PBP: Places of worship: the agora

It was the religious, athletic, artistic, political, judicial, social, and commercial meeting place for the ancient Hellenes: the agora (Ἀγορά), or 'gathering place'. As many ancient Hellenic cities were planned from the envisioned agora outwards, the agora was often located either in the middle of the city or near the harbour, which was surrounded by public buildings and by temples. In many cities, and for most of the age of Hellas, the agora was the centre--the heart--and it served a multitude of functions.

It seems that '[i]n the 5th and 4th centuries BC two kinds of agora existed. Pausanias, writing in the 2nd century AD, calls one type archaic and the other Ionic. He mentions the agora of Elis (built after 470 BC) as an example of the archaic type, in which colonnades and other buildings were not coordinated; the general impression created was one of disorder. The agora of Athens was rebuilt to this type of design after the Persian Wars (490–449 BC). The Ionic type was more symmetrical, often combining colonnades to form either three sides of a rectangle or a regular square; Miletus, Priene, and Magnesia ad Maeandrum, cities in Asia Minor, provide early examples. This type prevailed and was further developed in Hellenistic and Roman times.'

Very early on in Hellenic civilization, the agora became the focal point of Hellenic life. In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, the agora was not only the central meeting place for the living, but a honourable burial place for the very important dead. It was a practice that slowly faded as death became to be viewed as more and more miasmic, but very old graves have been found at locations of agora's.

The location was always more for the living, however, and tended to be the hub of social activity. The agora was designed to be easily accessible to every citizen, and often housed a large central square for market stalls, which were ringed by a colonnade, sometimes containing shops, or stoae. Statues, altars, trees, and fountains adorned the square itself, and it was bound by public buildings.

The agoras of the ancient Hellenic world varied greatly in size, but in gneral, the size of the agora was in line with the size of the city. The agora in Athens, for example, was the size of several football fields and saw heavy traffic every single dag. Women didn't often frequent the agora, but it was the central meeting place for anyone else, from politicians, philosophers, traders, city officials and slaves to the city's criminals.

In many cities, the agora would have been crowded with confectioners who made pastries and sweets, slave-traders, fishmongers, vintners, cloth merchants, shoe-makers, dress makers, and jewelry purveyors. Men and slaves usually did the shopping, with slaves and donkeys carrying the purchases; wealthier women may have visited to buy perfumes, jewellery and expensive cloth. In Athens, a special separate 'potters market' was reserved for the buying and selling of cookware as that was considered solely the provenance of women and was frequented by female slaves on task for their mistresses or by the poorer wives and daughters of Athens.

Kapeloi, retail traders, were a frequent sight at the agora, and served as middle-men between the craftsmen and the consumer, but even then, these vendors were deemed unnecessary and were often mistrusted by the general public.

Scientific theory got its start in the agora, where the city's greatest minds regularly met informally to socialize. In Athens, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were frequently seen at the agora, discussing philosophy and instructed pupils. Hippocrates and Pythagoras were both highly public figures who taught and shared ideas in their own hometown agoras. Democracy found its start at the agora as well.

As a religious site, the agora makes an odd but somewhat understandable choice; many temples were focussed around the agora, and in all centuries, the agora was lined with altars to the Gods--including special altars to the dodecatheon, the Twelve, the major gods of the city--and many statues of Gods, heroes, and those who had earned their statue to be erected at the square. Olympic victors often earned that right, as well as those who had become war heroes or those who had served the city in another important capacity.

Athena and Zeus in Athens especially had special epithets connected to the agora: Agoraios and Agoraia, patrons of the agora itself. the agora further served as both a meeting place, a sacrificial area, and the main area for public celebrations where meat from the sacrifice was distributed amongst the city's citizens. The agora--while rarely the focal point of worship--tended to be at the start and end of religious ceremonies, and would have been the designated area for discussions about the rites and many of the activities connected to it.

The concept of  city centre is mostly lost to us now, although some small towns and yes, some larger cities especially those not in the Western world, still make use of a large open space where all ways of life interconnect, and where the main focus of social interaction is placed. With its central location and open character, the agora was the logical place to spend free time, and because religion was such a large part of the ancient Hellenic way of life, it's only logical that religious activities also featured heavily at the agora.

• Friday, January 10, 2014
  ancient Hellenic culture Athens Pagan Blog Project Places of worship series

Places of worship: caves

I have a fascination with caves, and I have visited many of them in my relatively short life. I have been to narrow natural caves full of stalagmites and stalactites, to huge caved in domes where upon emerging into the light was a truly spiritual experience, to man-made loam caves with the bloody scratch marks still etched in the soft stone, left by lost explorers, looking to get out. I have visited tiny caves known for their beautiful sediment, and caves only known for the concerts held there. Some of the caves I visited weren't interesting at all, but the guide managed to share its lore so convincingly that these caves have a special place in my heart, regardless. The one thing I have not done, but always wanted to do, is worship in them.

There is something primal about caves, especially natural ones. They take years upon years to develop, being etched out one grain of sand at a time by stubborn streams of water. Some caves have been around since the age of mankind, and often long before that. Caves had a special place in ancient Hellenic worship, and were often devoted to the ancient Gods, such as Zeus, Apollo, and Cybele and particularly to Pan and the Nymphs. Caves in Their honor could and can still be found all over the Greek countryside. They were dark places full of votive offerings and altars, which would come to life during rituals attended by the ancient followers of the Gods.

We have quite a bit of information on cave worship in ancient Hellas, and Krete in particular. Caves were important to the inhabitants of Krete since Neolithic times, first as homes, then as burial places, and eventually places of worship by the Middle Minoan period. We distinguish three categories of cave sanctuaries: the grotto (mainly a large niche), the simple cave (deep, but usually consisting of one large space), and the complex cave with multiple rooms, possibly reminiscent of a maze. The majority of the latter two contain elaborate stalagmites and stalactites, as well as water sources, making them mystical and otherworldly places per excellence, as well as practical places to worship in a religion where the sprinkling of water-made-sacred is a staple.

Caves in the ancient Hellenic religion often connect to the wild and unknowable: not only do they often house 'monsters' (like the Cyclops in the Odysseia, and the Centaur Kheiron), but they are the houses of 'wild' women like Calypso, as well as of the Nymphs, and Pan. Yet, these are not completely wild; they occupy the space between the untamed wild and the carefully tended field of civilized life. Their places of worship--when they attracted cult worship, like the Nymphs and Pan--including caves, but also actual gardens, do not represent the rule of mankind over nature; it is better to say that these places represent ideal nature--untamed, yet safe, comfortable, and full of beauty. A true natural sanctuary. Jennifer Larson, in the excellent essay 'A Land Full of Gods: Nature Deities in Greek Religion' speaks of this connection to the idea of the 'divine garden' and caves, saying:

"During the archaic and classical periods, the nymphs were credited with the ability to 'seize' individuals and inspire them. These nympholepts [persons seized by the Nymphs] sometimes withdrew to cave shrines and spent their lives communing with the nymphs and other resident gods. They welcomed visitors and may have acted as prophets. One such nympholept was Archedamus, an immigrant from Thera, who devoted his life to the maintenance of a sanctuary of the nymphs at Vari in Attica (Figure 3.1). At the instruction of the nymphs, he cut stairs, sculptures, and inscriptions into the rock of a cave, and outside it cultivated a garden. At a cave near Pharsalus, Pantalces left a long inscription inviting worshipers to enjoy themselves and take pleasure in the sanctuary. He refers twice to the growing things that he planted, and tells how the nymphs made him an overseer of the place. He lists the resident gods: the nymphs, Pan, and Hermes are mentioned first, then a number of gods concerned with the health and nurture of youths: Apollo, Heracles, Chiron, Asclepius, and Hygieia. Archedamus’ and Pantalces’ shared conception of the proper way to honor the nymphs includes the idea that their dwelling is not a temple but a cave, a natural shelter with certain analogies to human structures, but distinct from them. It is permissible, even necessary, for the human worshiper to improve on the natural contours of the cave." [59]

Divination is attested to cave worship more often. In Minoan times, caves were places one visited to go on a type of vision-quest ritual, whereby the worshipper went into a trance to encounter a deity. In the later Hellenic periods, this type of ritual use seems to have faded, but divination still played a large part in the ritualized function of caves. Pilgrims to the oracle of Delphi brought hundreds of seashells from the Corinthian gulf as gifts for the Nymphs, who were said to share a cave with Pan at the sanctuary. In the cave, knucklebones from sheep and goats were used in an old divinatory tradition called 'astragaloi'. Oracular forms of knowledge were inspired by Apollo and the Muses, and they often came from the bottom of a cave, like at Delphi. There are many other testaments to caves where visitors flocked to the receive prophetic dreams, oracular messages or other divine messages.

Besides an oracular function, caves were also sometimes considered entrances to the Underworld--indeed, the Underworld itself, located under the surface of the Earth, is an immense cave. At Eleusis is a shallow cave, the Cave of Hades, or as it was known then, the Precinct of Plouton. The would be initiates of the Mysteries would have visited this cave as part of their preparation. Most likely, there were sacrifices made here, and perhaps rites of purification. The cave was considered the exact place where Kore was abducted, and for the initiates, it would have been a place to of death, from which only the purified would return to 'live again', like Persephone.

Interestingly enough, many Gods were born in caves: Maia (a Nymph) lived in a cave when she gave birth to Hermes, Zeus was hidden, if not birthed, in a cave on mount Ida (pictured right), where He and His mother Rhea were worshipped, Dionysos spent His infancy in a cave, and I am sure there are more examples. In fact, the cave sanctuary of Eileithyia at Amnissos was wholly dedicated to birth, and the Goddess of childbirth, who was said to have been born in the cave herself was given offerings of honey. Within the cave, there is a large stone resembling a pregnant belly, and a stalagmite resembling a female body. Eileithyia’s cave is mentioned in the Odysseia:

"He anchored at Amnisus, a tricky harbour, near the cave of Eileithyia, and barely escaped shipwreck." [19.188]

Birth and death both opened up passageways to the Underworld, this is why both carried miasma. That both passageways are connected to caves--which can most certainly appear as passageways themselves, as we have seen with the Cave of Hades--does not feel at all like a coincidence to me.

Caves did not always have a religious function: they were also used as places of punishment, and sometimes a tool of capital punishment, where the captured died a slow death by starvation and thirst. This process is documented by Sophocles in 'Antigone', as Creon condemns Antigone to death in exactly such a cave for trying to recover the body of her brother from outside the city walls against Creon's wishes. It is certainly feasible that non-mythological persons were condemned to death in much the same way. From 'Antigone':

"CREON: Know ye not that songs and wailings before death would never cease, if it profited to utter them? Away with her-away! And when ye have enclosed her, according to my word, in her vaulted grave, leave her alone, forlorn-whether she wishes to die, or to live a buried life in such a home. Our hands are clean as touching this maiden. But this is certain-she shall be deprived of her sojourn in the light.

ANTIGONE: Tomb, bridal-chamber, eternal prison in the caverned rock, whither go to find mine own, those many who have perished, and whom Persephone hath received among the dead! Last of all shall I pass thither, and far most miserably of all, before the term of my life is spent. But I cherish good hope that my coming will be welcome to my father, and pleasant to thee, my mother, and welcome, brother, to thee; for, when ye died, with mine own hands I washed and dressed you, and poured drink-offerings at your graves; and now, Polyneices, 'tis for tending thy corpse that I win such recompense as this."

Caves were often focal points of local worship, and not every cave was considered sacred. Some, however, had mythology connected to it, and this made them excellent places for worship. The sober atmosphere of natural caves, coupled with their unique beauty, set them apart from the civilized world. This makes it easier to connect to the spirit of the wilderness, to Nymphs and Pan. The fact that their darkness can hide even the most gruesome of monsters makes them just a touch more dangerous--unless they are dedicated to the Nymphs or Gods, then they are quite safe to enter and worship at; a practice most certainly wide-spread in ancient Hellas.

Image source Cave of Zeus: Wikipedia Commons

• Thursday, August 22, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture Calypso Delphi Dionysos Eileithyia Hermes Kheiron Maia miasma Minoan Nymphs Odysseia Oracles Pan Places of worship series Rhea Sophocles Zeus

PBP: Places of worship: the household

Last year, I wrote my second 'H'-post about my household shrines. Many of them are still pretty much the same as on the pictures there, save for my main altar. I touched upon the household Gods in that post, but I would like to go deeper into them today, and describe the house--or oikos--as a place of worship.

Ancient Hellenic homes were simple structures, made from clay, wood, and stone. The roofs were covered with tiles, or reeds, and the houses had one or two stories. Most houses were small, just a few rooms, with a walled garden or yard in the middle. Others, like the house above, were much larger. They were not solely homes, but often doubled as offices, shops, entertainment areas, and as a place of worship. In many cases, a large wall with a single door connected the house to the street, while insuring maximum privacy tot he occupants of the house. Rooms at the front of the house often served as store rooms or work shops. Other rooms in the house served as bedrooms, as a kitchen, bathroom, and smaller store rooms. Symposia were held in special rooms, reserved only for men. The only women who entered the male-only rooms were serfs. These rooms were called 'andron' (ανδρών).

Female-only rooms were called 'gynaikon' (γυναικῶν). The women of the household--grandmothers, wives, and children, assisted by female serfs--would spend most of their time here, weaving, spinning, entertaining female friends and relatives, and taking care of the children. Men were not allowed to enter these rooms, and a visiting male guest would be punished most severely if he entered the gynaikon. Female serfs slept near the gynaikon in small, lightly furnished, rooms. Male slaves slept in similar rooms, near the andron.

The courtyard of the home often held a bômos, a free standing, raised, altar where the majority of household worship took place. Some houses also had a wall niche, an indoor worship area, either in a room especially designated for worship, or in the main family room. These altars were used to worship the Ephestioi (Εφεστιοι), the most personal of the household Theoi. These almost always included: Hestia, Zeus Ephestios (Overseer of the Hearth), Zeus Kthesios, and Agathós Daímōn. Worship of these deities was highly personal, and many other Theoi could be added to this worship list.

Hestia was represented by the hearth fire that was always kept burning. If it went out, the male head of household would go to the prytaneion (Πρυτανεῖον), the structure where state officials met and where the city kept a fire for Hestia burning day and night, for a new flame. All fires in the house were lit from this one fire, so Hestia would watch over everything and everyone inside the house. Zeus Ephestios was and is a more active defender of the home. He shields the actual structure of the house. Where Hestia watches over the occupants, Zeus Ephestios guards the very walls, the roof, the floor, and any possessions inside the structure. He was worshipped at the main altar.

Zeus Kthesios, I have spoken about before. He guards the pantry, and was honored there as well, where he had his own shrine, often adorned with a kathiskos. Agathós Daímōn and the ancestors were also worshipped at the main altar, although they may have had small shrines to themselves, especially in the case of wall niches.

In the courtyard of the house, the Herkeioi (Ἑρκειοι) were honored: those of the herkos or front court. Most notably, this was Zeus Herkeios (Ἑρκειος), protector of the enclosure of the house. And just outside the house, and especially near the gate to the street, small shrines and altars were placed in honor of the less personal protectors: Apollon (sometimes in his epithet of 'Aguieus' (Ἀγυιεύς), protector of the streets, public places, and the entrances to homes), Hermes Propylaios, Hekate, and especially in Sparta, the Dioskouroi. Hēraklēs sometimes took the place of Apollon.

Zeus Herkeios' altar stood in the courtyard and He, from the inside of the house, protected against anyone wanting to harm the house or the family living in it. These altars were most often pillars, on or around which the offerings could be placed. Hermes, Apollon, and Hekate were represented by a pointy four-sided post. The top was reserved for Apollon, the bottom often held a niche where Deipnon offerings could be placed to Hekate, and Hermes' face (and sometimes his genitalia) was sometimes carved into the post. Hermes sometimes got his own post, called a 'herm', which was a rectangular post, with His face carved on top, and his genitalia carved out on the front.

As I noted in last year's post about household shrines, it's not always possible to reconstruct these altars and shrines. The lay-out of our houses are often different from that in ancient Hellas--and even in ancient Hellas, there were many different types of houses--and the culture has changed. We don't have herms on our front lawns anymore, nor an altar for burnt offerings. Modern Hellenists have had to adapt to the changing times. There is nothing wrong with this. Many amongst us have moved the worship of the Herkeioi inside our homes, to shrines near the front door. Here we pray for the same things as we would do outside, and we can still place our Deipnon offerings here. Most of us can find some space for a kathiskos in the kitchen, and many of us have a shrine to the Theoi where we can burn a candle to invite Hestia, and give burnt sacrifice to the other household deities. Shelves now often replace wall niches.

No matter how you practice household worship, the actual practice is more important than the way you do it: a structured, preferably daily, routine of sacrifice, that follows the Mên kata Theion, the sacred month. worship of the Theoi whom have had a profound influence in your life can be added to these daily rites, as the ancient Hellenes would have done as well. Worship of the Theoi is a cornerstone of Hellenismos, and it all starts at your house.

Image source: herm.

• Friday, April 12, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture Apollon daily practice Hekate Hellenismos 101 Hēraklēs Hermes Hestia household worship Pagan Blog Project Places of worship series Zeus Zeus Ephestios Zeus Kthesios

PBP: Places of worship: groves

This post is the first of a new series, a series on places where worship took place. In future installments, I will talk about the household, about temples, about caves, springs, and other special places. I'm starting today with 'groves' in a cross post between the Pagan Blog Project and this new series. A little while ago, I spoke about nature religions, and how I feel Hellenismos is not a nature religion in the Neo-Pagan sense. Because I like to make life difficult for myself, I will now write a post which basically says that the ancient Hellenes practiced much of their worship in nature, partly in sacred groves. Before reading this post, it might be good to read the post about Hellenismos and nature religions first.

For me, the most famous of groves is one written about by Sophocles, in Oedipus at Colonus, amongst others, the grove of the Erinyes, which is entered by a spiritually polluted Oedipus, for a rest, and to relieve his suffering. It is here that his daughters tend to him and perform sacrifice to the Erinyes in his name:

"My daughter, if thou seest a resting place 

On common ground or by some sacred grove, 

Stay me and set me down."

Sacred groves, for which the ancient Hellenic term is 'alsos' (αλσος), plural 'aseelio' (ασυλιο) or 'alse', are religious sanctuaries. They are places of contact between the divine and human worlds. Theoretically, sacred groves differs from wild woods, flower and vegetable gardens, vineyards, and orchards, but their exact nature is hard to define, as little was written about them, and even more was lost, including many of the groves themselves. There is a description of the Roman version of the alsos, however, described by the grammarian Servius:

"The lucus [alsos] is a grouping of trees, possessed of a religious nature, the well grouping of trees, while silva [a natural forest] grows thick with trees and is not groomed."

This description is woefully inadequate; however, it does give a glimpse into their purpose. Sacred groves are often but not always associated with temples. There might be archeological bias in this, however, as temples attract archeologists, where patches of trees without (m)any ancient stone structures tend to get overlooked. A description of the grove of Asklēpiós near the asklepieion at Epidaurus can be found in Pausanias' 'Description of Greece'. It gives us another clue of the use and importance of sacred groves:

"The sacred grove of Asclepius is surrounded on all sides by boundary marks. No death or birth takes place within the enclosure the same custom prevails also in the island of Delos. All the offerings, whether the offerer be one of the Epidaurians themselves or a stranger, are entirely consumed within the bounds. At Titane too, I know, there is the same rule." (2.27.1)

It's important to note, for those not well versed in the ways of the ancient Hellenes, that 'no death of birth...' refers to a practice linked to miasma. Within Hellenic practice, miasma describes the lingering aura of uncleanliness in regards to a person or space through which contact is made with the Gods. It occurs whenever the space or person comes into contact with death, sickness, birth, sex, excessive negative emotions and bodily fluids. It also comes from a lack of contact with the Theoi. With deaths and births, it is not so much the actual acts of dying and giving birth that pollute, but the opening up of the way to the Underworld. Note that not all groves seemed to have this rule of miasma linked to death. Pausanias describes the sanctuary of Saronian Artemis at Aegina, for example, which became the burial place of the man who founded it:

"After Althepus, Saron became king. They said that this man built the sanctuary for Saronian Artemis by a sea which is marshy and shallow, so that for this reason it was called the Phoebaean lagoon. Now Saron was very fond of hunting. As he was chasing a doe, it so chanced that it dashed into the sea and he dashed in alter it. The doe swam further and further from the shore, and Saron kept close to his prey, until his ardor brought him to the open ocean. Here his strength failed, and he was drowned in the waves. The body was cast ashore at the grove of Artemis by the Phoebaean lagoon, and they buried it within the sacred enclosure, and after him they named the sea in these parts the Saronic instead of the Phoebaean lagoon." (2.30.5)

Groves were sacred places, places where ritual was held to the Theoi. The alsos was either part of the temenos surrounding the temple, or a functioning temenos in and of itself, as is hinted at by Pausanias when he discussed the offering that must be eaten within the bounds of the grove in its entirety; an attribute also of the temenos surrounding the temple. It seems that groves near temples had two ways of developing: either from a naturally wooded tract of land with sacred attributes up, where an altar was added to the grove, boundary markers were added, and eventually a temple arose, or as a designed landscape deliberately planted to accompany an existing temple or altar.

It is, of course, also possible that parts of the natural landscape were marked as sacred due to the influence of deity, and begun to attract a cult. The grove might have eventually received an altar, but a temple structure was most certainly not always feasable or required. Especially in more rural areas of ancient Hellas, groves would have existed on their own, without the need for a temple. On top of that, some altars might not have had groves or temples, and not all temples had groves.

Many groves have been discovered--again, mostly near temples--but to name a few the temple of Zeus at Nemea had cypresses; tree pits, neatly arranged in rows, were found at the sanctuary of Hephaestus above the agora in Athens; the gymnasia of Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus had one, and part of that grove has since been replanted; the temple of Apollo Hylates at Kourion in Cyprus, where excavated channels and pits show clearly where trees were planted; and so on.

The main function of a grove was to give sacrifice to the Theoi, both blood sacrifice, as well as bloodless. Yet, sacrifice was not limited to groves, although if a grove was present at a temple, the sacrificial altar could have very likely stood inside of it. Another primary function of a grove--beyond the religious--was to serve as asyla, a safe haven. For a person to receive asylia, asylum, at the sanctuary, he or she had to openly declare what crime they had committed, and perform a special rite: the rite of hiketeia. In the context of this rite, the person in need of help sat down at the altar or at a statue of the Theos or Theia to which the temple, sanctuary or grove was sacred, while holding a certain symbol identifying him as a suppliant, either a freshly broken off twig or a strand of wool. From this moment on, he or she (male: hikétes; female: hikétis) became a supplicant, and entitled to protection from prosecution. To break asylia was a heinous crime, and was punished almost always by death. It did happen, on occasion. Pausanias, again, describes how Kleomenes--King of Sparta in the late sixth and early fifth centuries BC--violated asylia at the grove of Argos:

"Near the battlefield was a grove sacred to Argus, son of Niobe, and on being routed some five thousand of the Argives took refuge therein. Cleomenes was subject to fits of mad excitement, and on this occasion he ordered the Helots to set the grove on fire, and the flames spread all over the grove, which, as it burned, burned up the suppliants with it." (3.4.1)

Who could enter a sacred grove depended greatly on who the grove was dedicated to, and if it was a festival day or not. Gendered rules of admittance were common. Only women were allowed in the groves of Hera at Aigion and of Demeter at Megalopolis, for example, while only men were allowed to enter the grove of Ares at Geronthrai. Some groves could only be entered by initiates, while others only allowed clergy. Domesticated animals were hardly ever permitted on the grounds, even if the grove was the only shady spot available.

For a last, but so beautiful, description of a grove, I will again turn to Pausanias. It is part of a wonderful description of the sanctuary of Despoinê in Arkadia, which I will most likely quote more of in a later post within this series about sanctuaries. In it, Pausanias touches upon the last point I want to make about groves:

"Beyond what is called the Hall is a grove, sacred to the Mistress and surrounded by a wall of stones, and within it are trees, including an olive and an evergreen oak growing out of one root, and that not the result of a clever piece of gardening. Beyond the grove are altars of Horse Poseidon, as being the father of the Mistress, and of other gods as well. On the last of them is an inscription saying that it is common to all the gods.

Thence you will ascend by stairs to a sanctuary of Pan. Within the sanctuary has been made a portico, and a small image; and this Pan too, equally with the most powerful gods, can bring men's prayers to accomplishment and repay the wicked as they deserve. Beside this Pan a fire is kept burning which is never allowed to go out. It is said that in days of old this god also gave oracles, and that the nymph Erato became his prophetess, she who wedded Arcas, the son of Callisto." (8.37.10, 8.37.11)

In Ancient Hellas, the Alseids (Ἀλσηΐδες) were nymphs associated with groves. Hómēros calls them 'Alsea'. Alseids did not gather as much interest from classical authors and poets as did other nymphs. They were often described in reference to the groves they were linked to. In the Odysseia, four Alseids can be found in the presence of Circe:

"Meanwhile her four handmaids, who serve her round the house, were busy in the hall. One of those children of springs, groves and sacred rivers that run to the sea threw linen covers over the chairs and spread fine purple fabrics on top. Another drew silver tables up to the chairs, and laid out golden dishes, while a third mixed sweet honeyed wine in a silver bowl, and served it in golden cups. The fourth fetched water and lit a roaring fire beneath a huge cauldron. When the water boiled in the shining bronze, she sat me in a bath, and bathed me with water from the great cauldron mixed with cold to suit, pouring it over my head and shoulders till she drew the deep weariness from my limbs."

Sacred groves were special places of worship, guarded by nature spirit and Theoi alike. They offered protected, enclosed, places of worship, often with shade and a source of water--the value of which can not be underestimated while worshipping under the hot rays of Hēlios. Groves offered shelter for those of need, and sometimes even an alternative source of income for the temple associated with it, as some of the trees grew fruit. Much of that fruit would be sacrificed, or consumed by clergy and supplicants, but most likely not all.

In ancient Hellas as in modern day, groves provide places of worship that are affordable, relatively easy to set up and keep, and which are still very rewarding in a day-to-day practice. A grove does not even need to be huge: it can be of any size. Adding an altar means the opportunity to perform one's daily rituals in a space dedicated to one of more Gods, while still keeping the space inconspicuous. The possibilities are endless.

• Friday, April 5, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture Asklēpiós Circe daily practice Despoinê Hellenismos 101 Hómēros katharmos miasma Mythology 101 Odysseia Pagan Blog Project Pausanias Places of worship series Sophocles