#mycenaean recon

[royal-wren]

Pouring one out for Iphemedeia (Iphigenia) and Helen who started out as goddesses before regressing to humans in tales that later ascended. I'd include Ariande but that's still a big what-if because we don't 100% know she's the Lady of the Labyrinth, we can only guess as much as we can about Athene being Minoan too as the Master of the Home.

Pouring one out for the historical worship relationship between Hera and Hermes pre-Archaic Greece. *I'd say the Mycenaean era only, but we don't know if it started earlier than that

Pouring one out for the surviving harmony Hermes has with goddesses as a goddess' god (as I affectionately call it). If nothing else, a surviving part of the higher importance/preeminence of goddesses regionally.

*if you're curious to learn more I won't answer, just rely on your preferred search engine and libraries. Me saying anything won't help you cultivate research skills on your own. Just be painfully specific with what you're searching for and abuse "" around words you want focused on.

[orsialos]

Lycian and Boeotian recon? 👀 Which part are you looking at? I'm down in the south but I've read up on most parts. If you want, we can talk (I'd like to hear about any progress on the Ares festival anyhow).

*eeek* I love your blog, so this is my quick fangirl moment. I'll definitely talk with you more about the festival, anytime! It's my big project for the next 2ish weeks to try & flesh it all out

Yeah! Lycia (and more broadly southern Asia Minor), Boeotia, and Cyprus are the cult worship centers I'm most interested in! I've been in the process of changing this after 5ish years of following the Attic tradition, so it's all still very new and up in the air at the moment.

I've been very inspired by the cults of Ares in Asia Minor and I've always been drawn to Mycenaean influences and Eros (although I have not ever worked with him directly). It's going to be an interesting blend for sure! But I would absolutely adore any resources you have that you think I'd enjoy!! I very much enjoy reading scholarly articles and books

[unsound-unbody]

Reconstructing Ancestor Worship in Hellenic Polytheism

Ancestor worship/veneration has been a super important part of my practice for a while now, but for the most part I’ve had to play it by ear. This is fine, especially as someone coming from a culture mostly devoid of ancestor veneration practices, because the difference between gods and ancestors in a lot of cultures is fairly hazy. This was not the case for Greek religion in any historic period, though, and so it poses a bit of a problem in a helpol recon setting.

Who got to be ancestors in Ancient Greece?

So, Ancient Greece didn’t really have ancestor worship in the way we typically think about it today. “God” and “human” were very specific categories that couldn’t be crossed except in extraordinary cases (put a pin in that). Recent ancestry served a social function, such as inheritances/land ownership/etc., but there isn’t any evidence that it served a religious one. There is a term invoked in Greek inscriptions Tritopatreis which may refer to one’s unnamed ancestors as a group (tritopatreis means triple-fathers, and may refer to any ancestry occurring after three generations of ancestors), but as far as I can tell this is also a little hazy (another suggestion is that the Tritopatreis were a group of Boeotian or Delphic wind gods), and even then I wasn’t able to find much evidence of any specific rituals involving them.

All that being said, there are two instances of ancestor worship in Ancient Greece that I want to talk about. The important thing to remember when talking about it, though, is that Greek culture was much more concerned with the cohesiveness of the polis than it was with the family/clan. This is a lot different from our culture and the cultures whose ancestor veneration practices we might be familiar with. As a result, while familial ancestry may have been important (the Agathos Daimon was specific to families/households for example), the emphasis for many Greeks (and state-sponsored religious practices) was not on familial ties, but on ties to one’s fellow citizens.

Ancestor veneration in the Dark Age

Before we get to the big one, I wanna talk really briefly about one instance of ancestor worship in Ancient Greece. At the end of the Bronze/Mycenaean Age (around 1100 BCE), there was a Collapse, and a Dark Age followed. This led to a sense among the Greeks of being disconnected from their culture (sounds relatable tbh), which like wouldn’t be resolved fully until the Classical Age. It was during this age that the oral tradition which would be codified in Homer and Hesiod in the later Archaic Age was passed down, and is likely when heroic cults, or what would later become them, began. During this period, there was a form of possible ancestor worship wherein Iron Age (or Dark Age) Greeks would visit Bronze Age tombs and perform rites for the recently dead, such as leaving offerings, or in some cases reusing tombs to bury their own dead. This is thought to have been done to restore a connection to Greek cultural identity which people felt had been lost. It is contested whether this is actually a form of ancestor worship or not specifically because the rites performed were identical to rites performed for the recent dead, and anthropologists are divided on whether or not that’s chill.

Hero cults as ancestor worship

So we’re gonna come back to that pin from earlier. Ancestor worship in Ancient Greece most likely came about as an attempt to reestablish a sense of lost cultural identity in the Iron Age, with an emphasis on the polis rather than one’s own immediate family. Additionally, gods and humans were considered to be totally distinct from one another, except in very rare cases where a human performed extraordinary feats and was (sometimes) granted godhood by the gods. All of this points us directly to hero cults!

It’s definitely not a particularly satisfying answer, since, unlike the Ancient Greeks’ relationship with the epic heroes, all Greek heroes will likely be as alien (or familiar) to our sense of cultural/ancestral identity as the gods themselves. However, it is possible to create our own culture or ancestry’s heroes, a practice which we see beginning in the Classical Period with heroes like Theseus and grew in popularity through the Hellenistic Period. And, something fun is that with this framework, we’re not limited only to our direct biological ancestors, but we can honor cultural ancestors, such as important figures in our city, region, community, or nation’s history as ancestors in a very literal way, which I think is cool!

Conclusion

While there isn’t a lot of evidence to suggest that the Ancient Greeks in any region or period had specific, codified ancestor worship practices, we do find an analogue for it in the hero cults. This opens up so many possibilities! A family hero might be able to act as a mediator between you and the rest of your ancestors, for example. It offers you a chance to try and review stories about your family’s history and their feats, rather than memorizing a list of names. There’s a lot of opportunity here.

Bibliography and Further Reading

“Achieving Ancestorhood in Ancient Greece” Carla Antonaccio, from The Archaeology of Ancestors (2015).

Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and Dead in Ancient Greece by Sarah Iles Johnston (1999).

“Tritopatreis in Boeotia” by Y. Kalliontzis and N. Papazarkadas (2013).

“The Early Development of the Theseus Myth” by Henry J. Walker (1995).

[thegrapeandthefig]

Do you know anyone who posts about the archaic, hellenistic, republican, or imperial greek, roman, and/or greco-roman religion? Or etruscan and other non-greco-roman mediterranean stuff, for that matter? Classical era stuff is great, but I feel there's such a wide world out there to explore beyond the athenian golden age and greece proper as I'm sure you'd agree!

To be completely fair, there is nearly no-one here who is strictly a 5th century Athenian recon. Myself included, my era of focus is between the 1st century BC and AD. A lot of our information is too fragmentary and therefore it tends to be a mix of periods and influences.

That being said:

Roman/greco-roman: @amor-augusti @randomproxy @iunia-vitula @dameaya

Etruscan: @adri-le-chat

I think, but I'm not sure that @nordicsatyr is more interested into the archaic period (or mycenaean) but I could be wrong.

That's all I can think of for now. You are more likely to find people who have decided to localize their practice rather than stick to a given century. Again, this is mainly because the information is too scattered and sometimes, because it's hard to post about specific eras without diving deep into details usually deemed too academical.

If any of my followers have a chronologically defined practice, hopefully they make themselves known.

[sisterofiris]

Sorry, this may be kinda basic but I'm getting some conflicting info. Can you please explain the diff between the terms Hellenic, Hellene, Hellenist, Hellenistic, Hellenism, Hellenismos and Hellenic Polytheism? What is the proper term to use for a practitioner of the religion who is not culturally/ethnically Greek? Or does it matter? Is Hellene referring to a Greek person? Do any of those terms have anything to do with recon vs revival? I want to be sure I'm using the terms correctly.

I don’t think I’ve ever addressed these terms on this blog, so here goes.

Hellenic (adj.) simply refers to something Greek. Whereas the word “Greek” comes from Latin Graecus, the word “Hellenic” comes from Ancient Greek Ἑλληνικός (Hellênikos) and is still used by Greek people to refer to Greece, or Ελλάδα (Ellada) in modern Greek, to this day. Because of this, any phrase with the word Greek can be replaced with Hellenic: for example, Hellenic food, Hellenic music, Hellenic culture, and yes, Hellenic polytheism.

Hellene (n.) is the term Greek people use to identify themselves. Just like a German person might say “I’m a German” or a French person might say “I’m a Frenchman”, Greek people call themselves Hellenes (or Έλληνες, Ellines, in Greek). Within the Hellenic polytheistic community, there has been debate on whether non-ethnically Greek polytheists should call themselves Hellenes, the main argument in favour of this being that Hellene was historically the term for polytheists, whereas Greek Christians called themselves Romans. I personally don’t encourage this, given that regardless of the term’s history, it’s currently the term in use by Greek people to describe themselves. A non-Greek person calling themselves a Hellene is misleading, just like it would be for a Norse polytheist to call themselves Norwegian (despite both terms having similar etymologies).

Hellenist (n.) refers to a person who admires and/or academically studies (usually Ancient) Greek civilisation. If you have a bust of Socrates in your home, you’re probably a Hellenist. If you have a degree in Classics, you’re definitely a Hellenist. (The equivalent term for people who study Rome, by the way, is Latinist.) Hellenist can be used to describe Hellenic polytheists, but while I don’t discourage using it like I do with Hellene, I’m personally not a big fan of it, since it can lead to confusion as to what, exactly, we do.

Hellenistic (adj.) specifically refers to the period of history between the death of Alexander the Great and the Battle of Actium (323 to 31 BC). As a result, Hellenistic polytheism is the religion that was practised at the time in Greece, and which involved a large amount of cultic exchange and syncretism (for example, Zeus-Serapis).

Hellenic polytheism (n.), by contrast, is the general term for the polytheistic religion practised by Ancient Greeks, in all its forms. Hellenistic polytheism is Hellenic polytheism; Mycenaean polytheism is Hellenic polytheism; the modern revival of the religion is Hellenic polytheism. When it comes to modern movements specifically, I would define a practise as Hellenic polytheism if it strives to honour Hellenic deities within the spirit of Ancient Greek belief. According to this definition, a Wiccan who calls on the four quarters while summoning Hekate for a spell is not a Hellenic polytheist, despite a Hellenic deity being involved, since this practise functions within the belief system of Wicca. On the other hand, an eclectic polytheist who worships each deity according to their culture of origin could call themselves a Hellenic polytheist, despite not strictly worshipping Hellenic deities only.

Hellenismos, and its anglicised form Hellenism (n.), is another term for Hellenic polytheism. It was invented by the Roman emperor Julian in the 4th century AD, and at the time, it applied not only to the religion, but also to all other aspects of Greek culture Julian was attempting to popularise instead of Christianity. Nowadays, Hellenismos generally - though not exclusively - denotes Hellenic reconstructionism, a Hellenic polytheistic movement that aims to stay as close as possible to ancient practise (as opposed to revivalism, which allows for more modern innovations).

Other terms for Hellenic polytheism include Dodekatheism, Olympianism and Hellenic ethnic religion. The latter is mainly used by Greek people in Greece, and as with Hellene, I would discourage its use by non-Greek people as it implies you are ethnically Greek. Olympianism is rarely used. As for Dodekatheism, a while ago, there was some debate in the Tumblr community as to whether we should call ourselves Hellenic polytheists or Dodekatheists, a term which some people viewed as more respectful towards Greek people; I myself chose not to involve myself in the debate, and still don’t. Personally, I call myself a Hellenic polytheist because it’s an accurate descriptor of my religion (whereas Dodekatheist implies I only worship twelve Gods), and because all of the Greek people I have interacted with have been fine with it. However, I have no issue with the term Dodekatheism and if someone feels more comfortable with it, I encourage them to use it instead.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion!

[hexandbalances]

The Strophalos and the Chaldean Oracle

Hecate is is associated in fragment 194 of the Chaldean Oracles with a strophalos: “Labour thou around the Strophalos of Hecate.“  The strophalos of iynx (pl: iynges) is the Greek name for the wryneck, a member of the woodpecker family. There is a form of magic performed with a bird tied to a wooden wheel, the “iynx wheel”. This bird wheel was used primarily in love magic. It is also associated with the nymph Iynx, who invented a love charm of the same name (in theory the word jinx may have evolved from her name). 

Theocritus refers to the iynx in his Idylls (”Draw my lover here, iynx”), but later describes it as a “bronze rhombus whirling” (Idylls 2, Theocritus, 270 BCE, translated by Z. Yardley). This appears to refer to a variant of the device mentioned by Michael Psellos in the 11th century CE:

“The strophalos of Hekate is a golden sphere with lapis lazuli enclosed in its centre, which is spun by means of a leather thong, and which is covered with symbols: as it was spun they [the Theurgists] made their invocations. These spheres were generally called iynges and could be either spherical or triangular or of some other form. And while they were making their invocations they emitted inarticulate or animal cries, laughing and whipping the air. So the Oracle teaches that is the motion of the strophalos which works the ritual, on account of its ineffable power. It is called ‘of Hekate’ as consecrated to Hekate.”

Psellos commentary of the Chaldean Oracles, C11th CE, translated by D.J. O’Meara

The strophalos appears to have been used primarily to evoke Hekate, or directing Her power. Eusebius of Caesarea writes in his Praeparatio Evangelica: “Easily dragging some of these unwilling [divinities] from the Aether by means of ineffable iynges, you lead them earthwards.” and “Why do you call me, the goddess Hekate, here from the swift Aether by means of god-compelling necessity.”

If the strophalos is a physical tool, where, then, comes the symbol? 

Unfortunately the best I have been able to find that actually refers to the difference is from Symbol Dictionary (which, I should preface, is not an academic resource):

The Strophalos, or Hecate’s wheel is an ancient Greek symbol, and is an emblem of the initiatory lunar Goddess Hecate (Diana Lucifera), and her triple aspect. Only one ancient source remains to shed any light on the emblem’s meaning.

The second century Alexandrian text known as the Chaldean oracle describes the emblem as a labyrinthine serpent (emblematic of rebirth) surrounding a spiral, symbolic of the Iynges- “whirlings” or emanations of divine thought. Today, it is generally used by practitioners of Hellenic Recon or Dianic Traditions of Wicca as an emblem of religious identification.

To say that the Chaldean Oracle describes the emblem is incorrect. The fragmented text describes a Neoplatonic metaphysical schema; it may be that the symbol we have come to associate as Hekate’s strophalos is perhaps representative of a single part of this schema, but it does not point to the origin of the symbol.

The schema establishes a transcendent single deity, sometimes called Father (Ineffable One), who is beyond Intellect and Being. Father represents paternity, power, and intellect. One begins to see why the Chaldean Oracles were much lauded by early Christian theologians. Father is followed by a series of beings of Intellect, then the material realm. Hekate functions as a barrier between the intellectual and material realms, separating the divine fires of Father’s Intellect, and the Material Fire from which the cosmos is created. Hekate, as the World Soul, governs over the sub-lunar material world, and enslaves the lower part of the human soul. The goal of the schema was to purify the lower soul through austerity and contemplation (development of the intellect) and ascend through the planetary spheres until only the intellect remained.[x][x][x] 

In theory, the strophalos could symbolize Hekate’s function as the membrane around the Hypezokos, or Flower of Fire, the cosmic, creative fire. However this only describes an interpretation of the symbol’s possible meaning - the Chaldean Oracles does not include nor allude to the symbol, just the physical tool. As of yet, I have found no resource linking the strophalos to Diana Luciferna.

I found this post by @nehetisingsforhekate that makes reference to the symbol as being a Mycenaean motif found on a button. This information comes to us by way of Tara Sanchez, author of the Temple of Hekate: Exploring the Goddess Hekate through ritual, meditation and divination, in an online conversation that I do not have access to. Nehetsingsforhekate has been gracious enough to attempt to track this down but we’ve had no luck as yet (thank you again!).

If this is so, then the strophalos symbol predates the Chaldean Oracle by somewhere between 1,400 to 2,200 years, casting some doubt over its association with this possible meaning. Where was the button found? Who might have owned it? Was it used on a garment or as a fastener for a tool? I’ve reached out to Tara Sanchez for more information but have not heard back at this time. 

Without additional evidence it seems we can conclude the symbol’s association with Hekate is historically tenuous. What do you think? Have you come across any resources that might shed light on this conundrum? Please let us know. Khaire. 💀🖤