January 21, 2007

Greek pagans will attempt to hold a ceremony in the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens today after obtaining legal recognition. There is some doubt about whether this will be allowed.

Pagans (they don't call themselves that, but there's no single agreed alternative) don't find it easy in Greece's monolithic (97% Orthodox) society. There are several different groups, with different balances between cultural and religious emphasis.

posted by Plegmund 17 years ago
  • Popular suspicion of pagans is unlikely to disappear fast in a country where until only four years ago the religious affiliation of citizens was inscribed on their identity cards. This is the first time to hear this for me.
  • Yeah, I haven't heard of that either.
  • The great god Pan is feeling better.
  • If those monotheistic Cylons try to keep these worshippers from the Temple of Zeus, Admiral Adama is prepared to nuke the whole site from orbit.
  • It's the only way to be sure.....damn, wrong sci-fi.
  • Success...
  • "They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past," said Father Efstathios Kollas, the President of Greek Clergymen. My irony detector just exploded.
  • Isn't it wonderful how religion grants entitlement? I am a pagan sun god worshipper. Ergo, I should be allowed to worship the gold at Fort Knox. Up close and personal, if you know what I mean. DON'T STEP ON MY RELIGIOUS RIGHTS!
  • Hey, eat a bar of gold for me during communion, wouldya?
  • my precioussss....
  • If people won't respect my imaginary friends, I'm gonna get a lawyer. *chokes on gold bar*
  • Play your cards right and you could be the lucky recipient of an olive tree!
  • *implores Pallas Athena for a good harvest* Now, where the hell is that Pythia? I have some questions for her.
  • The Great God Pan, is alive!!!
  • From homunculus' link: ...we were finally able to call on Zeus, our king-god, to bring peace to the world ahead of the [2008] Olympics. They asked Zeus for peace?? Zeus didn't get to the head of the pantheon by being a pacifist. Victory yes, justice yes; peace, not really his speciality. And even justice, come to think of it, was more Apollo's department. (On the other hand, a lot of time has passed since Zeus's primacy, and maybe he's mellowed out a bit?) ...Rassias says he was drawn to polytheism by the religion's focus on humanity, ecology, cosmic connections and reverence for the past OK, but eventually these guys are going to have to deal with the fact that a lot of ancient Greek worship involved the ceremonial killing of animals. Entrail reading, anyone? Nationalist extremists, attracted by the creed's emphasis on Hellenic glories, are helping to boost the revival. Mmmmm. Very cosmic, those nationalist extremists. Hippies and skinheads, together at last! I am (as witness my username) as great a fan of the Hellenic pantheon as the next girl; but if I were a Greek government official, there are some issues here that need to be addressed before I'd give these groups free run of the Acropolis. As for the article itself, I find it informative but interestingly skewed. Would the journalist use terms like "warble" and "babble" to describe Christian worship, even by the happiest of happy-clappies? Also, her overuse of quotation marks annoys me. Quotes around words like "sacred" in para 5 but no quotes around degenerate or idols in the preceding paragraph? Where does she get off? The whole quotes issue may have been a subeditor's province, but if so, it's still poor subediting. Sigh. There are, of course, no easy answers to any of this. Like any belief-system of its time, Hellenic pantheism (or rather, the many different beliefs that are represented by the term) has a lot of rough edges, and I think those are better faced up to than denied. Oh well. Pass the hemlock already.
  • Makes me think of this.