Why be a Hellenic Pagan?

We've got threads on why one would follow Asatru and Islam, so I thought I'd start one on being a Hellenic Pagan.

In my case, it went like this:

1. The secondary religions, like Christianity and Islam, all contradict one another: at most, only one could be true. But that means if there are, say, ten, then the odds against any one being true are ten to one! Not very persuasive. In fact, when I've studied them, all seem to have glaring errors or unacceptable teachings.

2. Primary or pagan religions are mutually compatible, however: when an ancient Greek settled in Egypt or India, they worshiped the local gods. As Maximus of Tyre said

… there is one God, the ruler and father of all things, and many gods, children of God, ruling together with him. This the Greek says, and the foreigner…

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The differences are mostly cultural, although, contrary to Maximus, the Germans and Celts seem to have mislaid the Supreme Being, whose existence is supported by powerful philosophical arguments.

3. Current ethnic paganisms are just that: ethnic. I know that most Hindu temples in London would be welcoming, but I'd still feel as if I were sticking out like a sore thumb. Similarly, although I find things like the Gita inspiring, they still feel rather foreign.

4. Most reconstructed religions are rebuilt on very slender foundations. The ones with really detailed documentation, and other literature to give a cultural background, are the Egyptian and the Hellenic.

5. Hellenism is part of European culture. London is full of classical buildings, the British Museum is full of classical art, poets like Pope translated Greek verse, our philosophy is still influenced by Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus. I grew up on all this, from childhood on. Becoming a Hellene was just finally coming home.

Please ask me whatever questions you like on this topic.

How does your Hellenic Paganism manifest itself in your day-to-day life, r.e. rituals etc?

Well, it's almost time for dinner, so first I shall
1. Wash my hands
2. Take some some water and fruit
3. Light the candles and incense burner on my altar
4. Pray to the gods, offer the water and fruit, and burn some incense
5. Add the water and fruit to my meal as a source of blessing.

The last day of the lunar month is a festival for Hekate and the first day is one for the household gods (Hestia, Hekate, Agathe Tyche, and Asklepios. Each month has at least one festival. This month it's for Zeus and Hera, next month for Pluto and Persephone.

On holidays, I sing hymns — rather badly, I'm afraid — and try to add extra offerings, like flowers or a vow to give to an appropriate charity, like the Lifeboat Institution for Poseidon.

Well it would seem that no-one is interested in Hellenism! But, keep calm and carry on. Today is Theogamia, the festival of Zeus and Hera, so what better deed to do than to make a new post. This time, on myths

Many people find myth to be a problem in Hellenism. They are apt to ask "Do you really believe that the gods could do the shameful deeds attributed to them in some myths?" Now this question was actually raised in Antiquity, and the answer was obviously "no".

In English, as in many other languages, we can distinguish between myth, legend, and folktale. In Greek, the term "mythos" was applied to all three: it even denoted the plot of a play. If we consider Greek myths, they fall into all three categories and, of course, gods can turn up in legends (the Trojan War) and folktales (Bellerophon) as well as in true myths. The fact that their language lacked a clear classification of traditional stories can hardly have helped to keep them distinct. Some tales will present the gods in discreditable circumstances, but as Eva Wong wrote in a Chinese context, "There is a vast difference between the world of legend and the world of ritual. Play and humor are appropriate only under certain circumstances."

One must also remember that myths are not the same as scriptures: they are the words of men, not of gods. We Hellenists are not in the position of those who regard the Old Testament as literally the word of God, and so have to deal with everything from talking snakes to divinely authorised genocide. In Antiquity, Sallustius remarked that the myths can be interpreted as referring to the gods, the soul, or nature; he could have added society as well.

Why are there so many myths about Zeus fathering children on various goddesses? The genealogical myths about the gods may say something about their nature, but they also served to incorporate local gods into a unified framework. The early Greeks had lost the knowledge of the Creator, so they could not regard the gods as his creation as they would later do and as, for example, Africans would. As for the tales of Zeus begetting heroes with mortal women, this made local ancestral spirits part of the Hellenic cosmos, and certified their worshipers as Hellenic.

DavidMcCann said:

Well it would seem that no-one is interested in Hellenism!

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I am! I'm another Hellenic I'll post more tomorrow when I'm less sleepy.

My beliefs are mostly Greco-Roman in origin, albeit not completely. So I can certainly understand the pull of Hellenism. The Greek myths were the first I fell in love with. However, the concept of a Supreme Being is irrelevant in my beliefs.

After reading the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, I would be surprised as to why one would not want to be a Hellenic Pagan if they have the capability or opportunity to become one. Such gorgeous insight in those verses.

DavidMcCann said:

Please ask me whatever questions you like on this topic.

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Why was Achilles so awesome? Why can't the Iliad be longer? Why are the Greek stories of the gods and goddesses so incredible? When will Hollywood stop butchering Hellenic historicity? Why was Achilles so awesome? Did you know that Achilles is one of my favorite characters? Why don't public schools start teaching Ancient Greek like how they teach Latin? Do they not know that it was an awesome language? Why can't they make an Ancient Greece based tv show like they did with HBO's Rome? Don't they know how awesome it would be if they did? Oh, and did you know that Achilles was awesome?

Poeticus said:

After reading the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, I would be surprised as to why one would not want to be a Hellenic Pagan if they have the capability or opportunity to become one. Such gorgeous insight in those verses.

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If you like them, have a look at Longing for Wisdom: the Message of the Maxims by Allyson Szabo, in which she discusses a selection of the Delphic Maxims in a modern context.

Another inspirational work is Seven Myths of the Soul by Tim Addey.

This week is Anthesteria, when the Athenians remembered the dead, and I shall be worshiping Hades and Persephone on Thursday. Today's topic will therefore be gods.

Belief in a Supreme Being, lost by the prehistoric Greeks, was recovered by the arguments of philosophers and endorsed by Apollo through his oracle at Claros, declaring of the gods "We, his messengers, are a small part of the divine."

But what of those lesser gods, those messengers, for whom no philosophical arguments exist? Belief in them is the result of hierophanies, manifestations to mankind. Religious experiences are not uncommon and have been documented and analysed in books such as
Varieties of religious experience, by William James
The Spiritual nature of man, by Alister Hardy
The Evidential force of religious experience, by Catherine Franks Davis
Such experiences are often unspecific — the divinity is not identified — but this is not always the case. The anthropologist and art historian Stephen Huyler was once at an act of worship in India when he became aware of the presence of Devi: he went, as he said, from observer to participant, and his life was changed (Meeting God). The film-maker Maya Deren, in Cuba to film dance in Vudu ceremonies, found herself repeatedly possessed by Erzuli (Divine horsemen). The young Tess Dawson, a discontented Wiccan, thought in bed one night "Doesn’t anyone care?" and got an answer — "I do." "Who are you?", she thought. "Asherah" was the reply. Next day she found out that this was the name of the Queen of Heaven in Canaanite religion, and the experience changed her life (Whisper of stone).

The natural question is how are these gods related? Why isn't Ganesha worshiped in Vudu, or Erzuli by the Hellenes? In some cases, the same god is clearly known in several cultures. The Greeks and Romans had no difficulty in equating Aphrodite and Venus, while Aphrodite actually started as the Semitic Ashtart, whom the Babylonians equated to the Sumerian Inanna. To me, Erzuli sounds like the same goddess. Some are purely local, however, like the Hellenic Hekate or the Egyptian Isis, but this is not seen as a problem. If Isis chose to reveal herself to the Egptians rather than to the Greeks, that is her affair.

The pagan gods are not all on the same level. In Hellenism, we distinguish gods (e.g. Zeus), lesser daimones (e.g. Agathe Tyche "Good Fortune"), local nature spirits (nymphs and river gods), heroes (defied humans protecting their communities), and ancestral spirits venerated by their descendants. All are worshiped. It is the nature of paganism to accept the delegation of powers; just as one does not write to the head of state about functions which are devolved to a local authority, so one does not trouble the Creator about specific problems. Worship will be the next installment.

This Tuesday is the festival of Dionysos. In Athens, there will be a public celebration:
I shall be worshiping at home, since I'm not sure that my locality is ready for a phallic procession. But what better time for the next instalment of this immensely popular series?

Today, then, we will look at worship. As Thomas Aquinas said, we honour the excellent: worship is an acknowledgement of the gods' superiority. It is also a gesture of gratitude, for the blessings we have received. The relation of Pagans to their gods is one of reciprocity. This reciprocity is not a crude matter of "do this and I shall reward you", for what could Dionysos possible need from me? But when they answer our prayers, gratitude is naturally required. We often address the gods as "friends of mankind" and we share our food and drink with them as we would with friends. Two aspects of worship need particular consideration: ritual and images.

Ritual is an important component of religion: it has been said that the deepest form of knowing is through doing. We may be spirits, but we are embodied ones, and worship must involve both body and soul to avoid degenerating into mere words. The lighting of candles, burning of incense, pouring of libations, and offering of food create a greater reality to our worship than prayer alone could achieve.

Like most Pagan worship, Hellenism employs images. The minimal justification is given in the Bhagavad Gita: "It is much more difficult to focus on God as the unmanifested than God with form, due to human beings having the need to perceive via the senses." One Greek view of images was the same as that of the Christian Council which argued that "... whoever adores the image, adores in it the reality of what is there represented." But most Hellenes agreed with those other Pagans who regard the gods as being prepared to reside in or manifest though the image. As the poet Callistratus said of a statue of Asklepios, "Matter though it is, it gives forth divine intelligence, and though it is the work of human hands ... it begets in a marvellous way tokens of a soul."

DavidMcCann said:

Well it would seem that no-one is interested in Hellenism!

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I am also a Hellenic Pagan! My patron gods are Ares, and Artemis. I worship Ares since my whole family is military, and I plan on being a soldier as well. Artemis is my patron goddess because I admire her individuality and freedom, as well as her many traits. I also love to hunt, so I pray to her before I go. After I kill an animal and skin it, I pray to Artemis to thank the animal for it helping me survive, and that I know that it's life was not useless.

I don't identify as a Hellenic Pagan. However, I have Greek ancestry, and so have every intention of going to Greece someday.

And I'm not going to the Parthenon, so long as it remains in its current state. Instead, I'll find out what Hellenic festivals are going on at the time, and attend those. In the land of the Olympioi, I'll give homage to the Olympioi.

Being a polytheist just makes things so much easier. ^_^

DavidMcCann said:

Well it would seem that no-one is interested in Hellenism! But, keep calm and carry on. Today is Theogamia, the festival of Zeus and Hera, so what better deed to do than to make a new post. This time, on myths

Many people find myth to be a problem in Hellenism. They are apt to ask "Do you really believe that the gods could do the shameful deeds attributed to them in some myths?" Now this question was actually raised in Antiquity, and the answer was obviously "no".

In English, as in many other languages, we can distinguish between myth, legend, and folktale. In Greek, the term "mythos" was applied to all three: it even denoted the plot of a play. If we consider Greek myths, they fall into all three categories and, of course, gods can turn up in legends (the Trojan War) and folktales (Bellerophon) as well as in true myths. The fact that their language lacked a clear classification of traditional stories can hardly have helped to keep them distinct. Some tales will present the gods in discreditable circumstances, but as Eva Wong wrote in a Chinese context, "There is a vast difference between the world of legend and the world of ritual. Play and humor are appropriate only under certain circumstances."

One must also remember that myths are not the same as scriptures: they are the words of men, not of gods. We Hellenists are not in the position of those who regard the Old Testament as literally the word of God, and so have to deal with everything from talking snakes to divinely authorised genocide. In Antiquity, Sallustius remarked that the myths can be interpreted as referring to the gods, the soul, or nature; he could have added society as well.

Why are there so many myths about Zeus fathering children on various goddesses? The genealogical myths about the gods may say something about their nature, but they also served to incorporate local gods into a unified framework. The early Greeks had lost the knowledge of the Creator, so they could not regard the gods as his creation as they would later do and as, for example, Africans would. As for the tales of Zeus begetting heroes with mortal women, this made local ancestral spirits part of the Hellenic cosmos, and certified their worshipers as Hellenic.

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I certainly don't believe for a second that Athena, of all Gods, would take part in a beauty contest and offer a bribe to secure a victory.

Today, the beginning of the month of Gamelios, sacred to Zeus and Hera, seems a suitable day to resume this thread. This instalment will look at the Hellenic view of morality. The Abrahamic religions see this as following commands handed down by their god. In their view, he doesn't have to be consistent: the Old Testament contradicts the New, and the Quran contradicts itself. In the Old Testament, he is even depicted as commanding genocide, and there are a few Christians today who accept this: for them, good actions are simply whatever God commands. We would say such a god is evil.

Hellenism is also opposed to the Christian concept of "original sin". Like the Chinese, we believe that man is naturally good. As Mencius wrote, if you see a child in danger, your instant reaction is to help; not for any ulterior motive, but because that's simply what normal humans do. Naturally we need to learn how to manifest our natural goodness, just as we have to learn to speak despite being born with the capacity for language. Moreover, we need to practice virtuous living to keep our natural instincts functional, or our learned capacity declines — we become numb, as Mencius put it.

For Hellenists and Confucians alike, when we speak of a good person, we are using the word good in the same sense as when we speak of a good knife or a good computer program. The good person is a good specimen of a human being. They function well in society because we are social animals, and their behaviour is rational because we are rational animals. The career criminal, for example, is never fully part of society: they can never be fully open with others. Even the honest person also needs rationality, practical wisdom, to be truly virtuous. We all know the sort of person who makes things worse with the best of intentions! The virtuous life, as Aristotle taught, is the one which is most likely to produce well-being. It's not a sure guarantee of this, any more than a healthy life-style will guarantee long life, and the vicious person may get away with vice, just as one may survive an unhealthy life-style. Nevertheless, a good life-style, whether moral or physical, is certainly more likely to be rewarded than its opposite.
Many classical authors offer moral guidance, in addition to the maxims mentioned in post #9. There are the essays of Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, and Plutarch; the moral reflections in Plutarch’s Lives; and Athenian tragic drama is largely concerned with moral issues.

A question that often arises is whether the gods are good. This does not necessarily mean the same as whether they are good to us: a good god is, after all, simply a good specimen of a god. Since rational beings are responsible for their actions, creators would have a duty to us, their creations, to at least do us no harm. The traditional atheist's complaint that a good god would not create a world that contains suffering is irrelevant in a pagan context, for it makes the Abrahamic assumption of a creator must be omnipotent and omniscient. Whether creation was the work of one god or a team, it does not need either quality, only the ability to get the job done. The gods might reply to the atheist that they know that the world isn't perfect, but it's the best they could come up with, and if he doesn't like living in it he can go and jump off the roof.