Inscription found in Paleochoria links goddess Artemis to Amarynthos sanctuary

A partially preserved inscription linking Artemis with the ancient town of Amarynthos was found in Paleochoria, Evia (Euboea), 2 km east of the modern-day town with the same name, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture said in a press release.

The fragmentary inscription, "... of Artemis in Amarynthos", was reused in a Roman-era fountain, confirming that the foundations of the building in Paleochoria were related to the sanctuary of the goddess Artemis, first mentioned in Linear B tablets found in the Mycenaean palace of Thebes as "a-ma-ru-to".

The discovery was made during this season's excavations of the sanctuary by the Swiss Archaeological School in Greece (director Karl Reber) and the Antiquities Ephorate of Evia (Amarlia Karapaschalidou, honorary ephor).

Excavations to locate the sanctuary began in 2006. This year's dig focused on the Paleochora area where a modern house was razed in 2018 after a University of Thessaloniki geological survey showed remains of ancient buildings next to it.

In an announcement, the Ministry of Culture said the find was "particularly significant, as the remains of the prehistoric settlement excaved in the '70s and '80s in the same area by the Greek Archaeological Service was one of the most important sanctuaries of ancient Euboea (Evia)."

It added that in recent years excavations have revealed two stoas dating to Hellenistic times, which serve to delineate the sanctuary east and north. "With the discovery of the south wing of the eastern stoa," the Ministry said, "the sanctuary's limits on three sides are now known."

The site lies near a natural harbour. It was inhabited in the prehistoric and Classical periods, until Roman times (3000 B.C.-1st century AD), while during the Byzantine period two churches were built on top of the hill.

• Monday, August 19, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology Artemis current affairs Roman

How mythology fuels religion

As a Hellenic Recon, much of my practice, world view, and moral framework is based upon mythology. The rest is filled in with non-myth ancient sources, and a tiny bit of UPG. I'm not a new-age spiritualist, and if I were, I would most certainly be in the wrong religious field. I am religious: I believe in, worship, and have built my life around the Theoi. This means that a large part of my practice is making things not about me. As such, a new-age world vision and Reconstructionism do not really match.

Still, in my own way, I am very spiritual: I see the world as a place of wonder, a world influenced every day by the Theoi. Looking beyond myself in order to find the Gods has been a very spiritual journey. It's also a journey that I would not have been able to make without mythology.

Mythology not only teaches what kind of person you should strive to become, but tells us so much about the Gods. It speaks of Their likes and dislikes, Their spheres of influence, the way They relate to each other... and all give vital clues for worship. I look at the sun and see Hēlios' golden chariot. I know Eos had sped ahead before Him, and Apollon carries His bright rays down to us. I remember Hēlios' son, who would not listen to his father's advice and not only died for his hubris, but nearly killed many men with his recklessness. When I think of these events, I go over my own life to see where I am being as pigheaded as Phaëthon, and try to adjust my behavior. These myths make me a better person.

When I observe the cycle of the seasons, I see in it Persephone's cycle of Underworld visits. I can feel Demeter's grief. When I mourn the loss of Demeter during the Thesmophoria, I do not eat, as She did not eat. I do not make love to my partner, as Demeter refused to make the world fertile and pregnant with life. I do not do this, just as the women in ancient Hellas did not do this. They came together in a camp on the side of Pnyx, and they fasted, they wept, and they withheld sex. They recreated the time before Demeter taught humankind to cultivate the fields. It was a dark time, a time of hunger and pain. At the same time, this day was also used to remember the time when Demeter sought her daughter and neglected her duties as a harvest Goddess. This had also been a time of great hunger. They honor Demeter, and Persephone, and in return, the Goddess will look favorably upon them and grant them fertility of land and body once Persephone returns. This combination of myth and ancient sources makes me a better worshipper. I see the pattern that underlays the mythology, I perform the rites, and they bring me closer to the Theoi.

I could give you literally a hundred more examples of how mythology has influenced my religious life, my spirituality, my daily practice, and my life in general. It has shaped my person in such a way that I could not imagine ever living without them. I would not be able to practice my religion without investing in its mythological framework. 

• Sunday, August 18, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture Demeter Hēlios Hellenic Reconstruction Hellenismos 101 Mythology 101 Persephone personal Phaëthon Thesmophoria

PAT ritual announcement: Sacrifice to Kourotrophos and Artemis

On the 16th of Metageitnion, so on 10 am EDT on the 17th of August (so today!), we honor Kourotrophos (κουροτρόφος, child nurturer) and the two Goddesses who protect women and children, Hekate and Artemis with sacrifice. Elaion will be organizing another Practicing Apart Together ritual, which we would love to have you join.

The Kourotrophoi are (mostly) female deities who watched over growing children--Gaea, Artemis, Hekate, Eirênê, Aglauros and Pandrosos, especially. Offerings to them are known from the demos Erkhia, but duplicates similar offerings on the Acropolis of Athens. Especially at Erkhia, it varied per sacrifice which Kourotrophoi was/were sacrificed to. In this ritual, we honor Kourotrophos Herself, a deity whose main function was to watch over nursing children and their mothers. We also honor Artemis and Hekate.

Artemis is named Kourotrophos by Diodorus Siculus, a Hellenic historian, in book five of his library:

"And Artemis, we are told, discovered how to effect the healing of young children and the foods which are suitable to the nature of babes, this being the reason why she is also called Kourotrophos." [5.73.5] 

You can find the ritual here and join the community here.

• Saturday, August 17, 2019
  Artemis current affairs Elaion Kourotrophoi Kourotrophos PAT

Two unlooted Mycenaean chamber tombs unearthed in southern Greece

The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Sunday that archaeologists have discovered two ancient, unlooted chamber tombs dating from the Late Mycenaean period, (1400 – 1200 BC), near Nemea in the Peloponnese.

The newly-found tombs at the Aidonia burial site include five full burials and the skeletons of fourteen individuals whose remains had been transferred there from other tombs. The finds will shed more light on the Mycenaean civilization, the Greek Culture Ministry announced.

Both chamber tombs provided an array clay pots and figurines to the discoverers, as well as other small objects. However, these findings are in rather sharp contrast with the burial sites from the early Mycenaean period (1600 – 1400 BC), which were excavated in Aidonia in previous years.

These burial chambers contained table and storage vessels, as well as weapons and other objects which would hav belonged to high-status individuals. Still, the two newly-discovered Mycenaean chamber tombs at Aidonia pave the way to a better understanding of the development of the ancient settlement and its ties to neighbouring villages.

Located next to the vineyards of Nemea, Aidonia was a key settlement in the Mycenaean civilisation, which enjoyed its greatest period of flourishing from the 17th to the 12th century BC, the press statement noted.

Excavation at the Aidonia burial site first began in the late 1970s, after the site containing tombs from 1700-1100 BC had already been extensively looted, most likely in 1976-77. The  Archaeological Service excavations which followed this, in 1978-1980, and 1986, under the direction of Kalliopi Krystalli-Votsi and Constantina Kaza, brought to light a total of twenty chamber tombs.

These consisted of gravesites carved into the rock, with three sections, including an access road (dromos), entrances and burial chambers. Few of the Aidonian chamber tombs were found unlooted during that dig, but one pit included a treasure trove of ancient jewellery.

The finds in a pit located inside one of these tombs even helped experts link them to a set of jewellery which was about to be sold in an auction house in New York in 1993 and was eventually repatriated, the ministry noted.

Ongoing archaeological activity in Aidonia has prompted the resumption of excavations to investigate tombs which were considered to be in danger of being looted.

The Ephorate of Antiquities of Corinth launched a new, systematic research program in 2016, under the direction of Konstantinos Kissa, the Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the Universities of Graz, Austria and Trier, Germany. Kim Shelton, Director of the Nemea Centre of Archaeology, and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is also collaborating with Kissa in the research.
Their research has documented the existence of this additional cluster of tombs that had been missed in all the excavations carried out in previous years.

• Friday, August 16, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs modern Greece

Hēphaistos and Apollon on young Hermes

What follows is the writing of Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς), who lived from 125 to 180 AD. He was a Hellenic rhetorian and satirist. It is from his 'Dialogues of the Gods', which contains some of my favorite passages written by an ancient Hellenic author ever. This version of the text was translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. This is the dialogue of Hēphaistos and Apollon about young thieving Hermes. The text is copied--unedited--from Theoi.com.

HEPHAESTUS

Have you seen Maia's baby, Apollo? such a pretty little thing, with a smile for everybody; you can see it is going to be a treasure.

APOLLO

That baby a treasure? well, in mischief, Iapetus is young beside it.

HEPHAESTUS

Why, what harm can it do, only just born?

APOLLO

Ask Posidon; it stole his trident. Ask Ares; he was surprised to find his sword gone out of the scabbard. Not to mention myself, disarmed of bow and arrows.

HEPHAESTUS

Never! that infant? he has hardly found his legs yet; he is not out of his baby-linen.

APOLLO

Ah, you will find out, Hephaestus, if he gets within reach of you.

HEPHAESTUS

He has been.

APOLLO

Well? all your tools safe? none missing?

HEPHAESTUS

Of course not.

APOLLO

I advise you to make sure.

HEPHAESTUS

Zeus! where are my pincers?

APOLLO

Ah, you will find them among the baby-linen.

HEPHAESTUS

So light-fingered? one would swear he had practised petty larceny in the womb.

APOLLO

Ah, and you don't know what a glib young chatterbox he is; and, if he has his way, he is to be our errand-boy! Yesterday he challenged Eros—tripped up his heels somehow, and had him on his back in a twinkling; before the applause was over, he had taken the opportunity of a congratulatory hug from Aphrodite to steal her girdle; Zeus had not done laughing before—the sceptre was gone. If the thunderbolt had not been too heavy, and very hot, he would have made away with that too.

                 

HEPHAESTUS

The child has some spirit in him, by your account.

APOLLO

Spirit, yes—and some music, moreover, young as he is.

HEPHAESTUS

How can you tell that?

APOLLO

He picked up a dead tortoise somewhere or other, and contrived an instrument with it. He fitted horns to it, with a cross-bar, stuck in pegs, inserted a bridge, and played a sweet tuneful thing that made an old harper like me quite envious. Even at night, Maia was saying, he does not stay in Heaven; he goes down poking his nose into Hades—on a thieves' errand, no doubt. Then he has a pair of wings, and he has made himself a magic wand, which he uses for marshalling souls—convoying the dead to their place.

HEPHAESTUS

Ah, I gave him that, for a toy.

APOLLO

And by way of payment he stole—

HEPHAESTUS

Well thought on; I must go and get them; you may be right about the baby-linen.

• Thursday, August 15, 2019
  Apollon Hēphaistos Hermes Lucian Maia this is not a real post

New finds unveiled on Despotiko island in Greece

New finds that complete the picture on the buildings' architecture around the Apollo temple on the uninhabited island of Despotiko, west of Antiparos island revealed excavations and restoration works that were held recently on the island.

The excavation focused on areas surrounding the temple and on buildings outside of it while very important were the finds of the short research on the islet Tsimintiri.

The surprise of this year's excavation was found on Tsimintiri. The islet is located between Antiparos and Despotiko and in the ancient years it was united with Despotiko and probably with Antiparos.

In 2011, four buildings were found and this year the search continued at the northeastern part of the islet. Under the dense vegetation and very close to the coast were located five big buildings.

The size, the construction and the position of the building indicate buildings probably connected with the operation of the port. The works were held between 3 May and 5 July.

The site of Mandra contains an extensive sanctuary complex dedicated to Apollo that reached its apex in the Late Archaic period, and the 6th century BC in particular.

• Wednesday, August 14, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture Apollon archeology current affairs modern Greece

Classical era grave steles unearthed at Tinos cemetery

A significant number of grave steles dated back to the Classical period, some of them carved in very high relief, were revealed during an excavation conducted by the University of Athens at a Classical era cemetery in Xobourgo on the Greek island of Tinos.

According to Culture Ministry's announcement, the cemetery is situated at the southeastern foothills of Xobourgo and was the main cemetery of ancient settlement that developed in the Classical era.
The settlement, founded just before 1,000 BC, was surrounded by huge walls and was initially used as "refuge settlement". Later, it developed into the most important settlement of Tinos which constituted the main economic and political centre of the island until its abandonment at the end of the 4th century BC.

The tombs discovered so far on the lower terrace are for the most part covered with tiles.Stone caskets and two sarcophagi (one clay and one stone), as well as several pots used for the burial of infants, were found in the cemetery.

Archaeologists discovered that there had also been funeral pyres between the actual graves. The dead were buried with few burial objects, but when these were found, they were usually vessels imported from Attica.

• Tuesday, August 13, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs modern Greece