On why the ancient Hellenes had women-only and men-only festivals

We're coming upon a few women-only festivals, which always brings up the question: "Why did the ancient Hellenes have women-only festivals?" and then: "Why didn't they have men-only festivals?" Well, I have an idea.

Ploughing festivals, especially connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries, were tied to fertility. They celebrated the bond between mother and daughter, and the one thing for which all women were respected and honored: the ability to produce children--and sons especially. For the women, these rites gave them a rare opportunity to assert their independence and escape from the restrictions of their household.

That said, many women-only festivals had special rites for the men as well. There was a male and female encampment at the Thesmophoria, for example, and the division was clearly set; no men were allowed in the female encampment, and no women in the male encampment. Sex was not allowed. What the women did is fairly well preserved, but what the men did is less clear. What we do know is that Eleusinian festivals honored many other deities which were also tied to the harvest and the success of the nation in some way, especially in Athens from where most of the surviving material originated. There, Athena Skiras, Poseidon Pater, and Dionysos also had a huge role to play.

Poseidon and Athena were important Gods in ancient Hellas, and in Athens in particular. Poseidon controlled the seas and tides, caused earthquakes, and gave men the horse; Athena protected the city, resided in its citadel, stimulated its economy and had gifted mankind with the swing plow used in the harvesting of the gifts of Demeter. They looked after Hellas, and Athens especially. Without Their influence, the following year would never be successful, so as the year ended, they were placated--a requirement as Poseidon and Athena most notably did not get along. Dionysos, as Athens' unofficial patron and God of wine was naturally included--perhaps even to help get Poseidon and Athena to get along, but that is pure speculation on my part.

Many Eleusinian festivals had a special rite reserved for Poseidon and/or Dionysos, especially, and during the Haloa, for example, these rites were reserved for men only. We don't have evidence for this at the Thesmophoria, for example, but there is a good chance the men performed a rite like this.

Women-only festivals were the Stenia, the Thesmophoria, the Skiraphoria, the Haloa, the Theogamia, the Adonia, the Tauropolia, and the Brauronia. Male-only festivals were the Theseia, the Dipolieia, the Olympieia, and the Demokratia.

As you can read, we don't know much about men-only festivals, but we do know they existed. So why don't we know much about men-only festivals but quite a bit about women-only festivals? I'll wager another guess. The ancient Hellenic writers whose work has survived were almost exclusively male and their audience was mostly male as well. They both knew what happened at these festival celebrations and they respected them enough not to write about what happened. Women-only festivals, however, well, those must have been a constant source of wonder and curiosity. Of course they wrote about them, both in speculation and with whatever detail they'd managed to gather.

PAT ritual announcements: The Thesmophoria

The Thesmophoria was another harvest festival tied to the Eleusinian Mysteries and the mythology surrounding Demeter and Persephone. This is another female only festival. Will you join us for it from 2-4 October, all at 10 am EDT?

Two days after the Stenia, the three day festival of Thesmophoria took place. There was a male and female encampment at the Thesmophorian and the division was clearly set; no men were allowed in the female encampment, and no women in the male encampment. Sex was not allowed. From what I have been able to gather, the three days in the female encampment followed a strict regime.

On the first day, called Anodos ('ascent') and Kathodos ('descent'), the women sacrificed the rotting piglets to Demeter and Persephone. The remains were mixed with seeds and would be ploughed into the earth after the festival to assure a good harvest. The piglets were fertility symbols, but also related to the myth of Demeter, Persephone and Hades, because it is said that, when Hades opened a chasm to swallow up Persephone, a swineherd called Eubouleus was grazing his pigs and they were swallowed up in the chasm as well. The women ate on this day, but only food which would not upset Demeter. Pomegranate fruits were off the menu.

The second day was called Nēsteia ('feast of lamentation'). On this day, the women did not eat. 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.

The third day, Kalligeneia ('she who is of beautiful birth'), was a happy one. The women prayed to Demeter and Persephone for fertility for themselves, their loved ones and the earth. They celebrated the magic of new life, fertility and the kindness of the Gods.

Needless to say, this festival was huge. All free women, except for maidens, were allowed to participate. While we can never be entirely sure why this is, I dare to wager an educated guess. The Stenia and Thesmophoria were festivals in honour of Demeter Thesmophoros, the law-giver. She was seen as the foundation of law and society: agriculture allowed settlements to thrive, allowed societies to be built, and humanity to evolve into what it was now. In short, Demeter was at the root of modern life. A huge part of that modern life was the institution of marriage, which was far more important then as it was now.

Demeter is, perhaps, ancient Hellas' most famous mother, and marriage allowed for the continuation of the family line. Children born out of wedlock were frowned upon, and as such, maidens were excluded from a festival intended to raise fertility in the ground and the women who took part in it. As women married young, maidens were often teens, and they would represent Persephone more than Demeter--and since the Stenia and Thesmophoria commemorated Demeter's separation from her daughter, the inclusion of maidens was most likely discouraged because of that fact.

The Stenia and especially the Thesmophoria were festivals intended for mothers, for those who sought to bear children. They acknowledge the powerful position of women in a patriarchal society. It was because of that that women could say no to their husbands when it came to sex, and why they all left their marital homes. Many women rarely left their homes, and never overnight. To do so for not one but two nights was huge. These were powerful festivals for women because they celebrated their fertility: the one thing they were always respected and honoured for by the men in their lives.

We don't know what happened for the men on these days (sorry), so this is another female only festival. You can find the ritual here and the Facebook page here.

Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens to get structural makeover

The colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus or 'Olympeion' in central Athens, one of the signature monuments of the Greek capital, is to undergo a complete structural repair and restoration. The go-ahead for the plans was given by Greece's Central Archaeological Council in a recent session.

The head of the Athens Antiquities Ephorate Eleni Banou told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Tuesday:

"The monument has several structural restoration problems. There had been no progress on the issue until now because it had to be inducted into some sort of National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) programme. [The restoration had to be attempted] because as I said to the CAC, if we don't we will be answerable to history."

There is currently extensive structural damage to the colossal monument, she pointed out, especially to the columns, which make it urgent to mount a "rescue operation" to stop the causes for its continued wear and to reinforce its structural stability. The proposed plans envisage the repair of damaged architectural elements and work to maintain the marble surfaces.

The last recorded major damage to the monument was in 1944, during the Greek civil war, where the marks of the bullets were still visible on the columns, Banou said. Prior to that, the bulk of the damage was done in the Byzantine era when most of its 104 pillars were ground down to make first-class lime or looted for use as building materials.

Currently, only 16 pillars of the massive temple still survive and were re-erected in their present form in 1835, while the last work to structurally support the monument was done in the late 1960s.

Construction of the Olympeion began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until 638 years after later, by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. During Roman times it was renowned as the largest temple in Greece.

PAT ritual announcement: The Stenia

On September 30th, we'll host a PAT ritual for the Stenia. The Stenia is connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries, Demeter, and Persephone.

The Stenia is celebrated on 9 Pyanepsion. It was a festival dedicated solely to Demeter and Persephone and was held three days before the Thesmophoria. Not much information about this festival has survived, but because bits and pieces have survived of the Thesmophoria and the preceding Skiraphoria, we can put parts of the festival back together.

A little background first: On 12 Skirophorion, the Skiraphoria was celebrated. The Skiraphoria was one of the few days when the women of ancient Athens would gather in public to honor Demeter and bless the harvest. They refused to sleep with the men on this day and took part in a very odd tradition: casting piglets down into a chasm where they were left to rot until the Stenia.

During the Stenia, women came together and begun the extensive purification rituals needed to partake in the Thesmophoria. How, exactly, the women purified themselves is unknown but it is known that the women engaged in Aiskhrologia, insulting each other and using foul language. To understand this practice, it's important to know the mythology behind it. Nearly all festivals where Demeter is included, recount the myth of Kore/Persephone who was abducted by Hades. While Demeter grieved and vowed to get her daughter out, Persephone was seduced to eat of the pomegranate fruit. This decision allowed Hades to keep Persephone in the Underworld for a part of the year, while she was allowed to rejoin her mother for the rest of it. While Demeter grieved, there was only one who could make her laugh: the strange old woman Iambe. From the Homeric Hymn 2: To Demeter:

"But Demeter bringer of seasons and giver of perfect gifts, would not sit upon the bright couch, but stayed silent with lovely eyes cast down until careful Iambe placed a jointed seat for her and threw over it a silvery fleece. Then she sat down and held her veil in her hands before her face. A long time she sat upon the stool without speaking because of her sorrow, and greeted no one by word or by sign, but rested, never smiling, and tasting neither food nor drink, because she pined with longing for her deep-bosomed daughter, until careful Iambe - who pleased her moods in aftertime also - moved the holy lady with many a quip and jest to smile and laugh and cheer her heart." [188]

I believe that a large part of the Stenia was to make the other women laugh by shouting witty insults, making crude jokes or any other way they could think of that was out of character and liberal. It's a laughing day. Yet, there was also a serious note to it. At the Stenia, some women, called 'Bailers', hiked to the chasm where the piglets had been thrown into months ago. Then, in a gruesome display of devotion, the women hauled out the rotting corpses of the piglets and carried them to the Thesmophorion, a site probably on the hillside of the Pnyx, in preparation for the Thesmophoria.

The Stenia is a female only festival, sorry guys! We can't really provide you with laughter and jokes, so here is my suggestion: get all your friends together and have a girl's night. Find Magic Mike on Netflix and break out the wine and popcorn. The ritual will focus on the religious part. You can find the ritual here and chat amongst yourselves here.

PAT ritual announcement: The Theseia

The Theseia was an ancient festival held in Athens in the honor of Theseus--as there were many others this month. The focus of this one is actually on his bones and lasting memory; it's a memorial rite. Will you join us in honoring Theseus? In remembering his deeds and the lessons he taught us? Join us on the 29th of September at the usual 10 am EDT.

Theseus (Θησεύς) was fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, whom had both slept with his mother Aethra, and was thus destined to become a hero. All heroes were given at least one divine parent--usually one connected to their later deeds. The same held true for kings. When he heard about the Minotaur of Krete, and the nine-yearly sacrifices to it--a punishment by King Minos of Krete for the death of his son Androgeus, at the hands of Athenian assassins--Theseus offered to be one of the youths who sailed for Krete. Once there, Ariadne, daughter of the king, fell for him and offered him a ball of yarn so he would be able to find his way out off the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur the youths would be sacrificed to. With Ariadne's aid, Theseus defeated the Minotaur, and brought the sacrificial children home.

The Theseia (Θησεῖα) was not instituted till BC. 469, when Athenian statesman and strategos Cimon brought the (alledged) remains of Theseus from Scyros to Athens. After the Persian wars, around 476/5 BC, Athenian Archon Phaedo was prompted by a Pythian priestess at Delphi to return the bones of Theseus to their city. Cimon, upon hearing the oracle, sailed to Skyros to retrieve them. Plutarch, in 'Theseus' tells the story of discovery, collection and retrieval as follows:

"...when Cimon took the island (as is related in his life), and had a great ambition to find out the place where Theseus was buried, he, by chance, spied an eagle upon a rising ground pecking with her beak and tearing up the earth with her talons, when on the sudden it came into his mind, as it were by some divine inspiration, to dig there, and search for the bones of Theseus. There were found in that place a coffin of a man of more than ordinary size, and a brazen spear-head, and a sword lying by it, all which he took aboard his galley and brought with him to Athens."

The Athenians were delighted with the return and the bones that either were or were not Theseus' were laid to rest where they became an intrical part of Athenian life:

"Upon which the Athenians, greatly delighted, went out to meet and receive the relics with splendid processions and sacrifices, as if it were Theseus himself returning alive to the city. He lies interred in the middle of the city, near the present gymnasium. His tomb is a sanctuary and refuge for slaves, and all those of mean condition that fly from the persecution of men in power, in memory that Theseus while he lived was an assister and protector of the distressed, and never refused the petitions of the afflicted that fled to him."

The festival of the Theseia was held on the eighth of every month, but the eighth of Pyanepsion was especially important because the ancient Athenians considered this the day that Theseus returned from Krete:

"The chief and most solemn sacrifice which they celebrate to him is kept on the eighth day of Pyanepsion, on which he returned with the Athenian young men from Crete. Besides which they sacrifice to him on the eighth day of every month, either because he returned from Troezen the eighth day of Hecatombaeon, as Diodorus the geographer writes, or else thinking that number to be proper to him, because he was reputed to be born of Neptune, because they sacrifice to Neptune on the eighth day of every month. The number eight being the first cube of an even number, and the double of the first square, seemed to be an emblem of the steadfast and immovable power of this god, who from thence has the names of Asphalius and Gaeiochus, that is, the establisher and stayer of the earth."

The festival was celebrated with donations of bread and meat, which were given to the poor people so they could 'fancy themselves equal to the wealthiest citizens'. This happened on the evening portion of the eigth of the month (the ancient Hellenes started the new day at sundown). I suspect the offerings that went along with the shared banquet had a slightly Khthonic character. Heroes and heroines have a special place in Hellenismos, as they had in ancient Hellas. These were humans--most with at least a part divine heritage--who were considered so brave, so skillful, so extraordinary in their lifetime that they became revered. Hero worship was very specific and it's a concept that translates with more difficulty than straight-up deity worship.

Archeological evidence suggests that hero worship was closer to khthonic sacrifice in execution than ouranic ones the further back in time you go; especially in the archaic period, it seems that hero worship consisted of destructive sacrifices--sometimes in the form of a holókaustos where the entire animal was burned, sometimes in a sacrifice where only a part (most often 'a ninth' of the animal) was burned and the rest remained on the altar for the heroes to eat from until gone. The sacrifices were generally burned in an offering pit known as a bothros. The food offered to heroes consisted of meat, blood, and 'food eaten by men' like grains, fruits and other every-day dishes. These were usually offered to the heroes on a table--known as a trapeza--and the heroes were sometimes offered chairs or a bench to sit on. As time went on, the living began to eat part of the meal laid out for the heroes, joining them in celebration.

Contests were also part of the festival, during the daylight hours, but we don't know much about these contests; we don't know what sort of contests they were, for example. All we know is that they were 'gymnastic contests'.

We hope you will join us for the event! If you feel like doing so, the ritual can be found here and you can join the community here.

Lost temple of Artemis found on Greek island of Euboea

A Swiss-led team of archaeologists in Greece has made a spectacular find: the temple of Artemis, a famous open-air sanctuary of antiquity. Researchers have been looking for the sanctuary for more than a century. The site was found at the foot of the Paleoekklisies hill near the small fishing town of Amarynthos on the Greek island of Euboea. It’s about 10km from the place where the temple was wrongly thought to be located.

Since 2007, the search for the sanctuary has been led by Karl Reber, a professor at the Universty of Lausanne and director of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Athens.

Now, after also finding artefacts with inscriptions, they are sure that they have located the site of the Artemis Amarynthia, which was the end point of the annual procession of people from the once prosperous trading city of Eretrea, 10km away.

They held a festival in honour of Artemis, who was worshipped as the patron Goddess of Amarynthos, which takes its name from an Eretrean man who was besotted by Artemis.

For many images of the temple remains, visit The Archaeological New Network.

PAT ritual announcements for the Pyanepsia and the Oskhophoria

As you may have noticed, it's a new month and thus many festivals are taking place in the coming days. Two today: the Pyanepsia and the Oskhophoria. They are both for the 28th of September, at ten and 11 am EDT.

The Pyanepsia

On the 28h of September, 7 Pyanepsion, we start with the Pyanepsia. The Pyanepsia (Πυανέψια) was one of the many harvest festivals of the season, but instead of focussing on the actual harvest, the Pyanepsia focusses almost completely on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.

Theseus (Θησεύς) was fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, whom had both slept with his mother Aethra, and was thus destined to become a hero. In order to claim his rightful place as ruler over Athens, he had to uncover his father's sandals and sword from under a stone in his mother's birth land where Theseus grew up, and bring it to his mortal father. He did, taking the long and dangerous route over land, and fought many Khthonic creatures and mortal bandits in the process. This was long before he would vow to bring down the Minotaur and thus, set in motion the events that led up to the strange festival of Pyanepsia.

Theseus' father, Aegeus, had taken Medea as his new wife. Afraid hat Theseus would claim the throne and take her position of power from her, Medea pressed Theseus to capture the Marathonian Bull. This, he did, but upon returning, Medea tried to poison him. Aegeus recognized his son just in time and Medea fled while father and son reunited. Theseus then heard about the Minotaur of Crete, and the nine-yearly sacrifices to it. These sacrifices were a punishment by King Minos of Crete for the death of his son Androgeus, at the hands of Athenian assassins.

Theseus offered to be one of the youths who sailed for Crete. Once there, Ariadne, daughter of the king, fell for him and offered him a ball of yarn so he would be able to find his way out off the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur the youths would be sacrificed to. Theseus defeated the Minotaur and took Ariadne and her sister Phaedra from their home in thanks for their help. That night, they slept on the beach but Athena woke up Theseus and told him to sail out now, and to leave Ariadne and Phaedra behind. He did, although it pained him greatly. In his dismay, he forgot to sail with the white sails he had promised his father to sail with if he was alive. As he reached the main land, Aegeus saw the black sails and figured his son dead. He then cast himself off of the cliffs overlooking the sea, and drowned.

Theseus blamed himself for his father's death, but was very relieved to be home none the less. He wished to thank Apollon for his safe journey and his victory over the Minotaur and thus, he ordered his men to gather all the foodstuffs that remained. This was mostly beans and grains, and he ordered the food to be cooked up for a feast and a sacrifice.

In celebration, Theseus then put together an eiresiône (εἰρεσιώνη), a branch of olive or laurel bound with purple or white wool. It was decorated with fruits of the season, pastries, and small jars of honey, oil and wine. The eiresiône was also called a 'supplicant branch', as it was intended as a thank-offering for blessings received, and at the same time as a prayer for similar blessings and protection against evil in future. He walked through the streets of Athens with his eiresiône, to signal his victory and the end of scarcity.

In ancient Hellas, and especially Athens, both observances were conglomerated into the Pyanepsia, and boys tended to carry their home made eiresiône through the streets in a Halloween-esque manner. They knocked on the doors of every house and sang a song. In return, they expected a gift. The eiresiône song from Plutarch, Life of Theseus, 22.5, goes as follows:

'eiresiône suka pherei kai pionas artous

kai meli en kotulêi kai elaion apopsêsasthai

kai kulik' euzôron, hôs an methuousa katheudêi.'

Modern Greek pronunciation:

(Capitalized syllables are emphasized according to the poetic meter)

'EE-re-si-ON-NE SEE-ka fe-RE KE PEE-on-as AR-tous

KE me-lee EN ko-tee-LEE ke e-LE-on a-POP-SEE-SAS-the

KE kee-lik EF-ZO-RON, OS AN me-thee-OU-sa ka-THEV-dee.'

Plutarch has the song:

“Eiresione for us brings figs and bread of the richest,
brings us honey in pots and oil to rub off from the body,
Strong wine too in a cup, that one may go to bed mellow.”

A special eiresiône was brought to the temple of Apollon by a boy whose parents were both alive. He was encouraged to recite the song during the procession. By the Classical Period an eiresione was hung over almost every door in Athens and remained here a full year before being replaced by a new one.

The sacrifice to Apollon was upheld for a long while as well. The ship Theseus used on his return from Crete to Athens was kept in the Athenian harbor as a memorial for several centuries. It was maintained and kept in proper shape. Often, this meant replacing parts of the ship, a practice which led to the question if the ship could still ethically be called the ship of Theseus after so much of it had been replaced. This dilemma became known as the 'Ship of Theseus paradox'. 

At any rate, the ship was sailed out to the island of Delos--which housed a sanctuary of Apollon--yearly after Theseus' return. To ensure the sanctity of the sacrifice, executions were not allowed to take place during the weeks it took to sail to Delos and back.

You can join us for this event on Facebook. The ritual for it can be found here. We would love for you to share your experiences and images of your eiresiône.

The Oskhophoria

The Oskhophoria (ὀσχοφόρια), or Oschophoria when Latinized, was an ancient Hellenic festival dedicated to Dionysos, Ariadne, Athena Skiras, and Apollon. This month, festivals are either related to the Eleusinian Mysteries or the mythology surrounding Theseus. This festival is one of the latter. It was a vintage festival and we would like to invite you to join us for it at 10:00 am EDT on September 28th.

The Oskhophoria falls during the vintage season in Attica. The principal feature of this festival, the procession, featured ripe grapevines. As such, we can assume that this festival was a thanksgiving for the grape harvest. In fact, branches of vines with fresh grapes were carried in a great procession from the temple of Dionysos in Athens, to the ancient temple of Athena Skiras in Phalerus. This was the main feature of the festival. After Theseus, hero and king, the festival was augmented to include the recounting of his many exploits with accommodation to earlier traditions. It seems that this recounting was done at the banqueting after the ritual and there would be much recounting indeed. Because the festival adopted features from mythology, Apollon also became one of the Theoi sacrificed to, as He is closely tied to the mythology of Theseus.

Many sources have snippits of information about the Oskhophoria and most disagree, as we have come to expect. We can be fairly certain the ancient Hellenes attributed the mythical foundation of the festival to Theseus, however, and many details of the festival relate back to his journey to Krete:

• the procession featured two youthful men in female attire, said to recall the trick of Theseus in which he substituted two of the seven female tributes with young male fighters
• mothers carrying dinner baskets also featured, representing the mothers of the fourteen tributes who made a last meal for their children before they sailed
• the Oskophoria was an ocassion for storytelling, as the youths sailing to Krete would have needed their spirits raised

Plutarch's account, in 'Theseus', recounts the origins of the festival as follows, obviously trying to make a coherent whole out of contradictory evidence:

"The feast called Oschophoria, or the feast of boughs, which to this day the Athenians celebrate, was then first instituted by Theseus. For he took not with him the full number of virgins which by lot were to be carried away, but selected two youths of his acquaintance, of fair and womanish faces, but of a manly and forward spirit, and having, by frequent baths, and avoiding the heat and scorching of the sun, with a constant use of all the ointments and washes and dresses that serve to the adorning of the head or smoothing the skin or improving the complexion, in a manner changed them from what they were before, and having taught them farther to counterfeit the very voice and carriage and gait of virgins so that there could not be the least difference perceived, he, undiscovered by any, put them into the number of the Athenian maids designed for Crete. At his return, he and these two youths led up a solemn procession, in the same habit that is now worn by those who carry the vine-branches.

Those branches they carry in honour of Bacchus and Ariadne, for the sake of their story before related; or rather because they happened to return in autumn, the time of gathering the grapes. The women, whom they call Deipnopherae, or supper-carriers, are taken into these ceremonies, and assist at the sacrifice, in remembrance and imitation of the mothers of the young men and virgins upon whom the lot fell, for thus they ran about bringing bread and meat to their children; and because the women then told their sons and daughters many tales and stories, to comfort and encourage them under the danger they were going upon, it has still continued a custom that at this feast old fables and tales should be told.

 For these particularities we are indebted to the history of Demon. There was then a place chosen out, and a temple erected in it to Theseus, and those families out of whom the tribute of the youth was gathered were appointed to pay tax to the temple for sacrifices to him. And the house of the Phytalidae had the overseeing of these sacrifices, Theseus doing them that honour in recompense of their former hospitality."

In the myth of Theseus and the minotaur, Theseus, looking to become king of Athens, hears about the Minotaur of Krete, and the nine-yearly sacrifices to it. These sacrifices were a punishment by King Minos of krete for the death of his son Androgeus, at the hands of Athenian assassins. Theseus offered to be one of the youths who sailed for Krete. Once there, Ariadne, daughter of the king, fell for him and offered him a ball of yarn so he would be able to find his way out off the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur the youths would be sacrificed to. Theseus defeated the Minotaur and took Ariadne and her sister Phaedra from their home in thanks for their help. That night, they slept on the beach but Athena woke up Theseus and told him to sail out now, and to leave Ariadne and Phaedra behind. He did, although it pained him greatly. It was here, Dionysos found Ariadne and fell in love with her. He would later end up marrying her and she became his immortal wife.

Because the Oskophoria is in many ways two festivals in one, it is a hard one to pin down in terms of modern worship. The Oschophoria was essentially a banquet celebration in honor of Theseus and the rescue of youths and maidens and even more so, an older celebration of the vintage combining traditions of Salamis and Athens. Well into the fourth century BC, two branches of the Salaminians were involved in preparation, were Deipnophoroi, and received equal portions of the meat. The vintage rituals of the Salamic Goddess Skiras became associated with Athena Skiras and naturally Dionysos. The various Theseus mythos was explained through the numerous recounting which we have added to the ritual.

We hope you join us in celebrating this festival. You can join the Facebook community here and find the ritual here.

Pandora's Kharis $ 75,- raised for Hot Meals for Victoria

We are proud to announce that Pandora's Kharis members have come through for the restaurant Guerilla Gourmet and its owner James Canter. Together, they have raised $ 75,- to help support this very worthy cause. Thank you very much!

When Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm, it left thousands of Crossroads residents without water or power. James Canter started cooking and he hasn't stopped. He owns the Guerrilla Gourmet restaurant located on the first floor of the Victoria Advocate. He has cooked food for more than 30 years.

Canter, 45, wasted no time getting his staff together to begin serving free meals to anyone who showed up at the restaurant. All he asked is that the customers pay what they could or wanted to, with the donations going to the cause. In a five-day span, Canter and his staff fed more than 4,000 people in the Crossroads.

Canter encourages those who are hungry or without food to stop by the restaurant at 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. According to Canter:

"Food is our common thread as a race. Food brings people together. Just seeing the smiles of what a simple bowl of soup can bring is incredible. As long as there are people who need food and comfort, we're going to give it to them. We're in it for the long haul."

The raised funds go towards providing meals to ground crews and anyone that needs a hot meal in hurricane-stricken Victoria.

From this moment on, the Pandora's Kharis Facebook page is open to pitches. If you do not have Facebook, feel free to pitch your cause in the comments. We will relay the message to the community. Please pitch your cause before September 30th. On to another month of pitching, voting, and giving!

PAT ritual announcement: the Proerosia

In the daylight hours of the 27th of September, on 6 Pyanepsion, we will celebrate and host a ritual for the Proerosia which, in Attica, honoured Demeter and Apollon first and foremost as Goddess of the harvest and oracular deity who insured bountiful harvest. It seems that in Myrrhinus, the primary recipient of worship during the Proerosia was Zeus. Will you join us at 10 AM EDT?

The Proerosia (Προηροσία) was a festival for Demeter’s blessings in preparation for the ploughing and sowing at the beginning of the agricultural season. In ancient times it was held at Eleusis. The name serves to convey the essence of the rites: 'sacrifice before ploughing'.

The myth goes that the whole of Hellas was suffering from a terrible famine or plague, and the oracle of Delphi was visited to ask how to stop this terrible affair. The Delphic Oracle said that Apollo ordered a tithe to Demeter of the first harvest on behalf of all Hellenes. Except for disruptions during the Peloponnesian War, offerings arrived annually at Eleusis from all over Hellas. While Athens wasn't a big contributor to the rites--perhaps because they already made their own offerings of grain and first fruits to Demeter--most other city-states contributed generously, and the Athenians were welcome during the rites. For His help, Pythian Apollon also received an offering during the Proerosia.

There is some confusion over the dating of the festival. Many modern sources date the festival on the fifth of Pyanpesion, but new research shows that, because of the placement of the Pyanepsia festival, in honour of Apollon and Theseus, the Proerosia could only have been celebrated in the daylight hours of the sixth.

The festival can be celebrated with first fruit-offerings, any offering related to grains (like bread, cakes, or pancakes), or a kykeon libation. The kykeon was made of barley, water, herbs, and ground goat cheese. Sometimes honey was added. Herbs that are described as part of the kykeon are mint, pennyroyal and thyme, although it seems any herb that was found to flavor the drink, was acceptable.

You can join our community for the event here, and find the ritual here.

Boedromion updates

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.

Changes to the blog:

• I have been insanely busy, but next month's project is the ever-recurring issue of weeding out nonsense tags. How do these things keep coming out of my fingers?! 

Statistics:

• A little over 965.000 views right now!
• 16.000 of those hits happened in the last month
• The top five most popular posts were: Significant new findings on Kythnos (and they are awesome!) (251), PAT ritual announcement: The Eleusinian Mysteries (196), The Beginner's guide to Hellenismos: Introduction (186), PBP: Symbols of Hellenismos (154), Question Collections post 69 (137)

PAT rituals for Pyanepsion:

• 6 Pyanepsion - 27 September 2017 - Proerosia - agricultural festival for Demeter held at Eleusis
• 7 Pyanepsion - 28 September 2017 - Pyanepsia - festival in honor of Apollon and Theseus
• 7 Pyanepsion - 28 September 2017 - Oskhophoria - festival of the vintage (grapes)
• 8 Pyanepsion - 29 September 2017 - Theseia - festival in honor of Theseus
• 9 Pyanepsion - 30 September 2017 - Stenia - women's festival in honor of Demeter and Persephone
• 11-13 Pyanepsion - 2-4 October 2017 - Thesmophoria - festival in honor of Demeter
• 14 Pyanepsion - 5 October 2017 - Sacrifice to The Heroines at Erkhia
• 16 Pyanepsion - 7 October 2017 - Apatouria - paternity festival. The first day (Dorpia) was celebrated with a communal feast within the brotherhood, the second day ('Anarrhusis') sacrifice were made to Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria, and the third day ('Koureotis') young boys admitted to their father's brotherhood.
• 30 Pyanepsion - 20 October 2017 - The Khalkeia - festival in honor of Athena and Hephaestus.

Anything else?

There are a lot of terrible things happening all around the globe, but Pandora's Kharis has decided to donate to the situation in Texas this month. Terrible floods have wreaked havoc there and we like grass root initiatives to help make things a little better. This month it's the restaurant Guerilla Gourmet and its owner James Canter.

The deadline to donate is today, September 21, 2017. You can do so by using the PayPal option to the side of the Pandora's Kharis website or by donating directly to baring.the.aegis@gmail.com. Thank you in advance!

Remember my novel "Survival Instincts," that will be published in March? It now has a cover! There is nothing Hellenic in it, but it would really help me a lot if you supported me on social media, either by following or interacting. You can find my website here, and of course social media: Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. Thank you!

Are you looking for an online shop to buy incenses and other Hellenistic basics from? Try The Hellenic Handmaid on Etsy.

"The meddling of one with another is the ruin of the State"

Remember when I begged American readers to vote wise? I'm sure you all did, but we are still stuck with a raging lunatic in control of nuclear launch codes. On November 8, 2016, I predicted the following:

"There will be war, there will be economic crisis, there will be social crisis and there will be a healthcare crisis."

I hate how right I am so far--and after Trump's thoughtless and incredibly stupid words yesterday, I'm so afraid I'll be even more correct in my prediction. Trump has delivered his first speech to the UN, and in his infinite idiocy, he declared that unless Pyongyang halts the development of its nuclear weapons program the US may may have no choice but to “totally destroy” North Korea. He went on to call North Korean leader Kim Jong-in a: “Rocket man [is] on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.”

Now, this is not a political blog and I'm not a political person. Threatening to totally destroy a country with 25 million inhabitants, however, goes beyond the boundaries of politics and spills into the core of human decency.

Yes, North Korea is dangerous. Their missile program is dangerous. The UN should have stepped up and addressed the issue a lot sooner. None of that excuses genocide. Nothing ever excuses the murder of millions of innocent civilians. Nothing excuses threatening to nuke innocent people. Period. 

I have thrown a lot of ancient wisdom at the "Trump situation" already, from Solon, to Aristotle, a lot of ancient wisdom applies. I'll leave you with another bit of ancient wisdom while I seethe about this situation, from  Plato's, The Republic. I wish the Americans who voted for this man had taken heed of this.

[W]hen the cobbler or any other man whom nature designed to be a trader, having his heart lifted up by wealth or strength or the number of his followers, or any like advantage, attempts to force his way into the class of warriors, or a warrior into that of legislators and guardians, for which he is unfitted, and either to take the implements or the duties of the other; or when one man is trader, legislator, and warrior all in one, then I think you will agree with me in saying that this interchange and this meddling of one with another is the ruin of the State."

Ancient Hellenic fortress unearthed in Southern Russia

Archeologists have unearthed a fortress in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, which was supposedly founded by Hellenic colonists in the fifth century BC. This reports The Greek Reporter.

Head of the expeditions department at the Research Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation Ivan Tupalov told TASS that the citadel had been found in the area where an energy bridge to Crimea is under construction.

"Security work was underway in connection with the construction of the energy bridge between Rostov and Taman [the part of the energy bridge that would incorporate Crimea in Russia’s energy grid, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the peninsula – TASS]. During excavations, an ancient fortress was unearthed. Judging by its fortifications, it was a Greek citadel founded by colonists, who came to settle the Black Sea coast… Such discoveries are not made every day."

According to him, the fortress is estimated to date back 2,500 years, as it is believed to have been built approximately in the fifth century BC. Its walls were made of mud bricks, which is why they did not last until today, but some traces can be seen in places where the ditch was and where towers once stood. The citadel had an area of around eight hectares. In the seventh and eighth centuries AD, the earth ramparts left over from its walls were turned into a burial ground, while in the past decades, the area was partly occupied by fields.

Tupalov said that scientists have yet to find answers to a lot of questions. The number of the citadel’s residents is still unknown (it can be estimated based on the number of the uncovered ceramic shreds). Another puzzling question is whether during ancient times, the Kuban River was connected to the sea by a firth or did the Helenes build their fortress on the seashore, or did they move deep inland, something which was uncommon for them. In addition, Archeologists have found a number of noteworthy artifacts.

"For instance, a bowl has been excavated which has an interesting picture of figures engaged in a dance resembling the ‘sirtaki’ dance. Besides, there are various small incense burners as the Greeks were very fond of fragrances, there are also pieces of jewelry and ceramic shards."

The ancient Hellenes, who came to the territory of the present-day Kuban in the fourth century BC, established their or colonies on the sea coast. They founded the Bosporan Kingdom on the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, spreading their civilization and peacefully coexisting with peoples living on the Taman Peninsula. In the fourth century AD, the Hun tribes drove the Greeks out of this area.

Greek Thought - Aristotle and Plato

Swamped! So swamped! I'm sorry, have a video on philosophy. It's the best I can do today. More tomorrow!

Ivan Aivazovsky paints Hellas

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky lived from 29 July 1817 to 2 May 1900. He was a Russian Romantic painter and is considered to be one of the greatest masters of marine art. Aivazovsky was born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crimea and was mostly based there. In 1845, Aivazovsky traveled to the Aegean Sea with Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and visited the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, and the Greek islands of Patmos and Rhodes, gaining inspiration for his art. During his almost 60-year career, he created around 6,000 paintings, making him one of the most prolific artists of his time. Today, I'd like to share some of his (ancient) Hellas themed art.

The Acropolis of Athens [1883]

The wedding of the poet in ancient Greece [1886]

Travel of Poseidon by sea [1894]

Crete [1897]

On the nature of ghosts and grasping at things we long for

I was re-reading The Odysseia, as I am prone to do when life gets hectic. It's a gentle refuge for my mind. I grasp at it in the hopes of clutching calm, and gaining a soothed mind. The Odyssey (Ὀδύσσεια) is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homeros. The Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC and focuses mainly on the hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years of perilous journeying to reach his beloved Ithaca again.

In the Odysseia, Homeros describes the intense longing to be with someone who has departed, in this case Odysseus tells the story of how he spoke to the ghost of his mother and lamented that he wished to hold her. It rang true for me yesterday, at least the part about longing. That's why I'm sharing it with you today.

“So she spoke but as I pondered this in my thoughts,

I wanted to clutch the soul of my departed mother.

Three times I reached out as my heart urged me to embrace her,

And three times she drifted from my hands like a shadow

Ora dream. The grief in my heart only grew sharper

And I spoke to her, uttering winged words.

“Mother, why don’t you wait as I come to hold you,

So we may even in Hades throw our arms around another

And have our fill together of cruel grief?

Or is it that dread Persephone sends only this ghost to me

So I may groan, grieving still more?”

So I spoke and my lady mother responded right away:

“Oh, my child, most ill-fated of all men,

Zeus’ daughter Persephone does not allow you things,

This is the law of mortals whenever they die.

We possess no tendons, flesh or bones—

Those things the strong force of burning fire

Consumed, and when the spirit first leaves its white bones,

The soul flits about and flies like a dream.”

[Odyssey 11.204-222]

The ancient Hellenes believed in ghosts; they were the people who could not find the entrance to the Underworld or who didn't have the money to pay Kharon for their passage. Those who were not properly buried were also doomed to wander the Earth for a hundred years. Interestingly enough, Hellenic heroes were also considered ghosts and were honored in the same type of rites as other types of ghosts. These ghosts, like Odysseus' mother, were summoned from the underworld with libations of animal blood, milk and honey, undiluted red wine, and water.

It's a scary world we live in today, isn't it? I long for quiet and safety, for reassurance, like Odysseus longs for his mother. Reading Homeros gave me a little respite from reality and for that I will always be grateful.

Earthquakes might have shaped ancient Hellenic culture

Two news articles in a row, bad me. Sorry, life is busy and the news is interesting. I came across this bit of research yesterday: it seems that the ancient Hellenes may have built sacred or treasured sites deliberately on land previously affected by earthquake activity, according to a new study by the University of Plymouth.

Professor of Geoscience Communication Iain Stewart MBE, Director of the University’s Sustainable Earth Institute, has presented several BBC documentaries about the power of earthquakes in shaping landscapes and communities. Now he believes fault lines created by seismic activity in the Aegean region may have caused areas to be afforded special cultural status and, as such, led to them becoming sites of much celebrated temples and great cities.

Scientists have previously suggested Delphi, a mountainside complex once home to a legendary oracle, gained its position in Classical Greek society largely as a result of a sacred spring and intoxicating gases which emanated from a fault line caused by an earthquake.

But Professor Stewart believes Delphi may not be alone in this regard, and that other cities including Mycenae, Ephesus, Cnidus and Hierapolis may have been constructed specifically because of the presence of fault lines. Professor Stewart said:

"Earthquake faulting is endemic to the Aegean world, and for more than 30 years, I have been fascinated by the role earthquakes played in shaping its landscape. But I have always thought it more than a coincidence that many important sites are located directly on top of fault lines created by seismic activity. The Ancient Greeks placed great value on hot springs unlocked by earthquakes, but perhaps the building of temples and cities close to these sites was more systematic than has previously been thought."

In the study, published in Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, Professor Stewart says a correspondence of active faults and ancient cities in parts of Greece and western Turkey might not seem unduly surprising given the Aegean region is riddled with seismic faults and littered with ruined settlements.

But, he adds, many seismic fault traces in the region do not simply disrupt the fabric of buildings and streets, but run straight through the heart of the ancient settlements’ most sacred structures.
There are prominent examples to support the theory, such as in Delphi itself where a sanctuary was destroyed by an earthquake in 373BC only for its temple to be rebuilt directly on the same fault line.
There are also many tales of individuals who attained oracular status by descending into the underworld, with some commentators arguing that such cave systems or grottoes caused by seismic activity may have formed the backdrop for these stories. Professor Stewart concludes:

“I am not saying that every sacred site in ancient Greece was built on a fault line. But while our association with earthquakes nowadays is that they are all negative, we have always known that in the long run they give more than they take away. The ancient Greeks were incredibly intelligent people and I believe they would have recognised this significance and wanted their citizens to benefit from the properties they created.”

Ancient Hellenistic Towers in Antalya Being Restored

Conservation, restoration and integration works have been initiated for the Hellenistic towers in the ancient city of Perge in the southern province of Antalya in Turkey. The work was carried out by the Antalya Directorate of Surveying and Monuments.

Perge (Perga in Greek) was once a very important city in the region of Pamphylia and the ancient ruins of Perge are located about 18 km east of Antalya near the town of Aksu, Turkey. It was an important city originally settled by the Hittites around 1500 B.C. Perge is located near the Kestros River and was originally a port city on a major trade route. Perga was a wealthy Greek city during the Hellenistic period, however, when the whole bay area silted up, that ended Perga’s port city status and sea trade.

The Hellenistic towers, Perge’s most significant structure, is one of the remaining pre-Roman structures at the site. It dates back to the 3rd century BC, this gate, consisting of two towers with a horse-shoe shaped court behind them, was clearly designed according to the defensive strategy of the day.

Restoration of the gigantic towers began in 2002 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Within the scope of the restoration project, Prota provided damage assessment, seismic assessment, in-situ drawings, restitution and restoration and retrofitting designs for the Hellenistic Towers in Perge antique site. The towers were taken under protection in 2007 with the steel construction method, in order to prevent the stones from falling, or a possible collapse.

Antalya Surveying and Monuments Director Cemil Karabayram states that the tender has been finished for the restoration of the towers. The restoration project has a budget of 2.5 million Turkish Liras.

"Nearly 2,000 stones in the tower were classified. Now the proper stones will be used again in the restoration. The restoration will be complete in mid-2019. After the restoration, the steel frames will be removed from the towers. The stones were examined one by one and the project was approved by the relevant preservation board. At the moment, it is evident where most of the stones will go. When the work is complete, we will be able to open 70-80 percent of the Hellenistic towers for tourism. The project will be carried out under the consultancy of academics and scientists."

PAT ritual announcement for the sacrifice to the Achelous, Alochus, the Nymphs, Hermes & Gaea

Near the end of the month of Boedromion, there was a singular sacrifice organized in Erkhia, a deme of Attica. It was held in honor of the river God Achelous, his intended wife ('alochos') Deianeira, the Nymphs, Hermes, and Gaea. We will be holding a PAT ritual for this sacrifice on the 18th of September, at 10 AM EDT.

In Hellenic mythology, Achelous (Ἀχελῷος Achelōios) is the patron deity of the 'silver-swirling' Achelous River, which is the largest river of Greece, and thus the chief of all river deities. His name is pre-Hellenic, its meaning unknown. His parents are generally believed to be Tethys and Okeanos. Very few of the river Gods have mythology about Them, but Achelous was featured heavily in the legends surrounding the hero Hēraklēs. In fact, we believe the origins for this sacrifice lie exactly there. The myth goes as follows:

Achelous, God of the most powerfully flowing river in Hellas, fell in love with the daughter of the king who ruled the land along the river. Deianeira, daughter of Oeneus king of Calydon came to age as the most beautiful woman in the land. For her hand, her father announced a contest: the strongest of her suitors would win her. Achelous, as a God, was by far the strongest in the region and was sure He would win her. But Hēraklēs had also heard of her beauty so in the end it came down to the two of them.

Hēraklēs was the strongest mortal in the world, but Achelous, being a God, had some advantages over him. He could change his shape at will. He could become a snake that curved like the winding river. He could become a bull that roared like the roaring river. And when He was a bull He could tear the very earth with His massive horns, just as the river carved away the land when it overflowed its banks. Even in the shape of a man, He had the horns of the bull on His head.

The fight was terrible. Achelous thrashed and fought Hēraklēs in all his shapes. When Hēraklēs pinned him, he became a snake and slithered loose. But Hēraklēs gripped him again and this time Achelous tried to shake free by changing into a bull. He bucked and raged, but Hēraklēs drove his horns into the Earth and with a mighty heave, he tore one off. Achelous howled and was forced to submit. As such, Hēraklēs won the match and won Deianeira's hand in marriage. And the people of Calydon won as well as the Nymphs hollowed out the horn and good Earth fills it with all the fruits and vegetables of the harvest. It became the Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty.

This sacrifice, timed well with the reaping of the final fruits of the Earth before winter, includes all involved with the myth: Gaea's inclusion, as the source of all the fruits of harvest, speaks for Herself, Achelous (as the largest, life giving, river) was included because of His waters and the myth of the Cornucopia. That myth included his intended wife Deianeira and the manifestations of Achelous as the sacred bull, the serpent and the Minotaur--all creatures associated with Gaea. Because of their close connection to water, a fertilizing element, and the creation of the Cornucopia itself, the Nymphs were worshiped as daimons of fertility and vegetation. Hermes, as the Bringer of All that is Good helped bridge the divide between myth and humanity.

We hope you join us for this event on Facebook, and the ritual can be found here.

Words of wisdom on power from the Discourses by Epictetus

The world is nuts, ladies and gentlemen, and sometimes I need a little ancient wisdom to help me through the crazy. Epictetus (Ἐπίκτητος) was a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher who lived from 55 – 135 AD. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in north-western Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion.

Epictetus' primary philosophical lesson was that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; we should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However, individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. In short: a true Stoic. In 'Discourses' Epictetus' views come to light best, and I would like to share some of his wise words about power today.

"Of the things which are in our Power, and not in our Power

Of all the faculties, you will find not one which is capable of contemplating itself; and, consequently, not capable either of approving or disapproving. How far does the grammatic art possess the contemplating power? As far as forming a judgement about what is written and spoken. And how far music? As far as judging about melody. Does either of them then contemplate itself? By no means. But when you must write something to your friend, grammar will tell you what words you must write; but whether you should write or not, grammar will not tell you. And so it is with music as to musical sounds; but whether you should sing at the present time and play on the lute, or do neither, music will not tell you. What faculty then will tell you? That which contemplates both itself and all other things. And what is this faculty? The rational faculty; for this is the only faculty that we have received which examines itself, what it is, and what power it has, and what is the value of this gift, and examines all other faculties: for what else is there which tells us that golden things are beautiful, for they do not say so themselves? Evidently it is the faculty which is capable of judging of appearances. What else judges of music, grammar, and other faculties, proves their uses and points out the occasions for using them? Nothing else.

As then it was fit to be so, that which is best of all and supreme over all is the only thing which the gods have placed in our power, the right use of appearances; but all other things they have not placed in our power. Was it because they did not choose? I indeed think that, if they had been able, they would have put these other things also in our power, but they certainly could not. For as we exist on the earth, and are bound to such a body and to such companions, how was it possible for us not to be hindered as to these things by externals?

But what says Zeus? "Epictetus, if it were possible, I would have made both your little body and your little property free and not exposed to hindrance. But now be not ignorant of this: this body is not yours, but it is clay finely tempered. And since I was not able to do for you what I have mentioned, I have given you a small portion of us, this faculty of pursuing an object and avoiding it, and the faculty of desire and aversion, and, in a word, the faculty of using the appearances of things; and if you will take care of this faculty and consider it your only possession, you will never be hindered, never meet with impediments; you will not lament, you will not blame, you will not flatter any person."

"Well, do these seem to you small matters?" I hope not. "Be content with them then and pray to the gods." But now when it is in our power to look after one thing, and to attach ourselves to it, we prefer to look after many things, and to be bound to many things, to the body and to property, and to brother and to friend, and to child and to slave. Since, then, we are bound to many things, we are depressed by them and dragged down. For this reason, when the weather is not fit for sailing, we sit down and torment ourselves, and continually look out to see what wind is blowing. "It is north." What is that to us? "When will the west wind blow?" When it shall choose, my good man, or when it shall please AEolus; for God has not made you the manager of the winds, but AEolus. What then? We must make the best use that we can of the things which are in our power, and use the rest according to their nature. What is their nature then? As God may please.

"Must I, then, alone have my head cut off?" What, would you have all men lose their heads that you may be consoled? Will you not stretch out your neck as Lateranus did at Rome when Nero ordered him to be beheaded? For when he had stretched out his neck, and received a feeble blow, which made him draw it in for a moment, he stretched it out again. And a little before, when he was visited by Epaphroditus, Nero's freedman, who asked him about the cause of offense which he had given, he said, "If I choose to tell anything, I will tell your master."

What then should a man have in readiness in such circumstances? What else than "What is mine, and what is not mine; and permitted to me, and what is not permitted to me." I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment? "Tell me the secret which you possess." I will not, for this is in my power. "But I will put you in chains." Man, what are you talking about? Me in chains? You may fetter my leg, but my will not even Zeus himself can overpower. "I will throw you into prison." My poor body, you mean. "I will cut your head off." When, then, have I told you that my head alone cannot be cut off? These are the things which philosophers should meditate on, which they should write daily, in which they should exercise themselves.

Thrasea used to say, "I would rather be killed to-day than banished to-morrow." What, then, did Rufus say to him? "If you choose death as the heavier misfortune, how great is the folly of your choice? But if, as the lighter, who has given you the choice? Will you not study to be content with that which has been given to you?"

What, then, did Agrippinus say? He said, "I am not a hindrance to myself." When it was reported to him that his trial was going on in the Senate, he said, "I hope it may turn out well; but it is the fifth hour of the day"- this was the time when he was used to exercise himself and then take the cold bath- "let us go and take our exercise." After he had taken his exercise, one comes and tells him, "You have been condemned." "To banishment," he replies, "or to death?" "To banishment." "What about my property?" "It is not taken from you." "Let us go to Aricia then," he said, "and dine."

This it is to have studied what a man ought to study; to have made desire, aversion, free from hindrance, and free from all that a man would avoid. I must die. If now, I am ready to die. If, after a short time, I now dine because it is the dinner-hour; after this I will then die. How? Like a man who gives up what belongs to another."

Question Collections post 69

I get a lot of questions from readers, and most of the time, the answers are fairly short. When I feel the question or the reply would be valuable to others as well, I make a post with a collection of them and post them in one go. Today is one of those posts.

"Are there any sources for Greek holidays? Did they celebrate Sabbats and Equinoxes like other pagans of their time? I've found a few but they're mostly Roman and I'm looking for specifically Greek if that's possible. Thank you in advance."

A solstice is an astronomical event that occurs twice each year (around 21 June and 21 December) as the Sun reaches its highest or lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. An equinox occurs twice a year as well (around 20 March and 22 September), when the plane of the Earth's equator passes the center of the Sun. At this time the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun. In essence, during an equinox, the period of time the sun is down (night time) and the sun is up (daytime) is roughly the same. The ancient Hellenes observed these four points in the year, and because of that, the ancient Hellenic calendar is partly solar: the solstices and equinoxes are anchor points for the otherwise lunar calendar.

Depending on the city-state, one of these four points was picked for the start of the new year. Athens and Delphi had the summer solstice, Boeotia had the winter solstice, and Milet started out with the autumnal equinox, but moved the new year to the spring equinox around the end of the 4th century BC. This anchor point was the most important; the rest were used to check the accuracy of the calculations.

Is it reconstructionistic to honor specific Gods on the solstices and equinoxes? That depends on which Gods you honor on the equinoxes and solstices. We know there were festivals celebrated on or around the time of these anchor points:

The Galaxia was closely associated with the Spring/Vernal Equinox.
The Kronia was closely associated with the Summer Solstice.
The Eleusinian Mysteries were celebrated around the autumnal Equinox.
The Poseidea was closely associated with the Winter Solstice.

~~~

"You're doing the Eleusinian Mysteries! I want to take part but I am still practicing and I missed a few days, is that bad? I see the first few are about purification, can I spend extra focus on my usual purification and catch up that way? How about the others I missed?"

You can totally still jump in with the Mysteries! You were right, you can conflate the purification rites with your standard practice (maybe focus on it a bit more) and either leave out or do one after the other the other rituals you've missed. May I suggest you don't consider this a practice period? You will never be faulted for mistakes you make unknowingly. What you are doing is honoring the Theoi, and you either honor Them or you don't. There is no "practice" or "in-between". You either do, or you don't, and you do! That's wonderful! Take pride and joy in that.

~~~

"What advice do you have for someone who is just getting into Hellenismos and also going to be attending college this fall."

That depends on what you're worried about, I suppose. Will you be lacking privacy? Are there rules that you have to stick to in order to continue living where you will be living, be it a dorm or an off-campus site? Perhaps this will help: a list of what you need to practice and the substitutes allowed anywhere and which you can hide.

An altar to sacrifice at = use your desk or clear a table
A sacrificial bowl (x2, one to sacrifice into, one for khernips) = deep plates or soup bowls
Candles = electric candles or unlit ones
Incense = perfume (keep away from fire!)
Wine = grape juice
A garden to pour out libations / bury sacrifices = a potted plant

That's all you need, really. Usually you can light a match even in a dorm room, so you should be able to make khernips by dropping a match into water. Most likely you won't be able to have a fire burning to burn sacrifices in. Sadly, that's just how it'll have to be until you get out. Practicing without a fire is a reality for many people until they have a home where it's possible to safely and legally practice that way. Some never will, and that's all right too. I hope this helps and good luck at college!

250 stone inscriptions from ancient Attica to be made available in English

Created by the inhabitants of the ancient city of Athens and its surrounding region, Attica, stone inscriptions are the most numerous surviving written documents of a city that has made a lasting impact on Western civilization. All the stone inscriptions from ancient Athens in UK collections are to be made public in English translations for the first time, thanks to a new project led by Cardiff University.

Providing evidence of the first major Western democracy in action, and often decorated with relief sculpture, some of the inscriptions reveal in detail decisions made more than two millennia ago by the Athenian citizen Assembly and other bodies. Others are a rich source of information about the lives of ancient Athenians, from financial accounts and leases, to dedications to the gods and funerary monuments.

Among the inscriptions is the well-known stele of Jason held in the British Museum. The 2nd century AD monument is a dedication to the healing god Asklepios by the doctor, Jason, and his family, and depicts a doctor examining an anxious patient. Another is a fascinating 2nd century BC decree of the Athenian Assembly in Petworth House honoring a long list of Athenian girls who helped weave the peplos, a garment ritually draped over the ancient wooden statue of Athena on the acropolis.

Attic Inscriptions in UK collections, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, will publish all 250 inscriptions from ancient Athens and Attica held in UK collections, in collaboration with museums across the UK. Spanning nearly a millennium of history from the 6th century BC to 3rd century AD, the inscriptions will be published in open access on the website Attic Inscriptions Online created by, Dr Stephen Lambert of Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion.

Most of the Attic inscriptions in the UK are housed in the British Museum in London, but numerous smaller collections, such as those at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and in several country houses, such as Petworth, will also feature in the project, as well as those at the British School at Athens.

The four-year £0.5m project will also produce new materials designed to enhance use of these inscriptions in teaching at secondary level, both virtually and via visits to the collections themselves.
Leading the UK project team, inscriptions expert Dr Stephen Lambert said:

"The last major edition of the Attic inscriptions in the British Museum appeared in 1874. We plan to publish them online in a series of 17 papers, each covering an individual collection or, for the British Museum, category of inscriptions. Based on the most up-to-date scholarly bibliography, supplemented by fresh autopsy of the stones, and supported by photographs, the papers will include ancient Greek texts, translations and commentaries on each inscription. The scholarly papers will be linked to translations on Attic Inscriptions Online, with notes aimed at school and university students and museum visitors."

Dr Polly Low and Dr Peter Liddel of Manchester University, who are collaborating on the project, added:

“We are excited that the project will not only benefit scholars worldwide, but will make these fascinating insights into the Classical world more accessible and engaging for school and University students and the wider public visiting our great UK museums.”

What, exactly, is a polis?

The polis (πόλις) literally means "city" in Greek. The plural is "poleis" (πόλεις). It's almost synonymous with "city-state": a sovereign state, also described as a type of small independent country, that usually consists of a single city and its dependent territories. Athens was one, for example, as was Sparta.

In the ancient world, the polis was a nucleus, the central urban area that could also have controlled the surrounding countryside, which were usually part of the polis. These outskirts were called usually called "Khôra" (χώρα). There were around 1500 archaic and classical Hellenic poleis. Many of them are listed here. The region formed by a cluster of poleis, bound geographically and ethnically, was an ethnos (ἔθνος, nation). Its plural is "ethne."

The Ancient Hellenic city-state developed during the Archaic period as the ancestor of city, state, and citizenship and persisted (though with decreasing influence) well into Roman times. The term polis, which in archaic Greece meant "city", changed with the development of the governance center in the city to signify "state" (which included its surrounding villages). Finally, with the emergence of a notion of citizenship among landowners, it came to describe the entire body of citizens. The ancient Hellenes did not always refer to Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and other poleis as such; they often spoke instead of the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, Thebans and so on. The body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the term polis in ancient Hellas.

Plato analyzes the polis in The Republic, whose Greek title, Πολιτεία (Politeia), itself derives from the word polis. The best form of government of the polis for Plato is the one that leads to the common good. According to Plato, there are five main economic classes of any polis: producers, merchants, sailors/shipowners, retail traders, and wage earners. Along with the two principles and five economic classes, there are four virtues. The four virtues of a "just city" include, wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. With all of these principles, classes, and virtues, it was believed that a "just city" (polis) would exist.

Derivatives of polis are common in many modern European languages. This is indicative of the influence of the polis-centred Hellenic world view. Derivative words in English include policy, polity, police, and politics. In Greek, words deriving from polis include politēs and politismos, whose exact equivalents in Latin, Romance, and other European languages, respectively civis ("citizen"), civilisatio ("civilization"), etc., are similarly derived.

Significant new findings on Kythnos (and they are awesome!)

Τhe Archaeology Sector at the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly announces the results of regular excavations at the ancient city of Kythnos (today’s Vryokastro) earlier this year (26/5-5/8). The excavations have yielded particularly significant findings.

Head of a bearded figure (Asklepios or Serapis) 

The excavation of two Classical-Hellenistic monument buildings that had started in 2016 has been completed. The southern Building 1, measuring 17.40 x 11.50 meters, which was also used in the Roman period, is divided into two rooms sharing a single portico (NW) with a Doric colonnade (this year, an entire column capital made of shelly stone was found at the bottom of the adjacent ancient cistern, probably from this gallery).

At the northern part of Room A, a pebbled floor is preserved, as well as part of the elevated circular stripe for placing daybeds. As a small researching incision at the north-western corner of the site indicated the initial floor here was about 1 meter lower but we do not know yet whether it was also pebbled. Also, many fragments of a second floor found in the cistern, decorated with black pebbles forming geometric shapes, cannot be attributed to the later floor at which only white pebbles were used.

There is of course a possibility that this unidentified decorated pebbled floor comes from Room C, bordering to the south. Indeed, the upper floor of Room C has been corroded and is not preserved. Yet, at the rear part of it the solid rectangular sub-foundation of a pedestal has been uncovered, measuring 1.20x0.80 metres, probably aiming to host a cult statue. This pedestal is associated to the 2nd (Roman) phase of the site, when the prostyle single gallery of the building was no longer standing and at the southern half of the portico an informal hall was created with an entrance at the south. It seems that at that time a new threshold was placed to access Room C, about a metre higher than the initial floor of the area, off-centred to the central axis of the room but right across the pedestal of the cult statue.

At the south-eastern corner of Building 1 there is an attached pear-shaped cistern, cut into the existing rock. This year, with the contribution of volunteering speleologists from the SPELEO and HEIRON associations the inside of the cistern was thoroughly investigated; it is over 7.50 meters deep and 6.80 meters wide at the broadest part of its floor.

It included large quantities of sizeable stones, mixed with a bit of soil, as well as numerous mobile findings, mainly stelae and sculptures made of marble. The findings inside the cistern comprise, among other things, ceramic figurines of female and child figures, multi nozzle oil lamps, a fragment of a kernos from Eleusis and the following marble sculptures from the late Classical-Hellenistic years: two heads of girls, two torsos of naked boys, the head of a bearded figure (Asclepius or Serapis), and a small Hekataion.

These findings certify that the building is associated to the worshiping of Asclepius, as we had suggested last year, on the grounds of the finding inside the cistern of a Roman inscribed cippus with the name of the god. Parts of marble votive stelae were also found inside the cistern this year, some bearing inscriptions. One of them is about an offering to Aphrodite Derceto (Atargatis).

The worshipping of Aphrodite at the particular site had been previously assumed, mainly due to the presence here of a marble statue, previously attributed by P. Themelis to Damophon, the sculptor from Messene. The theory was confirmed by the aforementioned inscription, as well as by a headless marble Hellenistic figurine of a semi-nude Aphrodite found this year at the destruction layer at the base of the western protecting wall of this building.

Based therefore on this year’s findings, Building 1 should be associated with the worshipping of Asclepius as well as Aphrodite. Inscriptions testifying the worshipping of Gods from Samothrace have also been found in the area. Last but not least, inside the cistern, towards the deeper strata of the land filling that has been excavated, two human femoral bones have been found, their dating remaining unclear so far.

To the east of the façade of Building 1, the area of the altar has been investigated anew (preserved length 6.20 meters, width 2.85 meters). The altar seems to have been restricted within the limits of the northern half of the building, although we assume it also served the worshipping of other deities at the temple.

Building 2, to the north (fig. 2 on the left, fig. 15), measuring 20.20x8 meters, has four square rooms opening to a long narrowing corridor. The building must have had at least two entries from the east. At a second phase, however, the inside of the portico was also accessed from the north as well as the south through built-in tiers.

Unfortunately the floors of use in the building have been totally corroded; however, investigation of the breccia landfill beneath them has yielded significant findings this year, ranging from the Geometric to the Hellenistic years, confirming that Building 2 was constructed in the Hellenistic times.

Another important discovery is that the abutment starting at the north-eastern corner of the building ends at Abutment 4 and the sanctuary of Apollo and Artemis, dozens of meters to the north (fig. 16 in the background), confirming that it is a massive building project of monuments along the sea-front, with sacred and public spaces of the Ano Polis in this period.

The exact use of Building 2, though, cannot be clarified until the mobile findings associated with its use have been conserved and studied (including ceramic figurines, lead weights, trade amphorae and many fragments of relief skyphoi).

Research at a 4-metre wide stripe between the two buildings uncovered the terraced slope to the plateau of the sanctuaries, which leads to a simple propylon. The area underwent an important intervention in the Roman years, when burning soil, with many animal bones and ceramics (mainly oil lamps from the Hellenistic-Roman years), probably from the area of the altar, were accumulated there and access was created with the tiers at the north-western corner of Building 2. Similar terraced accesses to the plateau were uncovered along the southern side of Building 1 as well as the northern side of Building 1.

Finally, within a few meters to the east of Building 2, during a trial research of two squares, a part of an older abutment wall was uncovered, built with unprocessed stones, running along Building 2, which is probably associated to the older phase of the site, in the Geometric-Classical years.

To conclude, consolidation and conservation of the excavated monuments of the ancient city has begun, starting from the temple of Apollo and Artemis (excavation 2002-2006), in close collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades.

With the research at the particular site of the Ano Polis on Kythnos island the two areas are now spatially connected to some of the most significant sanctuaries of the island. It should be reminded that a few meters to the north in the period 2002-2006 a particularly important temple was excavated, which would operate from the 7th century BC to the 1st century BC – 1st century AD, with an unlooted sanctum containing numerous valuable votive offerings. It was probably a sanctuary for Apollo and Artemis.

To the south of the Asklepieion and the Afroditieion stretches the Acropolis with its sanctuaries waiting to be uncovered; the sanctuary of Demeter, identified through surface findings, seems to have held a preeminent place among the Acropolis sanctuaries. We hope that these zones are finally expropriated and become an archaeological site open to the public, in combination to the displays at the new archaeological museum of the island, which last year became part of the NSRF and is being constructed by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades.

The excavation on Kythnos was conducted by the Archaeology Sector of the University of Thessaly, under the direction of the professor of Classical Archaeology Alexandros Mazarakis Ainian, in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades. Apart from the aforementioned institutions, research was financially supported by the Secretariat General for the Aegean and Island Policy of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries; the Southern Aegean Region; the Municipality of Kythnos; and mainly by the generous sponsor Mr Athanasios Martinos.

For many, many, many more pictures of these finds, visit the Archaeological News Network.