Hellenismos, otherwise known as Greek Reconstructionist Paganism, is the traditional, polytheistic religion of ancient Hellas, reconstructed in, and adapted to, the modern world. It's a vibrant religion which can draw on a surprising amount of ancient sources. Baring the Aegis blogger Elani Temperance blogs about her experiences within this Tradition. For contact, please use the gmail address 'baring.the.aegis'.
In October 2018, a building license was granted for a nine-story building near the Acropolis, on Missaraliotis Street in the area of Makrigianni. The decision caused major protests by locals who said the building obstructed the view of the Parthenon...and the license has just been revoked.
After an inspection by the Central Archaeological Council (KAS), the country’s top advisory body on the protection of antiquities, the Ministery of Culture found that the structure is not in harmony with the surrounding cityscape and will disrupt the view to the ancient citadel. The Ministry also found that the 2018 license was issued without a prior decision by the Environment Ministry on guidelines protecting a listed building inside the property.
The ministry said that any challenge to the decision by the property owner would require “an extensive archaeological survey,” as antiquities have been discovered on the site.
On the fourth of Thargelion, in the deme of Erkhia, located approximately twenty kilometers (twelve miles) east of Athens, a series of sacrifices were held. Most likely, these were in relation to the Thargelia which was soon to follow. Preporatory rites, of a sort. Elaion will hold a PAT ritual to follow in their footsteps on 9 May at the usual 10 am EDT. Will you be joining us?
The Thargelia was one of the major festivals of Athens, and most of ancient Hellas. It celebrates the birthday of Apollon and Artemis and was held over the course of two days, one with the focus on Artemis--the first, as she was born first--and Apollon on the second day, held on the sixth and seventh day of the month of Thargelion, respectively. The thargelia was both an agricultural and a purifying festival: it was a festival intended to lift miasma from the city of Athens (and anywhere else it was celebrated) in order to ensure a good harvest. It was of vital importance and it could be that the people of Erkhia hosted these sacrifices in order to feel entitled to have Erkhia's harvest fall under the results of the katharthic rites of Athens once they would be held a few days later.
The ancient Erkhians would have held separate rituals for (almost) all of the listed deities, more often than not at different locations. It could therefore be that not all of these sacrifices are linked to the Thargelia. The sacrifices to Leto, Apollon and Zeus most likely were. Hermes, perhaps, but it is more likely that He, along with the Dioskuri was honoured due to the influence of Sparta, of whom all three were patrons. Perhaps the sacrifice to Zeus had a joined function as the father of all (Depending on the mythological account, of course).
We won't be distinguishing between the two 'branches' and have made a single rite to be performed on the 9th, at 10 am EDT. You can join the community here and find the ritual here. We hope you will join us!
On the day of the Hene kai Nea, I post a monthly update about things that happened on the blog and in projects and organizations related to it. I will also announce Elaion's coming PAT rituals.
The Italian court recently condemned the 'exorbitant costs' of Pompeii restoration. This raises the question, how much is too much when we look at "our own" restoration projects, and how should we give shape to these restoration projects?
The aim of rebuilding Pompeii’s ancient amphitheatre in tuff and reinforced concrete was to allow a show to be performed there. A show with lights and a stage set, violins and an orchestra. But is this the way to “make the most” of a world treasure? By relegating concerns for its protection to second place? Not according to Italy’s Court of Auditors, whose ruling contains harsh criticism of Pompeii’s former commissioner Marcello Fiori, appointed some years ago by Sandro Bondi and the Berlusconi government to “relaunch” the archaeological site. The court also ordered him to pay damages of €400,000.
The project had received official blessing as part of an agreement to “make the most of” Pompeii and to “transform the amphitheatre into the South’s very own Arena of Verona”. The project also involved Naples’s San Carlo theatre, where the commissioner was Salvo Nastasi, later criticised by Paolo Isotta for other renovations including the construction of a bar in the legendary Neapolitan theatre.
So what was the final expenditure for the renovation of the theatre, which initially should have cost €449,882 plus VAT? The sentence just issued by the court of appeal puts it at €5,778,939. A fortune. To be added to other “paltry expenses” of the director’s period of management. Such as the €102,963 spent for a census of the site’s 55 stray dogs: €1.872 per animal. Or the €55,000 spent on an order to the Mastroberardino winery for a thousand bottles of the wine “Villa dei misteri”, found by the subsequent management in the warehouses. Or the €3,762 for the purchase of seeds from the Antica Erboristeria Pompeiana, perhaps to be planted in the ancient gardens.
The final result was a court order for Pompeii’s former director “to pay damages of € 400,000”. Apart from being a nasty blow for Marcello Fiori – whom Silvio Berlusconi initially appointed after the disappointing result in the 2013 elections as the man to lay the foundations for rebuilding Forza Italia –, the sentence could mark a turning point on the issue of safeguarding our treasures. God knows how important it is to “make the most of” a treasure that belongs to us all. Precisely for this reason, however, that treasure must above all be respected.
Of course, this is an extreme example where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, but it does raise questions. How much should be invested into the restoration of ancient monuments? And should those investments be made to secure the site against decay and vandals, or can we transform them into more? Perhaps into something that the ancients would have used them for, be they theaters or temples. Should private or corporate investment be allowed to make these plans a reality? It's a new age and a new economic climate. We have technical knowhow and social needs. The question, I fear, is in ethics...
Have you seen this? You must have seen this. The original Seven Wonders of the World have been reconstructed in meticulous detail in a series of 3D videos and it's awesome!
1) Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus was a 32m tall statue of the sun God Helios that towered over Mandraki Harbour in Rhodes. It rose from a huge 15m marble pedestals to allow ships between its legs.
2) Great Pyramid of Giza
The only Wonder of the Ancient World still standing, the Great Pyramid of Giza has lasted more than 4,500 years since it was built by the Ancient Egyptians. Stones weighing up to 15 tons each were dragged by more than 100,000 workers to construct the ancient structure.
3) Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is the only Wonder of the Ancient World for which we have no known location. Ancient writers describe the gardens as an elaborate structure with 20-metre high terraces and complex machinery to draw water to its thousands of colourful plants.
4) Statue of Zeus at Olympia
This impressive 12-metre statue was plated with gold and ivory and sat inside the Ancient Greek Temple of Zeus. It likely lasted a few hundred years before it fell apart, either when the temple was destroyed in 426 AD or a few years later in a fire at Constantinople.
5) Lighthouse of Alexandria
The lighthouse that set the bar for all future lighthouses, this structure was erected in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, around 300 BC. Topped with a burning fireball, the incredible 100-metre structure comprised a cylinder atop an octagonal level, which was supported by a giant square base.
6) Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
This enormous tomb was built for Mausolus, ruler of an ancient region of Asia Minor known as Caria.It was so impressive, that the late king’s name became the generic word for large funeral monuments.Constructed in what is now Turkey around 350 BC, the tomb was designed by Mausolus himself and took from Greek, Near Eastern, and Egyptian design.
7) Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
This enormous building, also in modern day Turkey, was constructed and destroyed a whopping three times. Just the foundations and a single column can still be seen today.
This is a repost, or more of a PSA, because this issue has made a resent resurgence, it seems? So here we go: today's blog post is about Hestia and Dionysos, and who has the throne up on snowy Olympos.
There is a story floating about the internet and even some modern texts on Hellenic mythology, that Hestia gave up Her throne to Dionysos. Apparently, this is an ancient myth, and the ancient Hellenes would have believed this as well. It's a story so frequently told, one that is so common-knowledge, that very few people bother to check the source. Well, the source is Robert Graves' 'The Greek Myths', written in 1955. From that book (27.12):
"Finally, having established his worship throughout the world, Dionysus ascended into Heaven, and now sits at the right hand of Zeus as one of the Twelve Great Gods. The self-effacing goddess Hestia resigned her seat at the high table in his favour; glad of any excuse to escape the jealous wranglings of her family, and knowing that she could always count on a quiet welcome in any Greek city which it might please her to visit."
Graves provides two sources for this story: Apollodoros’ Bibliotheka 3.5.3, and and Pausanias’ Hellados Periegesis 2.31.2. As you can read for yourself, there is no mention what so ever of Hestia giving up Her throne. In fact, the sources only address the part of Graves' text that follows afterwards, about Dionysos bringing His mother Semele up to Olympos as well.
So, did Graves lie? Well, yes and no. Graves is a storyteller; he spun stories based on facts he could find. If he could not find a fact, he made it up to fit the story. Because of this, his books are a great read, but they are not reliable as far as ancient mythology goes. As for The Twelve; there was never a set grouping of Them in ancient Hellas, what mattered was that there was a council of twelve, the Dodekatheon, at all. Who resided on the golden thrones was subject to debate, and varied per location.
The most canonical version of the Dodekatheon is represented in the relief above, currently located at the Walters Art Museum. The relief dates back to the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD and depicts the Twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession: from left to right, Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and spear), Demeter (scepter and wheat sheaf), Hēphaistos (staff), Hera (scepter), Poseidon (trident), Athena (owl and helmet), Zeus (thunderbolt and staff), Artemis (bow and quiver), and Apollon (cithara). No mention of Dionysos.
Obviously, Theoi who were held in high regard in a certain city-state would have held the thrones, according to the people who lived in that city-state. This means that it's quite likely there were people in ancient Hellas who firmly believed that Dionysos occupied one of the thrones of the Dodekatheon. Most likely, there were also people who believed Hestia did not occupy one of the thrones. It's entirely possible that some people--perhaps even the same people who believed Dionysos was part of the Dodekatheon, but not Hestia--believed that Hestia gave up Her seat to Dionysos. The problem is that there are no ancient sources to support this, and there was most certainly not a wide-spread myth to this effect that held sway in ancient Hellas.
As a Traditional Hellenist, I place Hestia on Her throne, where she belongs, but this does not mean I do not welcome Her into my home, that I feel She does not occupy the heart(h) of the house, that I do not tend Her flame, or that I do not offer to Her first and last whenever I make a sacrifice; She walks amongst mortals for sure, but that does not mean She does not voice Her opinions to the other Theoi from Her golden throne on Mount Olympos. It also does not mean that I feel Dionysos is in any way a lesser deity; He is a beautiful Theos with a wide domain, who was of vital importance to the ancient Hellenes. Just look at the Anthesteria.
Which position you take is up to you, of course, but I feel it is important to know where your believes find their base. I believed Graves' version of the Dodekatheon for years before discovering it was a modern invention. For me, that was enough to change my views, for others it might not be. The ancient Hellenes did not have a consensus on this, so I see no reason for us to come to one either. Still, the facts matter, so here they are.
Forbes recently posted a very interesting piece on the use of virtual reality in archeology that is definitely worth the read. You can find it here. The main focus is on David R. Hixson of Hood College, who is opening new frontiers to bring archaeology into the world of virtual reality. Hixon uses the Unreal rendering engine (which is also at the base of the Mass Effect games, Mirror's Edge, Unreal Tournament, and many more) to recreated his finds.
The Unreal Engine is an open-source program developed by Epic Games to allow game developers to create immersive three-dimensional environments. While Epic offers the software for free to all users, the company actively encourages educators to make use of their platform.
By bringing drones to the site he was working on at the time, Hixson was able to create a three-dimension model of the archaeological site in a matter of weeks, when traditional mapping practices had taken years to cover the same territory. Due to the flexible nature of digital media, this model of Chunchucmil can also be layered with annotations that allow the "visitor" to the site to access more information if they so desire.
In another case, using just 49 photographs taken with a smartphone, Hixson was able to construct a photogrammetic model of an archaeological excavation unit using the Altizure software platform. Traditional illustration methods in archaeology would require a plethora of drawings to encode the variety information captured in this one interactive model.
The potential of virtual reality for documenting archaeology sites is perhaps best exhibited by the work of Simon Che de Boer, founder of Reality Virtual, a New Zealand-based virtual reality research and development firm. Using photogrammetry software, Che de Boer was able to scan and create a high definition virtual simulation of the tomb of Nefertari, an ancient Egyptian queen. This simulation not only allows users to explore every nook and cranny of the tomb, but it is also layered with interactive components that allow users to learn more about what they are seeing. The package is available on Steam, free, so people can further their understanding of ancient cultures.
Another recent success story of digitized historically correct content? The Notre Dame. After a huge fire destroyed part of the cathedral only a few weeks ago, the team who'll be in charge of reconstructing it can draw from exact measurements and close-up shots used in Assassin's Creed Unity. The in-game Notre Dame is about as close to the real deal as it was possible to get when the game was released in 2014. It might be one of the most detailed resources the architects doing the work will have.
I've long sung the praises of anyone willing to digitize sites and artifacts from ancient history. It's a way to preserve and bring to life the past in a way that no other medium can these days. In a global world, it also created access for people who might not otherwise have the means to interact with these treasures, and to learn from them. I hope to see a lot more work like this being done in the coming years!
