Barefoot you amble through wilds Well-crowned with mists of the evergreen. Flowers raise their petals in joy as you pass. Beasts bow their heads in humility. “Our Lady has come!” Announce the birds chirping proudly. “She’s come!” Accompany the whispers of the treetops And the rustle of the woods chants your holy name.
Lately, I’ve got a few questions related to this topic, so I thought we could look at this from a broader perspective!
Let’s get started!
Even as a kid, when I scarcely knew anything about the topic, I caught myself thinking “Damn, that’s a cool name!” with my nose buried in another book about Greek Mythology, purely because of the sound or the way the word rolled off my tongue. There are plenty of amazing ancient names with beautiful meanings and interesting history, not just in mythology!
We can learn about them from archaeological finds and ancient texts.
Personal names reflect the concerns and values of a society. The Greeks could get quite creative with their names and their rich language certainly served them as an excellent tool to contain such things even in something as seemingly inconspicuous as a name. Taking a closer look at them may thus shine some light on certain aspects of the life of the Ancient Greeks as well as help us understand it better.
In this post, we’ll look at different customs, practices, accounts, meanings and purposes of Ancient Greek names and later discuss their significance in terms of Hellenic Polytheism today!
The practice of naming
In short, the name was supposed to serve as a way to identify the individual. I think this is no surprise. However, there were different ways to go about it:
Especially in earlier periods, having just one name was the norm but some might’ve acquired sort of a ’nickname’, often based on a distinguishable feature of the person (e.g. Antigonos Monophthalmos, the ‘One Eyed’).
Patronymic names were also common and played an important role in better identifying and legitimising the person (e.g. Hektor Priamides, ‘son of Priam’).
Origins of the individual could also be significant, although only in certain contexts, since if you were home, there was no need to indicate your origin. This was only used when abroad (e.g. Alcibiades son of Kleinias, Athenian)
Meanings of names
Meanings of Ancient Greek names could vary a lot. Here are some examples of the categories of words used:
Animals
Plants
Body parts & physical characteristics
Political institutions
MIlitary prowess
Naming after a god
Some individuals were named after one of the deities of the Greek Pantheon. Usually, the name of the god was not literally used to name the person, however, there were instances of such practice (e.g. the name Artemis), though it was still quite uncommon.
Theophoric names were much more popular. They could be derived from a theonym, the proper name of the god or an epithet and could take different forms:
simple adjectival forms - Apollonius, Demetrios, Artemisia
the term 'genes’ (birth) - Diogenes ('Dio’ = Zeus)
the terms 'dotos’ and 'doros’ (giving/gift) - Diodotos, Apollodoros
the term 'kles’ (renown) - Diokles
the term 'phanes’ (epiphany) - Apollophanes
the term 'philos’ (loving) - Diophilos
the ‘neutral’ type based on the word for god, ‘theos’ rather than any particular deity (e.g. Theokles, Theodoros, etc.)
The deities also varied and 'trends’ for such names also changed over time but overall names could be derived from all types of gods:
The Olympian gods-common (some more, some less)
Lesser deities and personifications (especially river gods)
Heroes & deified mortals
The Underworld gods-avoided (with some exceptions for Hekate)
Customs & Traditions
Naming the first-born son after the paternal grandfather, and the second after the maternal grandfather
Naming of children after a parent (especially in Hellenistic & Roman times)
Amphidromia - an Athenian family festival, a feast celebrated on the fifth or seventh day after the birth of a child during which the newly born child was introduced into the family, and children of poorer families received their names (wealthier families held a naming ceremony for their children on the tenth day)
Modern Hellenic Polytheism
These are the things I’ve seen most commonly debated within the Hellenic Polytheist community when it comes to names:
Could I name my child/myself after a god?
Could I name an animal after a god?
I’ll try to answer these questions as best as I can, based on my knowledge about antiquity and include some of my own opinions (+ give a quick summary of the questions at the end).
1. Could I name my child/myself after a god?
The short answer is yes, it’s possible. From what I’ve seen, most people asking this question wonder whether it would still be respectful and in good taste. As I explained above, the practice was already seen in antiquity.
Atheophoric name would be fine. It was fairly common to be named after a certain deity (the name or an epithet) in antiquity.
It’s only natural to wonder if such a name would have any religious significance or perhaps indicate a relationship the person bearing the name might hold with the deity they’re named after. The answer is, it was possible but this was not always the case. There is no evidence that for example, the men named after Dionysus were more devoted to the god than any other men, so one must keep in mind that bearing a theophoric name could have no perceptible influence on the religious behaviour of the adult Greek who bore it.
So when did the name have some form of religious connotations for the individual?
When visiting oracles, a decent amount of people asked about the birth of children. If the oracle answered something like “yes, you will have a child” the promised child would most likely be named after the oracular deity. We can see a very interesting example of this in one of the inscriptions at Delphi.
According to one of the verses of the inscription Apollo ‘heard the prayer’ of an anonymous couple and ‘granted them offspring in his response’ requiring a hair offering in return. In the eleventh month, after a trouble-free pregnancy, the wife gave birth with ease, helped by Lochia [Artemis], the Fates and Phoibos [Apollon], to a thriving daughter (with hair already reaching her eyes, and destined to reach her chest in the first year). The parents named the girl Delphis, ‘because of the prophecy and in commemoration of Delphi’.
R. Parker, Theophoric Names and History of Greek Religion
The girl was named after the site of the oracle of Apollo, rather than his epithet Delphinius [Delphic], but nonetheless, it was arguably the most important cult place of the god and his most famous oracle.
Another interesting observation: when a certain deity (most often Asklepios) was believed to have aided with the child being born, the child would presumably receive a theophoric name as well (e.g. some Asklepi- variant).
Overall, if you consider using a theophoric name it could totally have religious significance to you, (e.g. naming yourself after your patron etc.) but it wasn’t a must in antiquity.
Using a theonym - the literal name of a god
Naming someone with the literal name of a deity was not common in Ancient Greece, however, it was not nonexistent. The name 'Artemis’ was especially popular in this case.
There’s a surprising amount of people who name their children after the deity (using the theonym), whether or not they realise these gods are still worshipped nowadays. The same goes for names of heroes, etc.
To be frank, it does not bother me too much, personally. However, there’s an ancient belief that by uttering the name of the god one could be invoking them. Basically, the god could be aware of when someone said their name. So, for example, since the Gods of The Underworld or as Isocrates calls them, gods of “less pleasant names”, were often feared, people would even refrain from saying their names out loud and rather addressed them by some forms of epithets. So naming a person “Hades” or “Persephone” would most likely not pass in antiquity (hell, in Euripides’ HelenPersephone was even referred to as “árrētos kórē” [the maid whom none may name]).
Could you use a theonym? I suppose so, although I think the theophoric variant might be a safer option. Still, keep in mind that’s a name of a god who’s still important to people who worship them and that saying their name could possibly attract their attention, I guess?
If you’re considering choosing a name like that, it’d be even better if you ask the deity for their permission in some way, especially if you actively worship the deity. I’ve met a few Hellenic polytheists who chose to name themselves after the deity they worship as another way to show their devotion to them and further honour the deity in their life, as well as other people who chose to name themselves after a hero because they admire the figure in some way or the myth about them has had some particularly important meaning to them.
My stance overall: You do you, just keep in mind the things I mentioned above, be respectful of the deities and the religion they come from etc.
2. Could I name an animal after a god?
This did not really exist much in Ancient Greece, although I was able to find a couple of instances when an animal was named after a hero or possibly after a personification.
The Ancient Greeks often formed close bonds with their animals, especially dogs. They did not usually give 'human’ names to their dogs.
Here are some dog names which might serve as an example:
Chara (joy)
Lailaps (whirlwind)
Psyche (soul)
Bremon (roarer)
Augo (daybeam)
Lampouros (firetail)
Other animals were also given names, cows, e.g. Lepargos (of white coat), horses, e.g. Podargos (swiftfoot) or Bucephalus (ox-head). A notable mention goes to the elephants of King Antiochus III called Ajax and Patroclus.
More often than not, the names of animals were rather simple and did not have much to do with the gods.
However, IMO naming an animal after a god is fine in some cases. I came across people who decided to name their animals after a deity they worship, namely an animal that’s also associated with/a symbol of the deity.
For example, if I had a dog I’d think of naming it “Ares” or some variation/epithet of this deity since the animal has been particularly associated with him, so perhaps it could be another way to show my devotion to him by caring for the dog, etc. although I’d still consider the things I mentioned above in the section about naming humans after gods and likely ask for his consent.
To sum those two questions up:
IMO as long as you’re not using the name of the deity to somehow mock them, ridicule them or insult them and you acknowledge and respect who they are, it’s fine.
I have been intensely occupied with college but everytime I manage to gain 10 or 15 minutes between my classes, I quickly go outside to start humming a lullaby and slightly dance under the sun for Apollo, it brings me so much joy I can not put it into words. I am always grateful for this life.
Why people hating on Zeus equals to hating on a whole ancient society and… it’s kinda dumb
If you have been in the part of social media that discusses ancient religions or ancient mythology you might know Zeus is hated badly. If you worship Zeus like I do I’m pretty sure you are aware of how many people actually waste times of their live doing bad jokes of how every woman on ancient Greece was pregnant with Zeus’s kid or another type of bullshit, and I’m tired of that. There are already like 100 posts on other Zeus worshippers giving their take on this topic but you know what? I want to be the 101 so here I am. I’f you hate Zeus I ask you nicely to grab your coffee, water, tea, whatever, sit and read this post.
this post is written with a target audience of people who do not have much knowledge aside from the myths and what social media say, I’ll be including the very basic theological and cultural aspects of Ancient Greece in this post so let’s consider this a baby course into epithets and the human kind changing their ethic code through time.
Before we officially start I’m sure some Zeus haters already have arguments to throw at me as soon as they finish reading this post so let me tell you, as a MUN delegate who’s obsessed with debate, some argument starters I won’t even read if you start a sentence with them:
“I believe or I think” I’m sorry but I don’t care about your personal biases I want facts.
“X media thing portrays” x media or x author is not a reliable source of information, unless it’s a historian with good background resources or reliable sources I won’t even take it in mind
“In other religions…” this is hellenism not other religions
“But in x myth” myths are not literal
“But x deity” all deities are different
Anyways, let’s start with what’s a myth, the merriam webster dictionary says a myth is “a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural”. My religion teacher back on catholic school also added to this definition a “moral code or cultural reflection religions implied into their followers”, and it’s accurate.
In baby words, myths explain things our society can’t explain while also reflecting our culture and behaviours.
Clear? Clear.
History has shown us that many religions don’t take their myths completely literally, most times they take them as metaphors or teachings to follow or simply they use them as propaganda to increase certains individual power, and this includes Ancient Greeks. If a king wanted to increase his power to scare people that may want to rebel he could easily say he was the child of Zeus, which is an explanation to why so many kings and heroes were kids of the all-mighty deity. Ancient Greeks also had to find a way to explain different phenomenons, and as many cultures before and after them, myths were a perfect way of doing so. To finish with myths and their uses, as many religions did and still do, the ancient Greeks needed a way to spread lessons to their people without the need of sitting them down and literally teaching them. Instead of doing this they preferred giving examples of things not to do. What makes Hellenism so different to actual modern religions is that the practice was and is more important that the actually texts, that can be a base but at the end of the day they are not the structure of the religion.
Now, a huge mistake many people commit is thinking the myths we nowadays read are the original myths. That’s a mistake. Ingrid Holmberg says in her essay titled as The Creation of the Ancient Greek Epic Cycle “Their research (addressing Milman Parry and Albert Lord.) and the research of their followers has revealed that the Greek epic oral tradition formed a huge, interconnected, and variegated web of legendary and mythical narratives that comprised the corpus of the epic cycle(…).” Harvard university also addresses this topic by saying “Basically, the “question” came down to this: were the Homeric poems composed with or without the aid of writing? Parry’s project, the comparing of Homeric poetry with the living oral traditions of South Slavic heroic poetry, led him to conclude that the Homeric texts were indeed the products of oral composition.”
So tell me, years of investigation affirms that the myths were told from mouth to mouth, the poets did not write their original work down but after many years later someone did… the version written is a version passed generation from generation by someone who heard them from their parents who heard them from their grandparents that might have edited and changed the original version for hundreds of years. Knowing all this areyou’re still going to judge a culture and a religion through myths? Really? Because that’s plainly dumb.
Let me give you an example, I write you a message and then pass it through google translator 20 times, and send it. And actually did! The message I’ll translate 20 times is “Hello dear readers of the internet, this is an experiment with google translator to explain how dumb is to literally judge a myth that has been changed hundreds of times. Not only that, a myth that reflected a society with different a ethic code, in some hundreds of years if society still exists they are going to judge some things we do… so em don’t waste your time on that”. After passing that message through 20 different languages in google translator this is how it ended up: Hello, dear internet reader, you will be judged not only by this, but also by some of the hundreds of years that we have done with the growth of social networks … so don’t waste time. Don’t waste.
I’m not trying to say that historians and their translations are as bad as google translator, I know this people have studied years to do what they do, I’m just saying that the original stories were told so many times that we have hundreds of adaptations and changes. Here’s an example, if you read a copy of the iliad written by x guy and then grab another copy written by another guy… you’ll find many differences in the translation.
Now that we got the translation clear thing you’ll probably still say “yeah anyways still myths say Zeus is a pr3d4tor who cheated on his wife muuultiple times”. And to that I’ll laugh ten minutes because yeah but no. Look at my beautiful hazel and eyes and tell me, do you think Ancient Greek men cared about women? And how they were treated? and how they were portrayed in the moment of explaining things?
If you say yes I beg you to go study some history.
If you say no, bingo.
A year a go I went down the rabbit whole of homosexuality in the ancient world, wrote an essay on it, and I found out men repeled women and they saw them as baby machines (i mean, some still do) so some societies had this idea that the closest relationship to love you could have with someone was with another man. So, understand that the ancient world didn’t give a damn about women. Most myths shows them as trophies, that’s no surprise for anyone at this point. So of course, they saw women as baby machines and as myths are reflections of society, do you really expect the Ancient Greeks to portray them as something else aside baby creators? Nooo!!!! Ofc they were not going to do that, they needed mothers to give an explanation to the hundreds of kings saying they were Zeus’s kids, and they found them.
Okay now, some of you may ask why did he “cheat” on Hera… more cultural aspects being reflected. Here’s what Jennifer Larson the writer of Ancient Greek cults has to say:
Now that we closed the marriage ethic issue The Zeus has many child joke or insult is even dumber because kids were so important for the social status in that era that they stablished the social status. During all Human’s story, money establishes your place in the social status: the more you have the higher you are. This also applied in the Ancient Greece. By having more kids it meant you had more to offer and to sustain your family, basically more kids = more money = more power = higher rank.
Studying children and childhood is of great importance because it provides insight into social norms and social life in ancient Greece. Children were important for the parents, the home, and city. Not having children led to inability to pass on the property and wealth of the father.
If Zeus, the KING of the gods and mortals, father of humanity, doesn't have a lot of children then what do you think it would do to how Ancient Greeks perceived him huh. If they measured by kids ofc their higher deity had to have a lot because that gave him power, please, it’s pure logic. The fact that he has multiple kids is a perfect reflection of how the Ancient Greece society acted, do you really want to sit down and complain about it? Why don’t you instead start thinking of a way of changing that capitalist mindset that still rules our society instead of bullying an old civilization and their cults.
—End of the cultural rant—
Okay cultural part has finished, let’s dive into my favorite topic ever: epithets. And I actually did like 3 polls on this, both on my twitter and my instagram, asking if my followers knew what an epithet was. I always had this thought that one of the reasons many people hate on deities is because they only see one side of their multiple-side self… and ofc the answer was no, they did not:
And epithets are soooo important to understand a deity, So assuming some people might not know what epithets are here is a brief summary extracted from a previous post of mine addressing epithets and their importance: Literal definition of epithet: an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.Let me give you an example: A friend of yours loves reading, they love it so freaking much, so one of your teachers is like “oh pepito the reader”, it’s obvious that pepito is a reader.Now examples with deities. Demeter Chthonia (of the Earth). WHAT DO WE ASSUME KIDS?! That Demeter is an Earth deity. Duh. And like that with all the deities.
Epithets basically tell us how deities were perceived when worshipped, and many of the people who love judging Zeus have ignoring epithets as their favorite hobby so here I am, giving you a list of my favorite ones to take in mind:
AGO′NIUS (Agônios), a surname or epithet of several gods. Aeschylus (Agam. 513) and Sophocles (Trach. 26) use it of Apollo and Zeus, and apparently in the sense of helpers in struggles and contests.
AGORAEUS and AGORAEA (Agoraia and Agoraios), are epithets given to several divinities who were considered as the protectors of the assemblies of the people in the agora, such as Zeus
ALASTOR (Alastôr). an epithet of Zeus, describing him as the avenger of evil deeds.
EVA′NEMUS (Euanemos), the giver of favourable wind
HETAEREIUS (Hetaireios), the protector of companies or associations of friends
HY′PATUS (Hupatos), the most high
LECHEA′TES (Lecheatês) i.e. the protector of childbed
NOMOS (Nomos), a personification of law, described as the ruler of gods and men.
PANHELLE′NIUS (Panellênios), i.e. the god common to, or worshipped by all the Hellenes or Greeks
PHY′XIUS (Phuzios), i. e., the god who protects fugitives
POLIEUS (Polieus), “the protector of the city;”
SOTER (Sôtêr), i. e. “the Saviour”
Theos Agathos - The Good God
MEILIKHIOS (Milichius) Gracious, Merciful
After reading all this epithets I want to ask one last time, do you still think Zeus is a jerk? When he has the literal epithet of being a Good God? A merciful one? A protector? THE PERSONIFICATION OF LAW?
A fact aspect I want to mention is how people love to completely erase the good sides of Zeus portrayed in many myths. In the Iliad Zeus loves one of his most loved sons, he wants to go and revenge him because he’s an amazing dad but he knows that if he does that he would be impartial and injustice to the other deities who have lost children but haven’t been able to do anything about it. Instead he mourns in silence just to refrain from making other deities feel less privileged, this happens in the freaking Iliad and I’m sorry but I think that is a perfect example of how good Zeus is even if myths are not literal.
IZeus is more than the character modern media converted him into, he’s way more than that. He’s a deity, with multiple aspects and multiple stories that have adapted to fit into into ancient societies idea of what was a higher deity. All the arguments people have against him show that they do not understand how myths work and they do not understand that ancient times came with ancient ideals.
So please, research and form your own criteria before hating on something you don’t actually know about. Give yourself the opportunity to listen all sides of the story and then after that you can say whatever you want. Most importantly, give yourself the opportunity to learn.
Hopefully this is my last post regarding this matter, if I quite changed your mind in any type of way then that’s great, if I didn’t that’s on you. That’s all I have to say and thank you for reading the post complete!
I just had a deep deep session yesterday with Zeus. Read a few hymns for him, said some prayers and gave him my true and deep thanks for everything that he does for me in my life. I nearly cried at the deep presence of Zeus as I praised him. At the end of my prayers I sat there, my gentle hand caressing the smooth bronze of my Zeus statue, thanking him for being there for me when no one else was, for the path he has shown me, for the guidance he continues to bring to me. Thanking him for the joy and calmness, the storms that kept me and continue to keep me safe and for the blessings he continues to bring upon me when I need them most.
Zeus truly is a kind loving God full of goodness and mightyness. A God that watches over this world with a kind heart and wise mind of law, order and truth.
Feeling his loving presence is something I will forever be grateful for.
It’s a Thursday and I get news of Northern Lights on Jupiter, I am wearing my Zeus shirt, Zeus ring, lightning necklace and my lightning earrings. I feel like a walking Zeus shrine today! I feel GREAT becuase of Zeus!
I praised Zeus for a bit, taking care of the staute of him on my altar making sure he isn’t dusty. Of course, my big bronze Zeus getting alot of hugs today and forever. Listening to some amazing Greek music feeling nothing but euphoria!
My passion for this path is endless, worshipping Zeus brings me absolute joy that I can never explain in full words.
I feel really relaxed and calm. I feel the sweet energy and presence of Lord Zeus! I feel Electric!
Lord Zeus, you light up my little world with your divine mightyness. I adore you and all that you are, all that you do and everything you bring to this universe!
Strong wielder of the Thunderbolt, one of true law, order, truth and justice ⚖You keep this universe running smooth. Such an amazing ruler you are.
So fatherly and caring, loving and accepting.
I thank you everyday for your love and protection. I appreciate you and the amazing blessings your bring.
My area was spared from the worst of the storm but we did get a little wind and heavy rain!!
I thank Zeus for that!
I love you, Lord Zeus
Your presence melts my heart and lights up my little world
Even tho I was a little cranky over my stuff getting soaked out in the rain this morning while grabbing a coffee, I deeply enjoyed feeling your soothing rain on my skin. Came back home feeling great after it. Your storms truly amaze me.⚡⛈⚡
Got my new addition to my little altar for you Lord Zeus! A little meditation tea infuser that is dedicated to you!
Zeus I honor, Zeus I praise, my devotion will last forever and always⚡⚡
Such a handsome and mighty God you are, you truly bring light, law and order to this universe. All-seeing Allfather Zeus, who wields the power of Lightning, who brings the rain upon the lands. You amaze me in every single way.
I thank you for being the one who was by my side through my toughest days. I thank you for your continued protection, wholesome love and care. You truly bring joy into my life, Lord Zeus
Going to take this time during the storm to honor Zeus and all that he is and all that he does.⚡⛈⚡
He is so mighty and magnificent, such an All-seeing father. Master of the storm, powerful wielder of the Thunderbolt.
I will take in the beauty and power of your storms and respect them. May it go easy on us.
Zeus, I love and honor you with everything in my heart! Forever grateful for the relationship that we have, you are so special to me and I love you unconditionally
O Thundering Zeus, I will honor you during your big mighty storm coming my way⚡⛈⚡
Your presence in my life is truly magical, and I thank you for it every single day. My heart even melts for you, Zeus, that’s how happy you make me when you are around me.
I will never stop showering you with nothing but true devotion, love, care, affection and honor.
I will be a walking shrine for you, Lord Zeus, that’s how passionate I am with honoring you
The fact that he accepts and loves what I give him makes my heart so happy.
Doing this makes me happy and I enjoy it every time.
I love and adore the almighty Zeus, he is so special to me and he truly is such a wholesome God.
He is so mighty but so sweet, he’s got a bit of tough love but still very kind and guides me through situations. I thank him everyday for everything that he is and everything that he does.
I truly honor Zeus, the almighty wielder of the Thunderbolt, all wise and All-seeing l, fatherly and full of law and order. He truly brings light into this universe.
Zeus, I love you unconditionally and honor you with all my heart
I feel the presence of the almighty Zeus heavily today!
I actually went out in the rain for him and I felt pure bliss and joy. I love stormy weather, always felt connected to it! I praised Zeus in the rain as the drops hit my skin so flawlessly. I wanted to stay out there for while, just enjoy Zeus’ storms all day and meditate.
Storms bring me such comfort, I thank Zeus for that
⚡⛈⛈⚡
The almighty Zeus!!!! So very powerful, so magnificent and pure. All-seeing and wise, full of truth, justice, law and order. Fatherly, caring and loving. Such a amazing God I am forever grateful to have a strong relationship with. Powerful wielder of the Thunderbolt, master of the storm, bringer of rain and wind. A true protector I feel safe with. Trusting and wholesome, ever so divineand sweet. Zeus amazes me in every single way.
I thank you Zeus for being the most wholesome God I have ever worshipped in my life. I am truly grateful for your protection and true presence in my life. Honoring you is such a passion of mine and I cherish every moment I have with you. I wouldn’t be who I am if it weren’t for you, Lord Zeus. I love you unconditionally and purely
The little container with “Zeus” and a heart on it is the herb blend.
Zeus loves my little altar and I am SO glad I can make the king of Gods happy, giving him so much love and care for all that he’s done for me and this universe.
I praise you, Lord Zeus! I love you unconditionally and I am forever grateful for the true bond and connection we have together
I got a little necklace to represent my true love, devotion, praise and honor to you. You really are special to me in my life
I never go a day without honoring and praising you!
I thank you with a full heart for being the absolute most amazing God I have ever worshipped in my life
All wise and mighty, full of truth and justice, law and order. You keep this universe alive with all that you do and all that you are. My love, honor and respect for you will never fade away. I forever appreciate your protection and love. I will never know what I’d do without you in my life. Thundering wielder of the Lightning bolt, bringer of rain, master of the storms and wind. Thank you for being such a light in my little world I thought would always be dark. I love you unconditionally
The City Dionysia is a yearly festival in honour of Dionysos, Lord of Wine and Theatre. In ancient Athens, it was celebrated with a theatrical competition featuring tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays.
This blog serves to bring this competition into a modern scope by allowing Hellenic polytheists to submit their own creative pieces in honour of Dionysos.
Currently there are no prizes for winning, the competition only aims to be a fun way to bring the City Dionysia to life as a communal event for modern worshippers.
Categories
The categories for this edition are the same as last year, that is:
Retelling of Classic myths
Original myths
Poetry
Art (digital or traditional)
2022 Timeline
Submission openings: February 26th
Submission closing: March 26th
Vote opening: March 27th
Vote closing: April 2nd
Winner announcement: April 3rd
Rules for submissions
Roleplay and fanfic are not allowed in submissions. This is a religious festival, please respect our faith and do not submit an entry if you are roleplaying or writing fanfiction.
Submissions do not need to revolve specifically around Dionysos, but they must be created in honour of the Hellenic pantheon.
All stories, myths, poems, and art pieces must be entered using the submissions button.
All entries must be tagged for the category they are being submitted to.
Entries must also be tagged for potentially triggering content, squicks, and anything NSFW.
An entry may only be submitted to a single category.
Each person may only submit one entry per category each year.
Winners for each category will be decided by popular vote.
My style of clothes is hardcore alternative, the only color I’d wear was green and black. Since I’ve started worshipping aphrodite I’ve been buying so much pink stuff??? And like I’ve painted my nails pink, I didnt even know I owned pink nail polish. But I found it in my room and it just felt GOOD. Idk man this is wilddd
Remember, even the smallest altar tucked in a corner hidden from view will still make the Gods happy and gives you a place to worship them.
And if you can’t have a physical altar, one drawn in a journal or saved on a computer is just as good. Hell, an imaginary altar that you have in your head is good enough! They understand, and see you trying, and are happy with you.
