Is the greek religion still around?
February 26, 2009 12:04 PM Subscribe
Is the ancient greek religion of the gods still practiced?
I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who still prays to Zeus and the like? Anyone heard of any temples or anything?
Disclaimer: I'm not looking to go and sacrifice goats or pray to Dionysus...I'm just curious.
I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who still prays to Zeus and the like? Anyone heard of any temples or anything?
Disclaimer: I'm not looking to go and sacrifice goats or pray to Dionysus...I'm just curious.
Is the ancient greek religion of the gods still practiced?
No. There are reconstructionists of various levels of authenticity.
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:17 PM on February 26, 2009
No. There are reconstructionists of various levels of authenticity.
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:17 PM on February 26, 2009
....Yes and no.
There are those who do practice the Hellenic Neo-Paganism linked above, but practicioners can vary on the amount of scholarship they've done about "authentic" practices, and besides, there is still only so much we know anyway.
You'll find varying combinations of "I studied and so I know that this is what they did" and "well, I don't know the full details, so here's where I'm going to fudge a little".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:25 PM on February 26, 2009
There are those who do practice the Hellenic Neo-Paganism linked above, but practicioners can vary on the amount of scholarship they've done about "authentic" practices, and besides, there is still only so much we know anyway.
You'll find varying combinations of "I studied and so I know that this is what they did" and "well, I don't know the full details, so here's where I'm going to fudge a little".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:25 PM on February 26, 2009
IIRC, Heinrich Schliemann did, but that was a bit over a hundred years ago.
posted by turbodog at 1:11 PM on February 26, 2009
posted by turbodog at 1:11 PM on February 26, 2009
No. There are all sorts of poseurs and wannabes, but to practice ancient Greek religion you have to be an ancient Greek. Read, say, Burkert for details. (And Schliemann was a classic poseur/wannabe.)
posted by languagehat at 1:29 PM on February 26, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by languagehat at 1:29 PM on February 26, 2009 [4 favorites]
One of the problems with authentic worship of Greco-Roman deities is that the priests/hierophants/whatever frequently used mysteries, wherein only the fully-initiated were allowed to know the full scope of religious practices. Given the secrecy and the centuries that have passed, what we know of the practices is most likely incomplete or distorted.
posted by lekvar at 2:23 PM on February 26, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by lekvar at 2:23 PM on February 26, 2009 [2 favorites]
It's not exactly full practice of the religion, but (some) Waldorf school fifth-grade classes meet for regional inter-school competitive Greek Pentathlon. When my daughter participated the opening ceremony included all the students making offerings to the Greek gods of objects they had created. I found it very touching, and it felt almost as if the gods came back to visit.
posted by airplain at 3:49 PM on February 26, 2009
posted by airplain at 3:49 PM on February 26, 2009
Various Neo-Paganism practitioners incorporate Greek myth into their practice too.
posted by divabat at 5:48 AM on February 27, 2009
posted by divabat at 5:48 AM on February 27, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by plz_no_moar at 12:10 PM on February 26, 2009