PAT ritual announcement: Sacrifice to Zeus Epakrios at Erkhia

On the 23th of May, which coincides with 16 Thargelion in 2016, Elaion will hold a PAT ritual to Zeus Epakrios as was done on this day in ancient Erkhia. Will you be joining us at the usual 10 AM EDT?

Zeus Epakrios (Ἐπάκριος) is an epithet of Zeus derived from 'epi akrios', literally 'on the height' or 'upon the high place'. Zeus Epakrios had an altar on Mount Hymettos (Υμηττός), along with an altar to Zeus Hymettios (overseer) and Zeus Ombrios (of the rain). The cult to Zeus Epakrios seems to have been separate from the cults of Zeus Hymettios and Zeus Ombrios, with the altars of Zeus Epakrios and Ombrios located on the very summit of the mountain and the altar to Zeus Hyettios further down the slope. The altar of Zeus Epakrios lay unused for a while, even though the altar of Zeus Hymettios remained in use. The altar to Zeus Ombrios remained in use well into the 8th-7th centuries BC. All ancient remains of the altar to Zeus Epakrios have been obliterated by recent military building operations.

The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites tells us about Mt. Hymettos:

"Separating the southern end of the plain of Athens from that of the Mesogaia to the east is the mountain range of Hymettos. In antiquity Hymettos was famous for honey and marble, and the scars of the worked-out quarries can be seen concentrated for the most part on the western slopes for a distance of 3 km south from Kaisariani. The bare summit performed a different function: even as today, it gave the Athenians a reliable indication of weather by the presence, or absence, of threatening clouds."

We are not entirely certain of the funtion of the sacrifice or the epithet. 'On the height' speaks for itself when taken together with the location of the altar, but it says nothing of its function. We do know that the altar was only visited once a year, for this sacrifice. It stands to reason that Zeus Epakrios oversaw the weather, as did Zeus Ombrios and Zeus Hymettios. In this time of year, sacrifices would have called for good weather for the continuation of the agricultural cycle and perhaps the herding of sheep and other grazers on the mountain who were presumably used to keep the area open for herbs and flowers for the honey creating bees to feast on.

The sacrifice was nephalios (wineless) and au phora (not carried – totally consumed (on site)).

The ritual for the event can be found here and you can join the community page on Facebook here.

• Saturday, May 21, 2016
  current affairs Elaion Erkhia festivals PAT Zeus Zeus Epakrios Zeus Hymêttios Zeus Ombrios

The beauty of Pelion

Pelion (Πήλιον) is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in central Greece. It forms a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the Aegean Sea. Its highest summit, Pourianos Stavros, is 1,610 metres (5,280 ft) above sea level. It remains beautiful all year round with its pristine and diverse beaches, lush forests with miles of hiking trails, skiing in the winter, and picturesque villages. Every year it's visited by thousands of tourists and locals enchanted by the beauty of the region. Amongst them was Canadian director Christopher Dormoy who decided to make a video to highlight its outstanding landscape.

So, why should you be interested in this video? Well, you don't have to do anything, but Mount Pelion is a much featured location in Hellenic mythology and it might be nice to have an image in your head to go with it, right?

According to mythology, two giants piled Mount Pelion on Ossa (Kíssavos or Óssa), another mountain in Thessaly, in order to scale Olympos, but Apollon killed the giants before they could make the attempt. On the high peaks and the dense vegetation of Pelion, the Centaurs found their shelter.

On the peak of the same mountain, in the foliage, the ancient cave of Zeus Ombrios was hidden, visited by the residents of the area, carying animal skins, during the hottest and driest day of the year, in mid July, in order to ask Zeus to rain. Iason was raised in Pelion and was a student of Kheiron the Centaur. When he turned twenty, he left Pelion and went to claim the throne from his uncle Pelias. The ship Argo of the Argonauts allegedly was built of wood from the mountain’s trees.

Pelion is one of those locations that has a story around every curve and tree, and seeing it portrayed with this kind of beautiful cinematography brings them to life with ease. Enjoy!

• Sunday, February 21, 2016
  current affairs Iásōn Kheiron modern Greece Mythology 101 Zeus Ombrios

PBP: Crisis and religion

Depending on the type of person you are, being faced with a crisis or rough period in life usually results in one of two things: you start ignoring your religious duties, or you increase them ten-fold, hoping for that nudge of divine assistance. In general, the ancient Hellenes chose option number two. Bad weather threatening the crops? Conduct an elaborate festival to Zeus Ombrios. Had an earthquake? Visit the Oracle of Delphi and have a ritual to the designated God or Goddess to appease Them and stop it from happening again. No doubt, familial issues were also put before the Gods as well.

A fictional account noted down by famed writer Alciphron describes one such sacrifices to Zeus Ombrios, even though this one was in vain:

"A drought is upon us. Not a cloud is to be seen in the sky, and we want a regular downpour. You have only to look at the ploughed land to see how dreadfully parched the soil is. I am afraid all our sacrifixes to Jupiter Pluvius [Zeus Ombrios] have gone for nothing, and yet all we villagers outdid each other to make a good sacrificial show. Each man brought what he could according to his means and ability. One brought a ram, another a goat, another some fruit, the poor man brought a cake, and the positive pauper some lumps of decidedly mouldy incense. No one could run to a bull, for our Attic soil is thin and cattle are scarce. But we might have saved our expense. Zeus it would seem is 'on a journey' and cannot attend to us."

From this account it becomes clear that while prayer and sacrifice during troubled times were encouraged and oft practiced, no one assumed success of said sacrifices. The Gods do not always answer our prayers, and they are not always appeased by our sacrifices. It depends on our kharis, Their plan for us, and most likely a myriad of other factors far beyond our influence, reach, and understanding. Yet, we are always encouraged to enter ritual, to make our sacrifices, and to pray.

There are accounts of an enormous scope of rituals and rites practiced in ancient Hellas to sway the Gods in the favour of their followers. Everything from two men running around the vineyard in opposite directions with a black cock that has been cut in two to banish harmful winds, to abstaining from sex, certain foods, or certain practices to ward of illness, and the more traditional sacrifices that have the potential to solve pretty much anything if the Gods are so inclined. Not all of them are successful, and not all of them are successful all the time, but because they sometimes are and always have the potential to be, they are practiced.

Prayer--even if unanswered in the end--give us a beautiful return on investment, regardless: prayer helps us feel in control of the situation at hand, we accept it more readily because we can put the responsibility of a good outcome in the hands of a third party, and it gives us hope that everything will work out in the end. Yes, this can make you fight a little less hard for your own happy ending, but when faced with natural disasters, illness, or other seemingly unsurmountable obstacle, it's often preferred to find an outlet for the anxiety that arises.

• Friday, February 7, 2014
  Alcipron ancient Hellenic culture Pagan Blog Project Zeus Zeus Ombrios

Introducing: Zeus Ombrios

A heavily overlooked epithet of Zeus is that of Rain Bringer; Ombrios (Ομβριος), or Hyetios (Ὑετιος). More than likely these two were the same Theos, in a different epithet; 'Ombrios' comes from the Hellenic 'ombros', meaning rain. 'Hyetios' most likely comes from the mountain range of Hymettos, where at the very top, an altar to Zeus Hymêttios (Ὑμηττιος) stood. Oftentimes, the worship of Zeus took place on mountains, but because almost all epithets of Zeus would be worshipped on mountains, it was deemed somewhat inappropriate to favor one aspect of Zeus over another, and give Him a specific title; instead, the sanctuary was dedicated to an epithet of Zeus that gained the name of the mountain itself. This way, Zeus could be worshipped on any mountain by any epithet; so while there is no evidence of other mountain sanctuaries to Zeus Ombrios than the one at Hymettos, that does not mean other mountain sanctuaries would not have attracted pilgrims looking for rain. There might have been a small difference between the two, however, as Zeus Ombrios was seen as the bringer of lasting rain, while Zeus Hyetios brought heavy rain (or storms).

The sanctuary of Zeus in the mountain range of Hymettos (Υμηττός) is located in the Athens area, in East Central Greece. Numerous offerings have been found on the site of the sanctuary that stood near (or on) the very top of the mountain, including a pit full of shards and a large stele with cuttings for a small bronze statue, possibly of Zeus Hymêttios. These offerings have been dated to the 8th-7th centuries BC. Pausanias makes mention of this sanctuary (as well as one on Parnes) in his History of Greece:

"The Athenians have also statues of gods on their mountains. On Pentelicus is a statue of Athena, on Hymettus one of Zeus Hymettius. There are altars both of Zeus Rain-god and of Apollo Foreseer. On Parnes is a bronze Zeus Parnethius, and an altar to Zeus Semaleus (Sign-giving. There is on Parnes another altar, and on it they make sacrifice, calling Zeus sometimes Rain-god, sometimes Averter of Ills. Anchesmus is a mountain of no great size, with an image of Zeus Anchesmius." [1.32.2]

The mountain would, in ancient times, have served as a natural weather station; in fact, it is still regarded in that capacity today. A thick concentration of clouds near the summit would undoubtedly have spelled rain. Zeus in his epithets of Rain Bringer is more than likely an agricultural deity; small shrines to Zeus Ombrios would have dotted the land, often located on or near fields for easy access and as markers: those who sacrificed to him would expect he rain to fall on or near the shrine. That said; sometimes the rain simply did not come. A fictional account noted down by famed writer Alciphron describes a sacrifice to Zeus Ombrios that was in vain:

"A drought is upon us. Not a cloud is to be seen in the sky, and we want a regular downpour. You have only to look at the ploughed land to see how dreadfully parched the soi is. I am afraid all our sacrifixes to Jupiter Pluvius [Zeus Ombrios] hve gone for nothing, and yet all we villagers outdid each other to make a good sacrificial show. Each man brought what he could according to his means and ability. One brought a ram, another a goat, another some fruit, the poor man brought a cake, and the positive pauper some lumps of decidedly mouldy incense. No one could run to a bull, for our Attic soil is thin and cattle are scarce. But we might have saved our expense. Zeus it would seem is 'on a journey' and cannot attend to us."

Sacrifices of the animal kind were not at all scarce in relation to Zeus Ombrios, but there is also mention of human sacrifice. When the Eleans consult the oracle during a prolonged drought, they are instructed to sacrifice a noble boy to Zeus. A youth named Molpis volunteers, rain falls, and the Eleans build a sanctuary of Zeus Ombrios, setting up a statue of Molpis there. Of course, these accounts are old and not altogether trustworthy.

Personally, I rarely pray to Zeus Ombrios for rain; I mostly pray for him to keep the rain away. When I still worked outdoors a lot, I would pray to him every day I went out, to just keep back the rain until I got home--especially during late autumn and winter. In winter, I also prayed to Khionê to keep the snow at bay. Quite recently, I have been praying for rain for a farmer friend of mine every day; he's in Arkansas and dealing with hot and dry weather that are threatening his crops. so far, he has gotten two days of rain, and it looks like he might salvage his harvest. I have a close emotional connection with Zeus Ombrios, and regard Him very fondly. Perhaps you might look into His worship and subsequent aid now too.

• Wednesday, July 24, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture epithets Introduction series Khionê Pausanias Zeus Zeus Hyetios Zeus Hymêttios Zeus Ombrios