So I'm going to make this a short blog post. Today marks two years since I return to Hellenism and my blog is also two years old. I would like to thank everyone that has come on here and read my blog entries and taken my ups and downs on this blog. I look forward to another two years blogging and practicing. Next year, I'm hoping, me and my family will be in a different place as this year has just been insane.
Thanks for reading and here's to another year.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Honoring Zeus during the Summer Olympics
I'm about two days late but I'm going to be spending the whole of the
Olympics burning incense and giving offerings to Zeus. The Olympics were
created to honor Zeus and I wouldn't be a Hellenist if I didn't do
this. The Olympics got started on the 5th and will continue until the
21st of August. Here's some info about the Olympic games. This is from
Wikipedia.
The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat sports such as wrestling and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been widely written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce.[3] This idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were traveling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus.[4] The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend;[5] one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games.[6][7][8] According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years.[9] The myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honor to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC.[10] The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events.[11][12] Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.[13]
The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honoring both Zeus (whose famous statue by Phidias stood in his temple at Olympia) and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.[14] The winners of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues.[15] The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and the Isthmian Games.[16]
The Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. While there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Games officially ended, the most commonly held date is 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I decreed that all pagan cults and practices be eliminated.[17] Another date commonly cited is 426 AD, when his successor, Theodosius II, ordered the destruction of all Greek temples.
Note: Some historians believe that only the rituals that were part of the games were abolished. However the site had fallen into disrepair and that seem to be the final nail.Here's another blog about this.
https://graecomuse.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/the-fall-of-the-ancient-olympics-the-theodosian-code/
The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat sports such as wrestling and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been widely written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce.[3] This idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were traveling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus.[4] The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend;[5] one of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games.[6][7][8] According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years.[9] The myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honor to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC.[10] The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events.[11][12] Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion.[13]
The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honoring both Zeus (whose famous statue by Phidias stood in his temple at Olympia) and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his chariot race with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.[14] The winners of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues.[15] The Games were held every four years, and this period, known as an Olympiad, was used by Greeks as one of their units of time measurement. The Games were part of a cycle known as the Panhellenic Games, which included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and the Isthmian Games.[16]
The Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. While there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Games officially ended, the most commonly held date is 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I decreed that all pagan cults and practices be eliminated.[17] Another date commonly cited is 426 AD, when his successor, Theodosius II, ordered the destruction of all Greek temples.
Note: Some historians believe that only the rituals that were part of the games were abolished. However the site had fallen into disrepair and that seem to be the final nail.Here's another blog about this.
https://graecomuse.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/the-fall-of-the-ancient-olympics-the-theodosian-code/
Hellenic Altar for August
So I'm posting my Hellenic altar for August. Even though the altar is for Hermes I added Zeus because the Olympics are going on and I wanted to give him a place on my altar to honor him during this period.
Late Post: The Athenian Month of Metageitniōn
Sorry about this being a late post. I've just been so busy with things. The second of this month was the beginning of the Athenian month of Metageitnion. Here is the holy days and festivals for those that might not know.
August 3: Nourmia
August 4: Agathos Daemon
August 5: Honoring Athena
August 6: Honoring Aphrodite, Hermes, Heracles, Eros
August 8: Honoring Artemis
August 9: Honoring Apollon
August 10: Honoring Poseidon and Theseus
August 13: (Daylight) Libations to Hermes
August 17-20: Eleusinia: This is a four day celebration of games held every four years on the second year of the Olympiad.
August 18: Full Moon (Honoring Hecate, Selene, and Artemis) and Sacrifices to Kourotrophos, Hecate, and Artemis
August 21: Sacrifices to the Heroines.
August 22: Sacrifices to Hera Thelkhinia
August 27: Sacrifices to Zeus Epoptes.
September 1: Hena Kai Nea
Have a good month.
August 3: Nourmia
August 4: Agathos Daemon
August 5: Honoring Athena
August 6: Honoring Aphrodite, Hermes, Heracles, Eros
August 8: Honoring Artemis
August 9: Honoring Apollon
August 10: Honoring Poseidon and Theseus
August 13: (Daylight) Libations to Hermes
August 17-20: Eleusinia: This is a four day celebration of games held every four years on the second year of the Olympiad.
August 18: Full Moon (Honoring Hecate, Selene, and Artemis) and Sacrifices to Kourotrophos, Hecate, and Artemis
August 21: Sacrifices to the Heroines.
August 22: Sacrifices to Hera Thelkhinia
August 27: Sacrifices to Zeus Epoptes.
September 1: Hena Kai Nea
Have a good month.
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