Lecture: "Eros and Philosophy in Ancient Greece"

I love to stumble upon random college bits. And with corona measures in place, it's a lot easier this days to learn a little something extra. I'd like to share a course with you today as taught by Philippe-Antoine Hoyeck who teaches at Carleton College in Canada.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Love is sometimes described as a form of madness, a formidable irrational force that overpowers our will, a condition that we fall into and that can bring either bliss or destruction. In this course, we will challenge this view by adopting a different starting point. Through a survey of the Western philosophical tradition, we will explore the possibility that, far from being beyond intelligibility, love (and sex) can be understood and that an ‘art of love’ can be cultivated.

Our investigation will lead us to question many aspects of our experience of love by considering its socially constructed nature, its possible objects, and its effects –a process that will help us to better appreciate the role of love and sex in a flourishing human life. We will pursue our inquiry in a diversity of contexts such as friendship, romantic love, family love, and self-love. Exploring ancient and contemporary texts that defend diverging views on love will help us cultivate precious philosophical abilities such as intellectual flexibility, definitional clarity and critical awareness.

The first lecture can be viewed here, in two parts:

• Sunday, May 3, 2020
  Aristotle current affairs Plato video videos

Ancient music from Orestes

Today, I would like to present musical fragment from the first stasimon of Orestes by Euripides. It was found in 1892, among a number of papyri from Hermopolis, Egypt, in the collection of Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria. It was published by papyrologist Karl Wessely. The fragment was somewhat mutilated when found, but contained a passage of the famous play with musical notation, allowing modern composers and artists to perform the passage in a way that is at least close to the way Euripides intended it.

Whether this fragment represents the original music Euripides composed in 408 BC is an open question, as we have no 5th century BC musical inscriptions to compare it to (the papyrus is dated to the 3rd century BC). Nevertheless, Plutarch credit Euripides and Agathon with many of the rythm and modes used in this fragment, and Aristophanes described Euripides' work as musically complex.

The rhythm of the song is Dochmius and the mode Lydian in chromatic genus. To those unfamiliar with musical terms--like me--I'll attempt to clarify this. The time it takes to pronounce a syllable in ancient Greek and Latin poetry and verse is called a 'mora'. The time it takes to pronounce a long mora is roughly the time it takes to pronounce two short ones. The shortest musical metrical unit is called a 'foot'; a Dochmius is a foot of five syllables, first and fourth being short and the second, third, and fifth long.

In Hellenic music theory, there was a Lydian scale which described a set of pitches. The technical Lydian scale--originating in Lydia in Anatolia--was equivalent to C D♭ E F G♭ A B C, and C C E F F A B C, respectively where "" signifies raising the pitch by approximately a quarter tone. Personally, I have no clue what that means but as I am not well versed in music theory, I can't offer a better explanation in that.

Moving on to something I do know about; the arrangement of the fragmentary text differs from the traditional editions. The setting in the Orestes is the story of Orestes himself, who slays his mother after he slays his father and is hunted down by the Erinyes until he happens upon the temple of Apollon (who told him to kill his mother), who then tells him to let Athena and the people of Athens decide his fate, which they do, in favor of Orestes. this whole epic is laid out in many plays by many authors. The Orestes focusses on Orestes' guilt for murderig his mother--an event not part of the play--and his sister Elektra's continued struggle to keep Orestes sane and alive as the leading political faction of Argos wants to put Orestes to death.

The fragment is set at the moment Orestes wakes up after his first bout of madness inspired by the vengeful Erinyes. He is still tormented by them, and realizes suddenly that his act will lead to his death, and the death of his sister Elektra as she refuses to leave his side. The ancient text begins with materos haima (mother's blood) and katolophyromai appears after brotois (mortals). One translated version goes as follows, as sung by the chorus:

"What deadly struggle is here at hand, hurrying thee on o'er thy path of woe, a victim on whom some fiend is heaping tribulation, by bringing on thy house thy mother's bloodshed which drives thee raving mad? I weep for thee, for thee I weep. Great prosperity abideth not amongst mankind; but some power divine, shaking it to and fro like the sail of a swift galley, plunges it deep in the waves of grievous affliction, boisterous and deadly as the waves of the sea."

In the fragment, the text is as follows:

"κατολοφύρομαι κατολοφύρομαι ματέρος αἷμα σᾶς, ὅ σ’ ἀναβακχεύει, ὁ μέγας ὄλβος οὐ μόνιμος ἐν βροτοῖς, ἀνὰ δὲ λαῖφος ὥς τις ἀκάτου θοᾶς τινάξας δαίμων κατέκλυσεν δεινῶν πόνων ὡς πόντου

λάβροις ὀλεθρίοισιν ἐν κύμασιν."

"I cry, I cry, your mother's blood that drives you mad, great happiness in mortals never lasting, but like a sail of a swift ship, which a god shook up and plunged it with terrible troubles into the greedy and deadly waves of sea."

This version of the fragment is performed by the modern Greek band Daemonia Nymphe (Δαιμονια Νυμφη), live in Graz Austria Helmut-List-Halle on 20 Mar h, 2008. The music was arranged by Spyros Giasafakis and Evi Stergiou. The session musicians were Maria Stergiou, Eleni Efthymiou, Vaggelis Paschalides, and Thodoris Chytiris, and the ancient Hellenic instruments were reproduced by Nikolaos Brass.

I love listening to this. It gives me chills every time. If this was the style of the whole of the play, it must have been a sight to behold. Not only is it visually gripping and the story intense, but the music adds a whole new layer to it, where you can almost feel Orestes' madness. I hope you can appreciate it as well.

• Friday, October 25, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture Elektra Euripides Orestes video

Repost: Cara Schulz on Hekate and the basics of Hellenismos

Ever so often, I repost something I published years ago, for the new generation of readers. This video is one of the things I'd like people coming into Hellenismos to view.

This is a video by Cara Schulz; a Google chat session where she spoke to The Order of Hekate about how Hekate was worshipped in ancient times, as well as the basics of Hellenismos. Her talk incorporates Hekate's Deipnon, Noumenia, Agathós Daímōn, household worship, household worship vs. state worship, the future of Hellenismos and interfaith work. It might look like a long video, but it's very worth it, especially once Cara gets on a roll.

Cara, for those unfamiliar with her, is a member of Hellenion, the largest Hellenic polytheist organization in the United States. Her workshops on Hellenismos have been held at some of the largest Pagan gatherings in the United States, including Pagan Spirit Gathering and Sacred Harvest Festival. She is also the Managing editor of the Pagan Newswire Collective and founder of International Pagan Coming Out Day.

• Wednesday, June 12, 2019
  Agathós Daímōn bloggers I admire Hekate Hekate's Deipnon Hellenismos 101 household worship Noumenia video

Video: everyday life in Ancient Hellas

Running around like a headless chicken today, so please, have a Youtube video on a day in the life in ancient Hellas. This video was presented in Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens. More tomorrow.

• Sunday, May 26, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture this is not a real post video

"Music of Greece: The Influence of Ancient Greece"

"In this three-part series, John Franklin, professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Vermont, explains how incomplete fragments of papyrus and stone provide clues to recreating music that hasn’t been heard for thousands of years. Discover the influence of the ancient Greeks on classical music, opera and modern jazz; and join contemporary Greek musicians and scholars as they discuss cultural and historical influences that have contributed to the music of Greece today.

Even though the Romans conquered Greece thousands of years ago Greek ideas continue to influence us today. According to John Franklin, that's particularly true in music where the ancient Greeks had an impact on the creation and development of opera, classical music and jazz. In a way, it was because of the Romans that Greek culture was preserved. The Romans borrowed the Greeks musical ideals and incorporated them into manuscripts that continued to be copied across centuries. Many of our musical terms come from the Greeks such as: symphony, chord, chorus, melody harmony rhythm, ode, stereo, mono, and synthesizer, to name a few. Imagine what it would have been like for Roman soldiers to observe a completely different culture when they invaded Greece. Why do you think the Romans became interested in the music of Greece? Imagine the citizens of Greece being vanquished and then seeing cultural aspects of their way of life being adopted by the invaders. What do you think might have been the reaction of the Greek citizenry to this new reality?

The Renaissance came after the dark ages when people looked to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration. Latin had been in use since ancient times but Greek had been lost until the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453 forcing Greek refuges into Italy where they sparked a revival of the Greek language and culture. In Florence in the late 1500’s a group of Italian composers enamored of antiquity, called the Camerata, wrote music inspired by the Greek chorus which led to the birth of opera. Why do you think Europeans at that particular moment in time would have sought out the Greek ideal as a model?

Decades of chord playing brought jazz musicians to a dead end artistically. Inspired by music theory developed by George Russell based on the ancient Greek music system of 7scales, Miles Davis wrote and released his breakthrough album Kind of Blue giving birth to modal jazz. Modern jazz musicians are still making creative use of the Greek modes in their music. Imagine that an art form that is considered to be quintessentially American can be traced back across centuries to another continent. Besides the link of Greek origins, what common thread would you find in Opera, jazz and classical music?

Modern classical musicians are also inspired by Greek culture and mythology, mining its famous tales for contemporary works. In a world premier at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Michael Daugherty set poet Ann Carson’s work Troy Jam to music. Troy Jam is a twist on The Iliad, Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan war. In Carson’s version the Greeks fight Troy with their instruments and music instead of weapons. If modern composers still are inspired by ancient Greek dramatic and musical structures where do imagine they will go from here for new ideas? Do you think that Greek influences can go another 2500 years into the future? Considering how swiftly technology advances what would you guess that future would look and sound like?

It’s hard to think of an area of modern life that hasn’t been influenced by the ancient Greeks. Architecture, literature, philosophy, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, and medicine all have foundations in ancient Greek culture. Think about genres of music that we haven’t discussed here, for example, country, pop, rap, rock and roll, big band, show tunes, marching band and so on. Do you imagine that there are connections to ancient Greek in these forms too? How would you go about researching that question? Many people agree that the music of ancient Greek has influenced and inspired music making around the globe and over the centuries. What do you think influenced the Greeks? Where do you think they went for inspiration? The natural world? Serendipity? Each other?"

• Friday, March 8, 2019
  ancient Hellenic culture video videos

Fly over the magnificent ancient temple of Poseidon

A spectacular drone video of the Temple of Poseidon captures the glory of the ancient monument situated at the southern tip of Attica, in cape Sounio. The temple is one of the major monuments of the Golden Age of Athens. Its remains are perched on the headland, surrounded on three sides by the sea. It was constructed in 444–440 BC. This was during the ascendancy of the Athenian statesman Pericles, who also rebuilt the Parthenon in Athens. It was built on the ruins of a temple dating from the Archaic period. It is perched above the sea at a height of almost 60 metres (200 ft).

The design of the temple is a typical hexastyle, i.e., it had a front portico with six columns. Only some columns of the Sounion temple stand today, but when intact it would have closely resembled the contemporary and well-preserved Temple of Hephaestus beneath the Acropolis, which may have been designed by the same architect. As with all Greek temples, the Poseidon building was rectangular, with a colonnade on all four sides. The total number of original columns was 36: 15 columns still stand today. The columns are of the Doric Order and were made of locally quarried white marble.

• Wednesday, August 22, 2018
  modern Greece Poseidon Temples video

A selection of sung and spoken hymns

I love listening to the hymns of antiquitym. I am not skilled in (ancient) Greek, but there is something about the soothing tones of the Homeric and Orphic hymns being sung or spoken. Today, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorites to be found on Youtube, and I am open to suggestions about yours!

Orphic hymn to Selene

Orphic Hymn to Apollon

Prayer to Zeus (by Arkhilokhos of Paros)

Homeric hymn to Artemis (modern English adaption)

Homeric hymn to Hermes

Homeric hymn to Zeus (#23)

Homeric Hymn to Asklēpiós

• Friday, March 9, 2018
  Apollon Artemis Asklēpiós Hermes Homeric Hymns hymns Orphic Hymns Selene video Zeus

Lost Worlds: Troy

It's one of the things everyone who has every heard of Hellenic mythology knows of: the invasion of the city of Troy by the ancient Hellenes. Homeros wrote about it in the Iliad and since then, we've been trying to establish if there is any truth to the myth. Homeros's work dates back to the eighth or ninth century, BC., several hundred years after the war is supposed to have taken place. As such, we can assume some embellishment to the story was necessary to flesh out the story--or even make it a story at all. Archeologists are sure, however, that the Troy existed.

Around 1870, Heinrich Schliemann headed an archeological dig in Turkey. His site was located south of the southwest end of the Hellespont and northwest of Mount Ida. In 1865, an  English archaeologist named Frank Calvert had excavated trial trenches in a field he had bought from a local farmer. The results were promising, and Schliemann took over Calvert's dig--which had since been named 'Hisarlik'--and took sole credit for the future finds at the site, even though Calvert had done the work of locating the site in the first place.

At Hisarlik, Schliemann found evidence of nine cities built on top of each other, as well as evidence of a high wall which must have fortified the town. Schliemann figured that the city of Troy--or Ilion/Ilios (Ἴλιον/Ἴλιος) as it would have been called at the time of the ancient Hellenes--must have been one of the lower, older, cities and thus he blasted his way down to the second city, where he found signs that seemed to corroborate his story--jewelry included, that Schliemann took to be those of Helen--which turned out to be a thousand years older than the time described in the epic. Due to his methodology, much of the later cities was destroyed.

Archeologists today believe that the sixth and seventh oldest cities found in layers at Hisarlik are the best candidates for the Troy of The Iliad. There is, however, no sign to be found of a huge wooden horse--not that odd considering the time that has passed and the fact that wood rots away over said time. Still, modern scholars think the horse was part of Homeros' artistic license as a writer. Archeological evidence suggests that city number six would have fit the setting of Troy described by the writer... but evidence points to its destruction not by the hands of man, but the hands of nature: Troy six was destroyed by a massive earthquake. Troy seven, however, was not as grand as Troy six, but its streets were littered with arrowheads, indicating that this city was, indeed, sacked by human hands.


One thing we can say with certainty: The myth of Troy will always be a source of both entertainment and wonder.

"Lost Worlds investigates the very latest archaeological finds at three remote and hugely significant sites - Angkor Wat, Troy and Persepolis. Lost Worlds travels to each site and through high-end computer graphics, lavish re-enactment and the latest archaeological evidence brings them to stunning televisual life. From the 900-year-old remains of Angkor Wat in the Cambodian jungle the staggering City of the God Kings is recreated. From Project Troia, in North West Turkey, the location of the biggest archaeological expedition ever mounted the lost city is stunningly visualised and finally from Persepolis the city and the great Persian Empire are brought to life."

• Wednesday, November 29, 2017
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs Troy video videos

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!

• Monday, September 18, 2017
  ancient Hellenic culture Aristotle Plato this is not a real post video

Democracy: modern versus ancient

You guys, I am tired. Worrying about current events and the pain and fear I see in my friends have exhausted me. You know, Plato and Socrates loathed democracy. Socrates believed that people very rarely took the time nor had the mental capacity to fully appreciate and comprehend that which they were voting on. Plato rejected Athenian democracy on the basis they followed citizens' impulses rather than pursuing the common good, that democracies are unable to allow a sufficient number of their citizens to have their voices heard, and that such democracies were typically run by fools.

The lack of coherent unity in Athenian democracy made Plato conclude that such democracies were a mere collection of individuals occupying a common space rather than a form of political organization. As a result, Plato accused such democracies of lacking rules outside where its citizens see fit and lacking leadership due to the notion of equality in Athenian democracy. Plato claimed that in Athenian democracy, individuals' pursuit of their own desires led to self-centredness and conflict rather than the pursuit of the common good. Due to the citizens being free to pursue their passions, Plato claimed that rational leadership was impossible in Athenian democracy as elected representatives served the citizens' passions. Plato claimed that the significance of the voice of the individual in an Athenian democracy depreciates as the population of the democracy increases.

I don't like Socrates and Plato's views on manyn things--I am more of a Stoic in my views and the sheer pessimistic views of Socrates and Plato bring me down. But as I look at the state of affairs today--first Brexit, now Trump--I can't claim their views are false. I have been reading a lot of Plato the last few days--not good for my mood but somehowe comforting because it shows these fears and worries I have are of all ages. I'm tired of thinking, though, and tired of the negative. So today I am sharing a video on ancient Athenia democracy. It won't make things better, but it gives perspective to the words and views of socrates and Plato and on the current state of events.

In this video--titled 'Ten things you really should know aboout ancient Greek democracy'--professor Paul Cartledge explores the democracy in ancient Hellas and the origins of the word, and how that distinguishes from todays notion of democracy. One of the main myths he tackles is the fact that we say there was democracy in ancient Hellas. There was no such thing. That is, there was no such one thing. Even Athens, which invented both the thing and the name, had at least three versions over a span of about 150 years. But although the ancient Hellenes have given the world democracy, ancient Greek democracy was in several crucial and fundamental respects very different indeed from, if not opposite to, what passes for democracy today.

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from their website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

• Sunday, November 13, 2016
  ancient Hellenic culture Athens current affairs video videos

Video: everyday life in Ancient Hellas

So, I did something stupid and listened to other people where I should just have listened to myself and my body and now I've managed to poison myself. For those of you new to the blog, I'm intolerant to any and all grains, which is--apparently--not something common enough to simply be accepted. People keep forcing me to 'test' every now and again. Well, I am still intolerant and not at all surprised. I am, however, ill, so I am phoning it in today. Sorry about that. I'll spellcheck this in the morning (amongst other things, exposure gives me temporary aphasia), but I don't see red lines so I think I am good. Here, have a Youtube video on a day in the life in ancient Hellas. This video was presented in Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.

 

Edited: oh my, this post was a mess! Good thing I checked it over :P

• Thursday, December 4, 2014
  ancient Hellenic culture this is not a real post video

Geography and early Hellas

Two nights of three hours of sleep and a very long day at work and driving around and I am completely fried. I'm writing this Monday evening because I have to leave early tomorrow. Would you guy be dears and accept a video today so I can go to bed?

I am a big fan of instructional videos made for children. The information given is compact, informational, but not too dense. It's a great way to glimpse at a subject and get some clues about further research. This video is of that variety. It's about the geography and the early Hellenic civilization(s). The creator, Jeremy Corwin, also discusses the Minoans and Mycenaeans and recounts the story of the Minotaur.  'Mr. Corwin', as he's called, teaches World History and Leadership to middle school children and his YouTube videos are all much fun and very informative. Enjoy!

• Tuesday, October 14, 2014
  ancient Hellenic culture Minoan video

Video collections post

I am currently completely swamped with work and writing press releases and rapports has sapped me of all my writing juices. I need a day off to recover a little, so with your permission I am going to leave you with a compilation of all the videos I have ever done on Hellenismos and a request: If you have a topic you would like me to do a video on--something that lends itself better for a video than a written post--please let me know? I would love to do another video but I have zero ideas. Thank you!

How to prepare khernips
A short video on how to make khernips, the lustral water used to cleanse yourself with in Hellenismos.
More information: khernips

How to pour libations
A short video on how to offer libations, in this case, a sponde.
More information: sponde

How to make a kathiskos

A short video on how to prepare a kathiskos, the small jar filled with foodstuffs which is stored from the Noumenia (first day of the lunar month) until the Deipnon (last day of the lunar month) in a shrine to Zeus Kthesios.

More information: how to prepare a kathiskos

Making Manna

A short video on how I make manna, one of the prescribed incenses in the Orphic hymns.

More information: making manna

My Altar Space (requested)

A requested video about my altar space.

More information: my altar space

Ancient Hellenic clothing

A relatively lengthy video on hellenic clothing and how to pin the right look.

More information: ancient Hellenic clothing

Noumenia Ritual

This is a video with some highlights of a Noumenia ritual I did. My apologies for the sound issues--especially during the sacrifice to Artemis--it was supposed to be 16 degrees Celsius and suddenly my camera was out in 26 degree weather, full in the sun. Apparently, it will turn you into a smurf on speed when it overheats.
More information: Noumenia ritual

• Thursday, July 31, 2014
  ancient Hellenic culture Hellenic Reconstruction Hellenismos 101 personal this is not a real post video

Compilation movie of five years of of Attic Dionysia

I may have mentioned once or twice how much I adore and respect the Hellenic organization Labrys. The Labrys Religious Community aims to preserve, promote and practice the Hellenic polytheistic religious tradition through public rituals, lectures, publications, theatrical and musical events, and other forms of action. Their vision is to restore the Hellenic religious tradition and by extension the Hellenic Kosmotheasis and lifestyle to its rightful place, as a respected, acknowledged and fully functional spiritual path.

They have a large variety of rituals and festivals documented, including their 2014 Phallephoria in Athens. The phallephoria was a procession undertaken usually as part of the Dionysia. It was a celebration of freedom, solidarity, and rebellion and was one of the only public assembly's that everyone could attend--women, children, slaves and métoikos included. Men carried huge phalloi through the streets and into the theater and directed ridicule and abuse at the honorands. As with many Dionysian rituals, the phallephoria showed two sides of the theater world: the tragedies that depicted the disasters that befell the heroes of ancient Hellas, and the comedies where these heroes were ridiculed.

According to tradition, the City Dionysia was established after Eleutherae, a town on the border between Attica and Boeotia, had chosen to become part of Attica. The Eleuthereans brought a statue of Dionysos to Athens, which was initially rejected by the Athenians. Dionysus then punished the Athenians with a plague affecting the male genitalia, which was cured when the Athenians accepted the cult of Dionysus. This was recalled each year by a procession of citizens carrying phalloi, and the practice has now been brought back to life.

So, what is better than one video of Dionysian rites? That's right, a video of five of their Dionysia festival celebrations combined. You're welcome!

• Sunday, May 4, 2014
  ancient Hellenic culture Dionysia Dionysos festivals labrys video

Sorry, sick, have a video on the Hellenic Gods

Oh boy, I woke up feeling slightly miserable, but my girlfriend is a sobbing mess of sickness, so I'm not going to be able to get anything up today besides a video I haven't even watched yet. If it's offensive, sorry if it's offensive. If it's bad information, sorry it's bad information. I clicked through it and it seemed pretty legit. Time to take care of my girl. More tomorrow.

 

"Greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to and study the myths in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece and its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.

The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homer's epic poems Iliad and Odyssey focus on events surrounding the aftermath of the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age, and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.

Archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artefacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an extensive influence on the culture, arts, and literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes."

• Tuesday, April 15, 2014
  Olympic Gods this is not a real post video

Phallephoria in Athens

Labrys, a Hellenic Polytheistic group located in Greece, recently performed the Phallephoria, the carrying of a phallus in procession in honor of Dionysus through the streets of Athens for the first time after almost two thousand years.

The video is completely in Greek, but well worth the watch even if you don't understand a word of it. Seeing people celebrate the Gods is always beautiful to behold, and everyone was lavishly dressed up for the occassion. Fair warning, the video is not entirely suitable for work, as there are many reprisentations of penises to be found in it--as it should be for the Phallephoria.

The phallephoria was a procession undertaken usually as part of the Dionysia. It was a celebration of freedom, solidarity, and rebellion and was one of the only public assembly's that everyone could attend--women, children, slaves and métoikos included. Men carried huge phalloi through the streets and into the theater and directed ridicule and abuse at the honorands. As with many Dionysian rituals, the phallephoria showed two sides of the theater world: the tragedies that depicted the disasters that befell the heroes of ancient Hellas, and the comedies where these heroes were ridiculed.

According to tradition, the City Dionysia was established after Eleutherae, a town on the border between Attica and Boeotia, had chosen to become part of Attica. The Eleuthereans brought a statue of Dionysos to Athens, which was initially rejected by the Athenians. Dionysus then punished the Athenians with a plague affecting the male genitalia, which was cured when the Athenians accepted the cult of Dionysus. This was recalled each year by a procession of citizens carrying phalloi, and the practice has now been brought back to life.

The Labrys Religious Community aims to preserve, promote and practice the Hellenic polytheistic religious tradition through public rituals, lectures, publications, theatrical and musical events, and other forms of action. Their vision is to restore the Hellenic religious tradition and by extension the Hellenic Kosmotheasis and lifestyle to its rightful place, as a respected, acknowledged and fully functional spiritual path.

For more rituals captured on video, visit the group's website. The City Dionysia will take place from March 11 to March 19 this year.

• Monday, March 3, 2014
  ancient Hellenic culture Dionysia Dionysos festivals labrys modern Greece video

Digging for Troy

Around 1870, Heinrich Schliemann headed an archaeological dig in Turkey. His site was located south of the southwest end of the Hellespont and northwest of Mount Ida. In 1865, an  English archaeologist named Frank Calvert had excavated trial trenches in a field he had bought from a local farmer. The results were promising, and Schliemann took over Calvert's dig--which had since been named 'Hisarlik'--and took sole credit for the future finds at the site, even though Calvert had done the work of locating the site in the first place. In this documentary (which is rather old, but a great watch) tells the story of the dig for Troy and of Schliemann himself, and intercuts it with archived videos about the dig.

At Hisarlik, Schliemann found evidence of nine cities built on top of each other, as well as evidence of a high wall which must have fortified the town. Schliemann figured that the city of Troy--or Ilion/Ilios (Ἴλιον/Ἴλιος) as it would have been called at the time of the ancient Hellenes--must have been one of the lower, older, cities and thus he blasted his way down to the second city, where he found signs that seemed to corroborate his story--jewellery included, that Schliemann took to be those of Helen--which turned out to be a thousand years older than the time described in the epic. Due to his methodology, much of the later cities were destroyed.

Archaeologists today believe that the sixth and seventh oldest cities found in layers at Hisarlik are the best candidates for the Troy of The Iliad. Evidence suggests that city number six would have fit the setting of Troy described by Hómēros... but evidence points to its destruction not by the hands of man, but the hands of nature: Troy six was destroyed by a massive earthquake. Troy seven, however, was not as grand as Troy six, but its streets were littered with arrowheads, indicating that this city was, indeed, sacked by human hands. Hómēros, it seems, combined the two (destruction) stories into his great epic.

I will always be grateful to Schliemann for finding the location of Troy, but I don't agree much with his methodology. He was a man of his time, however, and we cannot really blame him for that... and in the end, we walked away with a lot more knowledge about Troy than we ever had--and perhaps ever would have had--without him. Or maybe it would have been Calvert's name in the hitory books; we will never know.

• Saturday, January 18, 2014
  archeology Hómēros modern Greece Troy video

My pick of sung and spoken hymns

Lately, I have been feeling the desire to not just read the hymns of antiquity, but to listen to them. I am not skilled in (ancient) Greek, but there is something about the soothing tones of the Homeric and Orphic hymns being sung or spoken. Today, I wanted to share with you a few of my favourites to be found on Youtube, and I am open to suggestions about yours!


Orphic hymn to Selene


Orphic Hymn to Apollon


Prayer to Zeus (by Arkhilokhos of Paros)


Orphic hymn to Athena


Homeric hymn to Artemis (modern English adaption)


Homeric hymn to Hermes


Homeric hymn to Zeus (#23)


Homeric Hymn to Asklēpiós

• Thursday, January 9, 2014
  Apollon Artemis Asklēpiós Athena Hermes Homeric Hymns hymns Orphic Hymns Selene video Zeus

Are many Gods better than one?-video

I know I promised you guys a Pagan Blog Post this morning, but my girlfriend dislocated something in her neck and it's been pain-central eversince. The morning routine has gotten pretty complicated and I have absolutely no time for writing. Sorry. I'm just going to leave you with a video I have been meaning to watch but haven't found time to and hope it's any kind of insightful. Let me know, alright? I'll be back tomorrow with something useful.

• Saturday, December 7, 2013
  this is not a real post video

Ancient Hellenic vase creation

Sometimes posts write themselves, which is a wonderful thing when you wake up feeling more tired than when you went to bed. Today there is only a little bit of me here and a lot of Youtube. I'll make sure to get you more me tomorrow. For now, I want to talk a little about pottery in ancient Hellas. I once made a catalogue post of the most common pottory shapes and their uses in ancient Hellas, but didn't touch the red-figure and black-figure techniquest yet. I want to shortly address both, starting with a video on the black figure technique:

The video was produced with the generous support of a Long Range Fund grant provided by the Community Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was created for LaunchPad, a program of digital interpretive materials that supplement the viewing of works of art on display in the Art Institute of Chicago's galleries. It's description reads:

"Used for the storage and shipment of grains, wine, and other goods, as well as in the all-male Greek drinking party, known as the symposium, ancient Greek vases were decorated with a variety of subjects ranging from scenes of everyday life to the tales of heroes and gods. The two most popular techniques of vase decoration were the black-figure technique, so-named because the figures were painted black, and the red-figure technique, in which the figures were left the red color of the clay. The black-figure technique developed around 700 B.C. and remained the most popular Greek pottery style until about 530 B.C., when the red-figure technique was developed, eventually surpassing it in popularity. This video illustrates the techniques used in the making and decorating of a black-figure amphora (storage jar) in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection."

To recap from the video, and to add the red-figure technique to it: with both techniques, the potter first shaped the vessel on a wheel. More complex shapes were made in phases and then glued together when the sections had dried to a leather hardness. The 'glue' was a slip; clay in a more liquid form.

Now the difference came in: in black-figure vase painting, the actual image was painted on with a slip that turned black during firing, while the background was left the color of the clay. Individual forms were highlighted by incising the slip or by adding white and purple enhancements by applying mixtures of pigment and clay. On red-figure vases, it were not the figures who were painted with the slip, but the background itself. This way, the figures stayed red while the background turned black; exactly the opposite as the vase in the video which was created by the black-figure method.

The red-figure technique was invented around 530 B.C. and gradually replaced the black-figure technique as it was far easier and produced better results to simply draw figures instead of meticulously trying to delineate them with incisions. Painting the figures allowed for more artistic freedom, and produced better results in anatomy, garments, and emotions.

The firing process of both red- and black-figure vessels consisted of three stages. During the first, oxidizing stage, air was allowed into the kiln, turning the whole vase the color of the clay. In the subsequent stage, green wood was introduced into the chamber and the oxygen supply was reduced, causing the object to turn black in the smoky environment. In the third stage, air was reintroduced into the kiln; the reserved portions turned back to orange while the glossed areas remained black. And that is how the ancient Hellenes--and we today--have ended up with these beautifully decorated vases that are so telling of the ancient Hellenic culture.

• Tuesday, October 1, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture pottery video