Ivory ex-votos found at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Sparta, made in the form of protomes and depicting the goddess crowned. Now in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo credit: Marsyas/Wikimedia Commons.
Limestone statue of a bearded man wearing a wreath and carrying votive offerings. Artist unknown; ca. 475-450 BCE. From Cyprus; now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
January is the month of Zeus here on my blog! So I encourage you all to share your stories (or really anything) about Big Poppa and ask any Zeus related questions!
And since Thursday can be viewed as sacred to Zeus, I’ll be uploading his Tea with the Gods episode then and hopefully every Thursday throughout the month!
So let’s take this time to get to know our Almighty Father a bit better and give praise to the blessings he bestows on us and the world! Praise Zeus!
It all started from childhood when a Thunderstorm was so strong it brought fear into me. The lightning struck so close to my window, so loud, so bright, so powerful, I screamed. Since then, I can feel a Thunderstorm, I feel this presence with me everyday that I really couldn’t understand. Day in and day out, I feel this energy, or presence with me, always, protecting me. But each time a storm happens, I am scared those same train of events will occur again but never did, the storms were just strong.
Storms became a passion in my life, I became so fascinated by the weather and wanted to learn everything about it.
I felt a connection during Thunderstorms, got over the short term fear and felt drawn to the energy. As I grew up, I learned about ancient Greece and Zeus was mentioned. He stood out to me and matched the energy I’ve been feeling but never thought anything of it till I grew up more. Fast forward to turning 20 years old, my attention was turned to Zeus again, I looked into him deeper than I have before. I was so drawn to Zeus, his energy, his awesomeness and Godly powers that never fail to amaze me. That same night I decided to finally devote my heart to him, I dreamed of him, he was standing in front of me, the majestic handsome old but strong man that he his. A smile was on his face as he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around me, holding me, telling me that no matter what happens, he will always be here for me. He even told me he loves me and kissed my cheek before I woke up, feeling happy, feeling peace now knowing who was there all this time, teaching me, guiding me and protecting me all these years, and still does now. Now I devote my life to him, pray to him every morning and every night. I thank him daily for everything he does. Zeus is so mighty, so powerful, his energy is strong when I feel him. I adore him with all my heart. With this statue I have of him, he is not just standing on a shelf, I shower him with hugs and attention in return for everything he has ever done for me. I love Zeus with everything I have in my heart. I am proud to be a follower, and a dedicated devotee of Zeus⛈⚡
The almighty king of Gods is always on my mind and in my heart
I hold him so close to my heart, he literally touches my heart
He is so mighty and so magnificent, I just love him!
I am very protective of him and will do anything to keep him safe and loved
I love Zeus unconditionally and unendingly
I PRAISE YOU, LORD ZEUS!! I love you and everything that you do.
Worshipping you is the best thing I could ever do in this life of mine..
Almighty wielder of the Thunderbolt, you amaze me in every single way.
So wise and righteous, bringing nothing but truth and just.
Master of the storm, your presence is powerful and fatherly.
I honor you deeply with all of my heart and soul.
You bring such light and life to this big vast universe. You are a true ruler so mighty and powerful, caring and loving.
I thank you everyday for being the most wholesome God I have ever worshipped in my life.
You bring law and order that keeps this universe running as smooth as it can be.
I appreciate everything you do.
You are truly special to me and I will never go a day without praising you.
You are divine, so divine, my words can not even describe it well enough but you know I will do only the best to honor you greatly, Lord Zeus.
In this series I will explain Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy, chapter by chapter, in digestible pieces.
In this first chapter, Russell concerns himself with laying the foundations of Greek culture. This is integral to further discussion because many of the foundational aspects of early Greek culture persisted in, and influenced, the philosophy following it. Much influence can…
Εἰκοστή/ Εἰκὰς/ Εἰκοσάδες, XX day From today’s sunset: twentieth day of Elaphebolion. Sacred Εἰκὰς: the twentieth of each month is always sacred to Apollo and Athena. Monthly festival dedicated to Lord Apollo.
“On the great twentieth, in full day, a wise man should be born. Such a one is very sound-witted.” “He (Hesiod) calls it ‘great’ because it contains most of the days of the month; therefore all the day is suitable for birth, or he (Hesiod) has called it 'great’, as if it were completing great undertakings. The one who is generated in this day is very virtuous and learned.” Hesiod and scholia, Erga, 792
(Belvedere Apollo, detail. Roman copy after a Greek bronze original of 330–320 BCE. Found in the late 15th century. Now in the Vatican Museum…)
Τετάρτη Μεσοῦντος/ Τετρὰς ἐπὶ δέκα/ Τεσσαρεκαιδεκάτη, XIV day From today’s sunset: fourteenth day of Elaphebolion. Full Moon. Conclusion of the Megala Dionysia in the City; Pandia, very ancient festival, celebrated after the Dionysia, in honor of Selene, Zeus and Pandia “And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. From Her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from Her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of Her golden crown, and Her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed Her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned Her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked Her strong-necked, shining team, drives on Her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then Her great orbit is full and then Her beams shine brightest as She increases. So She is a sure token and a sign to mortal men. Once the Son of Cronos was joined with Her in love; and She conceived and bare a daughter, Pandia, exceeding lovely amongst the deathless Gods. Hail, white-armed Goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! “HH 32 1
(Selene, I BCE. From Pompeii, now in Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Napoli)
Εἰκοστή/ Εἰκὰς/ Εἰκοσάδες, XX day From today’s sunset: twentieth day of Anthesterion. ΜΙΚΡΑ ΜΥΣΤΗΡΙΑ - I day of the LESSER ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES Sacred Εἰκὰς: the twentieth of each month is always sacred to Apollo and Athena.
“Every year two mystery cults are celebrated in honor of Demeter and Kore, the Lesser and the Great (Mysteries). The Lesser take the form of a purification and attainment of a state of purity, preliminary to the Great Mysteries.” Schol. Pluto 845f
“The Great Mysteries were in honor of Demeter, the Lesser in honor of Her Daughter Persephone.” Schol. Pluto 846
*** Moreover, “On the great twentieth, in full day, a wise man should be born. Such a one is very sound-witted.” “He (Hesiod) calls it ‘great’ because it contains most of the days of the month; therefore all the day is suitable for birth, or he (Hesiod) has called it 'great’, as if it were completing great undertakings. The one who is generated in this day is very virtuous and learned.” Hesiod and scholia, Erga, 792
(Terracotta figure of Persephone standing,Her right hand raised and holding a pomegranate. From Tanagra, 270 BCE. Now in the British Museum…)
Ὀγδόη Ἱσταμένου, VIII day From today’s sunset: eighth day of Anthesterion. The eighth day is always sacred to Poseidon and Theseus. “Poseidon Asphaleios stands for the ogdoad.” “The eighth and the ninth of the month that begins: these are the best days to accomplish the man’s works: (Hesiod) praises the eighth and ninth plausibly as they carry perfection (syntelestikai) and therefore he has dedicated them to the human activities…one (the eight), by having a perfect dimension, the other (the nine), by deriving from a perfect number (the three), bring to accomplishment the works undertaken in them.” Schol. Erga, 772-773
(Amphitrite seated on a dolphin. From South Italy, Locride, 460-450 circa BCE. Now in the Louvre….)
Listen, this is a very specific topic to be iffy about, but for your knowledge, the Roman gods are notthe Greek gods.
The Romans were big on syncretism (the combination of different forms of belief or intellectual thought) and the adoption of foreign gods. The Greek deities were known since very early periods via the Etruscan culture, which was heavily influenced by Greece since the middle of the 8th century BC because of trade routes as well as the Greek cultural potential and would come to be completely engulfed around the third century BC with the Roman-Etruscan wars, but just like you’d see the Romans claiming the Germanic tribes worshipped their own gods under different names (the Germania by Roman historian Tacitus, written around 98 AD), the same happened here, and the fusion wasn’t 100% accurate.
While in the case of Zeus and Jupiter, for example, it worked well, Venus is far more motherly and political than Aphrodite (as Mars is the Father of Rome via the myth of Romulus and Remus, Venus is Venus Genetrix, Venus the Mother, and the only time you’ll see Aphrodite being motherly is in… the Aeneid, a distinctively Roman piece), Mars is an agricultural god as well as the god of war and has way more political connotations than Ares (he was a member of the archaic Capitoline Triad), Mercury is far more linked with commerce than the more pastoral Hermes, and the list goes on. Apollo was imported directly and very early (a temple for him, the Temple of Apollo Sosianus, was erected in the city of Rome as early as 431 BC), thus keeping the name but undergoing a very distinct Romanization of his attributes and worship. Janus, Quirinus and Terminus were very important Roman gods which had no Greek equivalent.
Isis, for example, was worshipped as herself, equated with a number of deities in both the Greek and the Roman worlds and some of her methods of worship and symbolism were associated with the Virgin Mary. It’s a far more complicated scenario, babes, especially when you consider Alexander’s conquests and the expansion of Hellenistic culture as well as its contact with many other cultures.
Syncretism is way more complicated than “the Romans just stole the Greek gods and gave them different names, the uncreative fucks”. The traditional date for Rome’s foundation is 753 BC and the WesternRoman Empire would last until 436 AD. That’s over a thousand years of conquest, trade and growing and shrinking territories, and none of these factors are likely to leave a religion unaltered.
Besides, the practice of religious syncretism is way older and more common than you’d expect. The Akkadians did it to Summerian deities a few thousand years before this especially after the conquest of Sargon of Akkad in 2340 BC (“Mesopotamia: the Sumerians”. Washington State University). The Greeks were doing much the same with the Roman pantheon itself (Dionysus of Halicarnassus and Plutarch use Greek names for Roman cult), with the Egyptian pantheon and with the Scythian pantheon (Herodotus in both cases, though the associations would outlive him, such as the case of Zeus/Amon).
So,nothe Roman gods aren’t the plagiarized versions of the Greek gods, and I could defend this in front of a jury.
Daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, divine, Propitious to thy vot'ries prayer incline; From thy great father’s fount supremely bright, Like fire resounding, leaping into light. Shield-bearing goddess, hear, to whom belong A manly mind, and power to tame the strong! Oh, sprung from matchless might, with joyful mind Accept this hymn; benevolent and kind! The holy gates of wisdom by thy hand Are wide unfolded; and the daring band Of earth-born giants, that in impious fight Strove with thy sire, were vanquish’d by thy might. Once by thy care, as sacred poets sing, The heart of Dionysus, swiftly-slaughter’d king, Was sav’d in aether, when, with fury fir’d, The Titans fell against his life conspir’d; And with relentless rage and thirst for gore, Their hands his members into fragments tore: But ever watchful of thy father’s will, Thy pow'r preserv’d him from succeeding ill, Till from the secret counsels of his sire, And born from Semele through heav'nly fire, Great Dionysius to the world at length Again appear’d with renovated strength. Once, too, thy warlike axe, with matchless sway, Lopp’d from their savage necks the heads away Of furious beasts, and thus the pests destroy’d Which long all-seeing Hecate annoy’d. By thee benevolent great Hera’s might Was rous’d, to furnish mortals with delight: And through life’s wide and various range ‘tis thine Each part to beautify with arts divine: Invigorated hence by thee, we find A demiurgic impulse in the mind. Towers proudly rais’d, and for protection strong, To thee, dread guardian, deity belong, As proper symbols of th'exalted height Thy series claims amidst the courts of light. Lands are belov’d by thee to learning prone, And Athens, O Athena, is thy own! Great goddess, hear! and on my dark'ned mind Pour thy pure light in measure unconfin’d; - That sacred light, O all-protecting queen, Which beams eternal from thy face serene: My soul, while wand'ring on the earth, inspire With thy own blessed and impulsive fire; And from thy fables, mystic and divine, Give all her powers with holy light to shine. Give love, give wisdom, and a power to love, Incessant tending to the realms above; Such as, unconscious of base earth’s control, Gently attracts the vice-subduing soul; From night’s dark region aids her to retire, And once more gain the palace of her sire: And if on me some just misfortune press, Remove th'affliction, and thy suppliant bless. All-Saving goddess, to my prayer incline! Nor let those horrid punishments be mine Which guilty souls in Tartarus confine, With fetters fast'ned to its brazen floors, And lock’d by hell’s tremendous iron doors. Hear me, and save (for power is all thy own) A soul desirous to be thine alone.
