AFTER 1,700 years, the ancient Greek god Zeus was honoured once again yesterday, with a group of modern worshippers defying a government ban to celebrate at an ancient temple in the heart of Athens.
It was first known ceremony of its kind at the 1,800-year-old Temple of Olympian Zeus since the ancient Greek religion was outlawed by the Roman Empire in the late fourth century.
About 200 people attended the ceremony next to the ruins of the temple, which was organised by Ellinais, an Athens-based group campaigning to revive ancient religion. The group ignored a ban by the Culture Ministry which declared the central Athens site off-limits.
Costumed worshippers recited ancient hymns calling on Zeus, “King of the Gods and the mover of things”, to bring peace to the world.
“Our message is world peace and an ecological way of life in which everyone has the right to education,” said Kostas Stathopoulos, one of three high priests overseeing the event, which celebrated the nuptials of Zeus and Hera, the goddess of love and marriage.
A herald holding a metal staff topped with two snake heads proclaimed the beginning of the ceremony, then priests in blue and red robes released two white doves. A priest then poured libations of wine and incense was burned.
Ellinais, which has 34 official members - mainly middle-aged and elderly professionals - was founded last year. It won a court battle for official state recognition of the ancient Greek religion and wants its offices to be registered as a place of worship, which could allow the group to perform weddings and other ceremonies.
Ancient rituals are re-enacted every two years at Olympia, in southern Greece - where the flame-lighting ceremony is held for the summer and winter Olympic games - but the ceremony is not regarded as religious and actresses pose as high priestesses.
Christianity rose to prominence in Greece in the fourth century after the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Emperor Theodosius wiped out the last vestige of the Olympian gods when he abolished the Olympic Games in AD394, though several isolated pockets of pagan worship still lingered as late as the ninth century.
“The Christians shut down our schools and destroyed our temples,” said Yiannis Panagidis, 36, an accountant who attended the event.
Most Greeks are baptised Orthodox Christian, and the church rejects ancient religious practices as pagan. Church officials have refused to attend ceremonies at Olympia.
Without a holy book, ancient Greeks divined the will of the gods through oracles.
“The priests at the oracles were highly educated people with a grounding in the sciences, even in foreign affairs, and offered advice, just like meteorologist today predict the weather,” Mr Stathopoulos said.
Source: Scotsman
