.

The idea of reincarnation is explored in the Orphic tradition which appeared around 6th century BC in which the mythic figure of Orpheus claims that the soul is divine and unfairly tethered to the prison of the body. After death, the soul and the body are separated but not for long, and it is once again joined with mortal flesh. The soul must live several lives in other to become enlightened and truly divine until it can exist free of the body.

Plato was another famous philosopher who believed this to be true, using one of his works, The Republic, to retell this idea in the guise of an experience/myth. Er, the son of Armenius returned from the dead after twelve days and retells what he saw of the death realm. He tells that he went to the place of judgement and saw other souls there choosing another body, another reincarnation for their soul in order to return to the world of the living, both human and animal. Orpheus, Thamyra and Antalanta were supposedly some of the souls amongst these. They chose there next form and then drank from the river Lethe (oblivion, forgetfulness) and shot away to be reborn.

Plato also believed that the number of souls was finite, so that new ones were not created, every one transmigrated from one body to the next.

PBP: Q - Questing

Q is a terrible letter and I've already used Queen so this was the only thing I could think of that would be remotely interesting. I've already mentioned a lot about my 'quest' so far in my first post but perhaps this will be more of an update.

Looking more into Hellenismos and its rituals and structure has been a nice introduction into Reconstructionism, even if I don't fully agree with all of its points. After reading A Beginner's Guide to Hellenismos I've tried to put more of a foundation on my beliefs. I re-decorated my altar, which had become more of a shelf for knick knacks over the last year or so more than anything else.

I have my hearth light for Hestia (an electric candle in the glass holder.) The round candle next to it holds a real flame for during offerings and prayers. The oil burner is a safe place to burn cone incense as an offering, the wooden disk holds joss sticks. The candle stick on the left belonged to my great grandmother and the egg cup holds some of my grandmother's rings and this is my small section in honour of my ancestors. The small dragon ring which you probably can't see represents the serpent of the Agathos Daimon.

Also on the right, I have a small representation of a Greek urn I bought while on my trip to Greece. It's a small touristy thing but I think it connects me to the homeland of Hellenismos as a whole. The keys represent Hekate, the citrine stone represents Apollon (with his connection to the sun and enlightenment) and the feathers represent Hermes in their household epithets.

So it's small and simple and I would really like some proper statues on there but it's something I make do for now. I also have a metal bowl I use for my khernips but that lives under the bed instead.

I'm following a lot of others who lean towards Hellenismos and there's a considerable amount of newbie feeling all over again but we all have to start somewhere and they are excellent people to learn from, even if I'm just reading their blogs. There is that backbone to the core practise however, the ancient texts that can be used as a solid basis, though this doesn't necessarily discount UPG.

As far as contact with the gods goes, I haven't had anything in depth occur but just the general worship of them all is grounding.

Noumenia Playlist

I've been trying to find ways of connecting with the Theoi that work for me, and through the wonders of Youtube, I've found a collection of their hymns sung both in Greek and English. I think it's something about the traditional music or just the language that really sets the mood, especially during offerings and libations.

I've already touched on the significance of Noumenia here, and this is a short collection of hymns I found for it.

Apollon

Selene

Hekate

Hermes

Zeus

Hestia

PBP: Q - Queen of the Gods

Seeing as I'm focusing on the Greek pantheon, this would of be Hera. (Ἡρη)

Sister and wife of Zeus, she is the patron of women and marriage, goddess of the sky and starry heavens. Her most well known myths are her involvement with the beauty contest judged by Paris, she offered to make him the king of all men but he found Aphrodite's offer of the most beautiful woman most appealing and we all know what happened after that.

She helped Jason and his Argonauts through the dangerous sea trials of Skylla and Kharibdis, the Clashing Rocks on their journey to claim the Golden Fleece.

Though I think MOST famously Hera is known for her jealous rages against the offspring and lovers of her husband (not that she can be blamed really) even for a goddess it must be rough to have a husband with such a prolific wandering eye. To name a few of the ladies, Leto (mother of Artemis & Apollon), Semele and Alkmene and their offspring like Herakles and Dionysos.

Zeus and Hera do have children of their own, Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Arthur Bernard Clark argues that Hebe was fathered by a lettuce and Ares by a special flower and I'm not exactly sure where he got those assumptions from but it sounds questionable.

Hera also conceived Hephaestus completely on her own, jealous over Zeus' solo birth of Athena. The smithy god was either lamed from birth however, or lamed when Hera cast him down from Olympos depending on which source you read. She also birthed the monstrous Typhon (at least in the Homeric Hymns) without a male's involvement. Would this be some social commentary on the abilities of a woman when compared in the same task as a man? Athena is a whole, powerful goddess of war and wisdom meanwhile Hephastus is lamed by a physical deformity making him perhaps lesser in some regards and Typhon is discribed as a monster. The Ancient Greeks were a little sexist so it could be possible.

Personally I've never spoken to anyone who has had personal dealings with Hera but I wouldn't want to offend her if I could help it.

PBP: P - Pantheon

There's a discussion on the eCauldron about this Here.

Did I choose my pantheon? To be totally honest, yes. Why? That needs more than a one word answer.

Why? Because the Ancient Greek myths pulled me in at an early age. Because the Theoi, while divine, share a lot of traits with us lowly humans in the fact that they hate, squabble, fall in love with people they're not supposed to, and do the oddest things when 'rewarding' mortals.

Do I think they're cool? Yeah, and seeing as I'm not Greek, then why else would I offer them my attention over any other pantheon? Just because I'm born and raised in the British Isles, does that mean that I'm stuck with the Celtic or Anglo Saxon practises? No. Why? Because religion is transitory, practises moved with the people in the ancient world, adapting and changing.

I see a lot of people talking about certain deities that have come to THEM and formed a connection, causing these people to take them on as patrons or what have you but that hasn't happened to me. I've not had a dream or a sign about if any particular god wants to hang out with me, and why should they? They're gods and if I want to have a chance at forming any sort of connection then I have to put the effort in first and start with the broad spectrum of the pantheon. It always feels a little wrong to pick one or a select group out of the pantheon anyway, it would be like purposefully ignoring some members of the family while heaping praise on certain others. Would Zeus get pissed if I ignored him while praising one of his siblings or children? Very possibly and that's not my intention.

I think the more I've researched under the Paganism umbrella, the more I've moved away from ritual practises including willpower and 'witchcraft' and Hellenismos isn't about that. The ancient greeks were even pretty leery about that sort of thing, who were they to try and change the will of the gods?

Hubris has always been something that has stuck in my mind (seeing as the punishment for it was pretty severe) and perhaps that is the reason that I have never felt comfortable approaching any of the pantheon directly, especially not to ask them for something in particular.

May my choice of pantheon change in the future? I can't say for sure but possibly.

PBP: O - Olive Oil

Olive oil was not only considered as a health product in ancient Greece, but something that had in essence a divine power embedded in it. It was a gift of the goddess Athena to the Athenians, therefore, it had the emblematic presence of the goddess. This stems from the myth of how Athena became the patron goddess of Athens by making an olive tree grow on the Acropolis.

"Kekrops, a son of the soil, with a body compounded of man and serpent, was the first king of Attika . . . In his time, they say, the gods resolved to take possession of cities in which each of them should receive his own peculiar worship. So Poseidon was the first that came to Attika, and with a blow of his trident on the middle of the acropolis, he produced a sea which they now call Erekhtheis. After him came Athena, and, having called on Kekrops to witness her act of taking possession, she planted an olive tree, which is still shown in the Pandrosion. But when the two strove for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed arbiters, not, as some have affirmed, Kekrops and Kranaus, nor yet Erysikhthon, but the twelve gods (dodekatheoi). And in accordance with their verdict the country was adjudged to Athena, because Kekrops bore witness that she had been the first to plant the olive. Athena, therefore, called the city Athens after herself, and Poseidon in hot anger flooded the Thriasian plain and laid Attika under the sea."

- Apollodorus C2nd A.D

It was not only used in the Olympic Games to anoint the athletes, but whenever somebody would be in the gymnasium or the palaestra, they used to apply olive oil on their body. The people of that time period had a particular type of scraper (strigil) that they used to then collect all the olive oil and sweat and so on that had accumulated on their skin surface.

Olive oil was also considered a necessary item for daily sustenance. It was used to cook with and also used in the raw form in a salad dressing. In fact, a salad dressing of the ancient Greeks involved olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, sea salt, and some honey and that then was shaken well, and it was drizzled over salads that they were preparing for eating.

Another usage of olive oil was that it was used as a base for making perfumes because it has the tendency to stay on the human skin for quite some time as it is fat soluble.

A definite proof that olive oil had a predominant place in daily lives of people in ancient Greece is the number of references to it in comedy plays of that period. For example, in the play Pluto, by Aristophanes, it says that the container is full of white flour, the wine jar is run over with great wine, and the tank is full of oil, the vials with perfumes.

It also had various medicinal usages in ancient Greece, with Hippocrates using olive oil-based ointments for all kinds of uses and for treating trauma, scratches, wounds, and concussions that are not too deeply penetrating, as the oil has healing power.

Source

Hekate's Deipnon

Hekate's Deipnon takes place during the dark phase of the moon: the end of the lunar month (any time before the sliver of the new moon has been sighted).   Hekate, according to the Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon, means "bringer or giver of light" ('Ekate phosphoros).  At the darkest part of the month, we prepare our homes for the transition to a new month. Hekate's Deipnon is a time of purification of self, home, and affairs. (Source here)

So reading up on Hekate's Deipnon or 'supper' I've got the general gist that it's a general cleansing of the home and the self. Sweep out the old in readiness for the new, as would be logical with the end of the Hellenic month.

What will I be doing for it? Seeing as I have nothing to directly give away or a food bank close by to donate to, (and with finances being tight) I will just have to concentrate on a more homier ritual which will probably include;

• Cleaning and dusting my bedroom.
• Hymns to Hestia, Hekate and my ancestors.
• Pouring a libation when I can sneak outside.

It may not be anything fancy or as 'big' as I would like but it's something that I can do in my current situation and as much as I'm researching Reconstructionism, this path that I'm concentrating on is about my relationship with the Theoi and what I can learn from it.

I'm currently reading A Beginner's Guide to Hellenismos by Timothy Jay Alexander and he makes fairly firm distinctions about a Reconstructionist and a Hellenic Pagan, and as much as the strict adherence to the ancient rituals and rites attracts me, I don't think that it is entirely...me.