“Take Skamandros, my virginity: ‘The Ideas of Water’ in connection with rituals linked to life-cycle passages in Greece, modern and ancient”. (original) (raw)
Related papers
From Water in Greek Religion, Ancient and Modern, to the Wider Mediterranean and Beyond.
Comparative Civilizations Review 56/1, 2007: 56-75.
In Greece, springs in caves have traditionally shaped religious beliefs and practices. In ancient times springs represented Water-Nymphs. Today springs are dedicated to the Panagia (the Virgin Mary), under her attribute of Zodochos Pege (the Life-giving Spring). Ancient and modern believers have expressed their beliefs in rituals connected to purity and water by fetching holy water from the caves dedicated to these female divinities. Panagia's Athenian chapel is situated inside a circular Spring House hewn in the rock on the southern slope of the Acropolis.
Water Sources and the Sacred in Modern and Ancient Greece and Beyond
Water History 2009: 1/2: 83-108. DOI 10.1007/s12685-009-0008-1 (electronic version) http://www.springerlink.com/content/34400520208x3851/.
The article presents contemporary Greek water-rituals and their relation to ancient pre-Christian traditions and sites, manifested by springs in caves. Formerly springs represented Water-Nymphs, and today springs are dedicated to the Panagia (i.e. the Virgin Mary), under her attribute of Zōodochos Pēgē (i.e. the Life-giving Spring). People have traditionally expressed their beliefs through rituals connected to purity and water by fetching Holy water from the caves dedicated to these divinities. The water is thought to be particularly healing and purifying during their festivals, such as the modern festival dedicated to the ''Life-giving Spring'', which is celebrated on the first Friday after Easter Sunday. During this celebration Athenians come to Panagia's chapel inside a circular Spring House hewn in the rock on the Southern slope of the Acropolis to fetch Life-giving water. The Sacred Spring is situated inside a cave over which is constructed a church. It is also important to be baptised in water from one of Panagia's sacred springs. The cult dedicated to the personified sacred and healing spring-water, has traditionally been important for political purposes as well. Based on fieldwork on contemporary religious rituals, the author compares the modern evidence with ancient material, arguing for a continuous association of water sources with the sacred in Greece, as observed in the Athenian Acropolis Cave, a cult which is not very well-documented and therefore deserves to be better known. The comparison will also exploit the cult of springs in other Greek caves and similar cult found in parallel non-Greek contexts.
WATER, MOISTURE, KOUROTROPHIC DEITIES, AND RITUAL HAIR-CUTTING AMONG THE GREEKS Résumé.-En s'appuyant sur des preuves littéraires, la première partie de l'article explore le lien conceptuel qui unit étroitement l'eau, la croissance des cheveux et les rites de tonte des adolescents dans la Grèce antique. Elle montre que les cheveux, qui, en raison de leur renouvellement continu, sont par eux-mêmes un puissant symbole de croissance, sont régulièrement associés à l'humidité et à la moiteur, conditions préalables nécessaires à toute forme de croissance. Les cheveux constituent dès lors une offrande appropriée aux divinités kourotrophiques, telles qu'Apollon, Artémis et les dieux des rivières, qui se préoccupent de la croissance et de la maturation des enfants et des adolescents. La deuxième partie examine deux offrandes votives : la célèbre plaque en bois peint de la grotte de Pitsa et un petit relief en marbre trouvé dans la Thèbes phthiotique. Un lien est établi entre ces offrandes et les rites de coupe de cheveux des adolescents associés respectivement aux cultes des Nymphes et à celui de Poséidon.
Ritual Usage of Water in Greek Sanctuaries
Klio, 2023
Scholars have long highlighted the importance of water for rituals in Greek sanctuaries, but little is known about when and how it was used in prac- tice. Considering the importance attributed to water in rituals at Greek sanctu- aries, this article aims to explore water as a purificatory agent for humans and things and as an offering, pure or water mixed with wine, to the gods in the form of libations. Throughout the paper we argue that these activities were located on a spectrum from mundane to religious and can be viewed within a “spatio-temporal” framework where they functioned as visual cues in order to structure activities. To achieve this, we closely and critically examine the empirical material, epigraphic and literary, supported by archaeological and iconographic evidence.
This volume includes the results of the first conference to take place on Greek baths and bathing culture, a subject that has been largely neglected since the only comprehensive study on this topic was published in French in 1962. Since then, the material evidence of this topic has increased significantly and approaches to studying this material have changed considerably. Roman bathing culture has enjoyed major scholarly attention since the 1980s, as is obvious from many synthetic studies on the architecture and decoration of Roman baths, numerous conferences on Roman bathing culture, and monographs on single buildings. In contrast, the Greek equivalent, and indeed important precursor, still awaits a comprehensive reassessment, which would explore in particular its critically underestimated socio-cultural significance and regional manifestations. The conference aimed to fill this major gap in research, bringing together an international group of experts in various disciplines, including archaeology, art history, history, literature, and ancient medicine and science, whose work recently has been advancing our knowledge of Greek bathing and related topics. The following overview of the state of research will reveal the most important gaps and questions in the study of Greek bathing culture, which have had a major impact on the organization of the conference and this volume.
Water Rites and Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Mediterranean World
World History Bulletin, 2024
Rituals involving water permeate contemporary religious encounters across the world, reflecting long held beliefs in the spiritual significance of water due to its abilities to purify and to carry things away. The cleansing effect of water and its use as a conveyance are also evident when examining ancient practices tied to human sacrifice. We find, for example, water applied to a defeated Hittite army as a means of cleansing, but it was coupled with slaying a man and animals in order to make the ceremony effective. The Bible tells of an Israelite belief that murder could be addressed by animal sacrifice near flowing water unless the identity of the murderer was known. The Romans, moreover, employed water when dealing with prodigious people for expiatory purposes. Water, then, was intertwined with human sacrificial practices in various ancient cultures, and while blood and fire were also potent forces, this study demonstrates the instrumental role of water in sacrificial rites in terms of cleansing, conveyance, and a combination thereof. Undergirding these notions were beliefs in water’s ability to purge unwanted substances and individuals, particularly for aversion purposes. (uploaded with permission)
Water at ancient Greek sanctuaries: medium of divine presence or commodity for mortal visitors
Journal of Archaeology and Ancient History (JAAH), 2019
This article presents the newly started project “Water at ancient Greek sanctuaries: medium of divine presence or commodity for mortal visitors?”, the aim of which is to explore water usage at Greek sanctuaries in Archaic to Hellenistic times. In order to do so the project is divided into three separate studies. The first is how water was used in sanctuaries: where was water accessible through natural and man-made infrastructure, for what activities was it utilized, and which of these can be considered ritual and/or utilitarian? The second focuses on the means by which water was utilized, i.e. how was water management infrastructure adapted to ritual and utilitarian needs, and how did the need and access to water shape ritual and utilitarian activity at the sanctuary? The third part is an overarching analysis, combining the first two parts, which will expand our knowledge of perceptions of human activities in the god’s dwelling: how did ritual and utilitarian uses of water differ at a perceptual level?