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Clarus

Clarus

Clarus (Greek Klaros) in the territory of Colophon in the Ionian coast of Asia Minor was a much-revered, much-famed cult center described by Pausanias (vii. 3, 1). Clarus was known throughout the Mediterranean for its oracle, who delivered her prophesies in a dark crypt-like adyton under the Temple of Apollo, honored here as Apollo Clarius ("The Apollo of Clarus"). Its narrow dark vaulted labyrinthine corridors remain. Aboveground, there remains the base and fragments of the colossal sculptures of a seated Apollo with his lyre, accompanied by Leto and Artemis, facing to the east. The group, whose fragments are partially reassembled at the site, seems to have measured more than seven meters in height [http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/culture/culture_scientifique/archeologie/claros/]. In the sanctuary, rows of names of the countless grateful ancient visitors may still be seen, votive and memorial inscriptions on columns, on steps and walls and even on a curving marble bench: in their entirety the inscription of Clarus form the largest assembly of surviving Greek inscriptions. An elegant marble chair in the sanctuary has serpent arms, a reminder of the chthonic nature of all genuine oracles among the Hellenes. The high point for the fame of the Clarus oracle seems to have been the 2nd century CE. The founding myth of Clarus, however, connects the city with the Epigoni, fleeing after they had sacked the Mycenaean citadel of Thebes; among them was Manto, daughter of the seer Tiresias and herself a seer [http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Tiresias.html]. At the site of Clarus the fugitives were seized by the Cretans: the legend was confirmed by the historic Minoan settlement at Miletus that was discovered in 1995/96 by the German school. In the legend, when Rhacius, the Cretan settler of Caria, learned who they were, he let them settle in the country and married Manto himself. Their heir was the seer Mopsus. Thus the origin of the oracle at Clarus was remembered by Greeks of the classical period as Minoan-Mycenaean in origin. Intensely settled Mycenaean sites have been identified at Colophon, at Ephesus to the south and numerous other nearby sites. Deep exploratory trenches dug between the altar and the temple façade, revealed proto-Geometric pottery of the 10th century BCE, attesting to the presence hinted at in myth [http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/culture/culture_scientifique/archeologie/claros/claros/claros00.html]. After the Trojan War, the Trojan seer Calchas was among the refugees at Clarus, where he challenged Mopsus, the charismatic son of Manto and Rhacius, and superseded him as seer of the oracular site, and there he eventually died (Argonautica1.308; Ovid Metamorphoses 1.516 and 11.413; Strabo 14.4.3). The Ionian migration from the north of the Peloponnesus dates to the 10th century BCE. The historic Clarus, referred to by Greek and Roman poets, had been entirely buried in the alluvial silt deposited by the small river at the site, a widespread phenomenon along this coastline during the last century BCE, as the hinterland was deforested. T. Macridy uncovered the monumental entrance to the sanctuary in 1905 and returned for further explorations with the French archaeologist Charles Picard in 1913. Excavations recommenced between 1950 and 1961 under Louis Robert, and a series of important Roman dedicated monuments came to light, as well as the famous Doric Temple of Apollo, seat of the oracle, in its final grand though uncompleted Hellenistic phase, 3rd century BCE. The Sacred Way was excavated in 1988 under J. de La Genière, and since then much alluvial spoil has been carted off-site and Clarus has been prepared to receive visitors. The games held here, every fifth year, in honor of Apollo, were the Claria. Clarus was also an often-used Roman cognomen.

External link


- [http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/culture/culture_scientifique/archeologie/claros/ "Les carnets de l'archéologie"] (in French; English abstract) Category:Ancient Greece Category:Greek religion Category:Ancient Rome

Colophon

There are two definitions of the word "colophon": (1) an ancient Greek city, and (2) a tablet inscription placed at the end of an ancient Near East book or manuscript. :This article is about the ancient city of Colophon. For the publishing information found in a book, see colophon (book). Colophon (Gr. Κολοφών; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a titular see of Asia Minor. It was one of the twelve Ionian cities, between Lebedos (ruins near Hypsili-Hissar) and Ephesus (Aya-Solouk). The term "colophon" derives from the Late Latin colophon, from the Greek κολοφων (meaning "summit", "top", or "finishing"). It should not be confused with Colophon, an ancient city in Asia Minor, the name of which derives from the Latin colophonium, meaning "colophony", or rosin. In Greek antiquity two sons of Codrus, king of Athens, established a colony there. It was the birthplace of the philosopher Xenophanes and the poet Mimnermus. It was destroyed by Lysimachus, one of the successors of Alexander the Great. Notium served as the port, and in the neighbourhood was the village of Clarus, with its famous temple and oracle of Apollo Clarius, where Calchas vied with Mopsus in divinatory science. The cavalry of Colophon was renowned. Its pine trees supplied a rosin or colophony highly valued for the strings of musical instruments. In Roman times Colophon lost its importance; the name was transferred to the site of Notium, and the latter name disappeared between the Peloponnesian War and the time of Cicero. The "Notitiae episcopatuum" mentions Colophon or Colophone, as late as the twelfth or thirteenth century, as a suffragan of Ephesus. Lequien (I, 723) gives the names of only four Bishops: St. Sosthenes (I Cor., i, 1) and St. Tychicus (Tit., iii, 12) are merely legendary; Euthalius was present at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and Alexander was alive in 451. The ruins of the city are at the Castro of Ghiaour-Keui, an insignificant village in the vilayet of Smyrna, caza of Koush-Adasi. This article is a copyedited version of the text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04128d.htm] Category:Ionian colonies Colophon Definition: A tablet inscription appended by a scribe to the end of an ancient near east (e.g., Early/Middle/Late Babylonian, Assyrian, Canaanite) text such as a chapter, book, manuscript, or record. The colophon usually contained facts relative to the text such as associated person(s) (e.g., the scribe, owner, or commissioner of the tablet), literary contents (e.g., a title, "catch" phrase, number of lines), and occasion or purpose of writing. Comment: Positionally, a colophon is comparable to a signature line in our own times. Bibliographically, however, colophons more closely resemble the title page in a modern book. In the ancient near east, scribes typically recorded information on clay tablets. Colophons and "catch phrases" (repeated phrases) helped them to organize and identify various tablets, and to keep related tablets together. Definition derived (not quoted) primarily from pp. 5-6, The Book of Genesis 1-17 by Victor P. Hamilton, New International Commentary on the Old Testament Series, Eerdmans (1990). Further credit given by Hamilton to original research by H. Hunger. Also, see Ancient records and the structure of Genesis: A case for literary unity, by P.J. Wiseman and D.J. Wiseman, T. Nelson Publishers (1985).

Asia Minor

Anatolia

Oracle

:This article refers to prophetic oracles in various cultures. The Oracle at Delphi is discussed at Delphic Sibyl. Oracle can also refer to the Oracle Corporation. For other uses of "oracle", see Oracle (disambiguation) An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. It can also be a prediction of the future, from the gods, that is spoken through another object or life-form. In the ancient world many sites gained a reputation for the dispensing of oracular wisdom: they too became known as "oracles", as did the oracular utterances themselves, whose very name is derived from the Latin verb orare, to speak. Oracles were common in many civilizations of antiquity. In China, the use of oracle bones dates as far back as the Shang Dynasty, (1600 BCE - 1046 BCE). The I Ching, or "Book of Changes", is a collection of linear signs used as oracles that dates from that period. Although divination with the I Ching is thought to have originated prior to the Shang Dynasty, it was not until King Wu of Zhou (1046 BCE-1043 BCE) that it took its present form. In addition to its oracular power, the I Ching has had a major influence on the philosophy, literature and statecraft of China from the time of the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BCE - 256 BCE). In classical Greece, the pre-eminent oracle—the Sibyl (or Pythia)—operated at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. This oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture; the Greeks consulted her prior to all major undertakings: wars, the founding of colonies, and so forth. The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Macedonia, Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt also respected her. Croesus of Lydia consulted Delphi before attacking Persia, and according to Herodotus was told, "If you do, you will destroy a great empire." Believing the response favorable, Croesus attacked, but it was his own empire that was ultimately destroyed by the Persians. The oracle also allegedly proclaimed Socrates the wisest man in Greece, to which Socrates said that if so, this was because he alone was aware of his own ignorance. In the 3rd century, the oracle (perhaps bribed) declared that the god would no longer speak there. Dodona became the second most important oracle in ancient Greece, dedicated to Zeus, Heracles and Dione. On Crete lay another important oracle, sacred to Apollo. It ranked as one of the most accurate oracles in Greece. Another oracle of note lay in Egypt, in a temple dedicated to Ammon, whom the Greeks associated with Zeus. Alexander the Great once visited it, and though no record of his query remains, the oracle is thought to have hailed him as Ammon's son, influencing his conceptions of his own divinity. In Norse mythology, Odin took the severed head of the god Mimir to Asgard for consultation as an oracle. In Tibet, oracles have played, and continue to play, an important part in religion and government. The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit that enters those men and women who act as mediums between the natural and the spiritual realms. The mediums are, therefore, known as kuten, which literally means, "the physical basis". The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the Nechung Oracle, which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. He gives a complete description of the process of trance and possession in his book Freedom in Exile [http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html].

Further reading


- Curnow, T. 1995. The Oracles of the Ancient World: A Comprehensive Guide. London: Duckworth — ISBN 0715631942
- Evans-Pritchard, E. 1976. Witchcraft, oracles, and magic among the Azande. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Fontenrose, J. 1981. The Delphic Oracle. Its responses and operations with a catalogue of responses. Berkeley: University of California Press.

External links


- [http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/oracles/index.html The Oracle of Delphi and Ancient Oracles] an annotated guide edited by Tim Spalding
- [http://www.bible-codes.org/mene-prophecy-1-bible-code.htm The Writing on the Wall] An oracle encoded within another ancient oracle from Babylon. Category:Classical oracles Category:Prophecy Category:Divination

Apollo

Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn; Απελλων) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt), one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian divinities. In later times he became in part confused or equated with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister similarly equated with Selene, goddess of the moon in religious contexts. But Apollo and Helios/Sol remained quite separate beings in literary/mythological texts. In Etruscan mythology, he was known as Aplu.

Worship

Apollo is considered to have dominion over plague, light, healing, colonists, medicine, archery, poetry, prophecy, dance, reason, intellectualism, Shamans, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. Apollo had a famous oracle in Crete and other notable ones in Clarus and Branchidae.Branchidae.]] Apollo is known as the leader of the Muses ("musagetes") and director of their choir. His attributes include: swans, wolves, dolphins, bows and arrows, a laurel crown, the cithara (or lyre) and plectrum. The sacrificial tripod is another attribute, representative of his prophetic powers. The Pythian Games were held in his honor every four years at Delphi. Paeans were the name of hymns sung to Apollo. The most usual attributes of Apollo were the lyre and the bow; the tripod especially was dedicated to him as the god of prophecy. Among plants, the bay, used in expiatory sacrifices and also for making the crown of victory at the Pythian games, and the palm-tree, under which he was born in Delos, were sacred to him; among animals and birds, the wolf, the roe, the swan, the hawk, the raven, the crow, the snake, the mouse, the grasshopper and the griffin, a mixture of the eagle and the lion evidently of Eastern origin. The swan and grasshopper symbolize music and song; the hawk, raven, crow and snake have reference to his functions as the god of prophecy. The chief festivals held in honour of Apollo were the Carneia, Daphnephoria, Delia, Hyacinthia, Pyanepsia, Pythia and Thargelia. Among the Romans the worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. There is a tradition that the Delphian oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, and in 430 a temple was dedicated to Apollo on the occasion of a pestilence, and during the Second Punic War (in 212) the Ludi Apollinares were instituted in his honour. It was in the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, that his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome. After the battle of Actium, Augustus enlarged his old temple, dedicated a portion of the spoil to him, and instituted quinquennial games in his honour. He also erected a new temple on the Palatine hill and transferred the secular games, for which Horace composed his Carmen Saeculare, to Apollo and Diana. As god of colonization, Apollo gave guidance on colonies, especially during the height of colonization,750-550 BC. According to Greek tradition, he helped Cretan or Arcadian colonists find the city of Troy. However, this story may reflect a cultural influence which had the reverse direction: Hittite cuneiform texts mention a Minor Asian god called Appaliunas or Apalunas in connection with the city of Wilusa, which is now regarded as being identical with the Greek Illios by most scholars. In this interpretation, Apollo’s title of Lykegenes can simply be read as "born in Lycia", which effectively severs the god's supposed link with wolves (possibly a folk etymology). Apollo popularly (e.g., in literary criticism) represents harmony, order, and reason - characteristics contrasted by those of Dionysus, god of wine, who popularly represents emotion and chaos. The contrast between the roles of these gods is reflected in the adjectives Apollonian and Dionysian. However, Greeks thought of the two qualities as complementary: the two gods are brothers, and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea he would leave the Delphi Oracle to Dionysus. Together with Athena, Apollo (under the name Phevos) was controversially designated as a mascot of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The worship of Apollo has revived with the rise of revivalist Hellenic polytheism, and the contemporary Pagan movement. One example of this revival is the group, [http://winterscapes.com/kyklosapollon Kyklos Apollon].

Apollo Delphinios

A recent study published in 2005 by researchers at the University of Leicester has unravelled a 2,700 year old mystery concerning The Oracle of Delphi. [http://ebulletin.le.ac.uk/news/press-releases/2000-2009/2005/09/nparticle-gsn-7wj-vdd] In ancient times, the constellation Delphinus would have been rising in the eastern sky in late December and early January, the same time that some cities were sacrificing to Apollo Delphinios. In Delphi, this sacrifice took place about a month later. The researchers have confirmed that this is because the temple of Apollo at Delphi is overlooked by huge cliffs to the east. These block out the view of the lower part of the eastern sky, thus delaying the appropriate time of sacrifice for almost a full month compared to other cities on the greek plains.

Etymology of the name

The name Apollo might have been derived from a Pre-Hellenic compound Apo-ollon, likely related to an archaic verb Apo-ell- and literally meaning "he who elbows off", that is "the Dispelling One." Indeed, he seems to have personified dispelling power, which would relate to his association with the darkness-dispelling power of the morning sun and the conceived power of reason and prophecy to dispel doubt and ignorance. In addition:
- The apparent expelling character of city walls and doorways as bulwarks against trespassers
- The people-dispelling nature of disembarkations and expatriations to colonies
- The disease-dispelling character of healing
- The predator-dispelling character of a shepherd tending his flocks
- The pest-dispelling nature of a farmer growing crops
- The power of music and the arts to dispel discord and barbary
- The highly important power of fit and skilled young men to dispel intruders and invading armies. An explanation given by Plutarch in Moralia is that Apollon signified a unity, since pollon meant "many," and the prefix a- was a negative. Thus, Apollon could be read as meaning "deprived of multitude." Apollo was consequently associated with the monad. Hesychius connects the name Apollo with the Doric απελλα, which means assembly, so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation σηκος ("fold"), in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds. Hesychius

Apollo in art

In art, Apollo is usually depicted as a handsome young man, almost always beardless, and often with a lyre or bow in hand.

Appellations

Epithets applied to Apollo include:
- Phoebus ("shining one"), for Apollo in the context of the god of light
- Smintheus ("mouse-catcher") and Parnopius ("grasshopper"), as god of the plague and defender against rats and locusts.
- Delphinios ("delphinian"), meaning "of the womb", associating Apollo with Delphoi (Delphi). An aitiology in the Homeric hymns connects the epitheton to dolphins.
- Archegetes, ("director of the foundation") for colonies.
- Musagetes ("leader of the muses").
- Pythios ("Pythian") at Delphi
- Apotropaeus ("he who averts evil")
- Nymphegetes ("nymph-leader")
- Lyceios and Lykegenes ("wolfish" or "of Lycia," where some postulate his cult originated)
- Nomios ("wandering"), as the pastoral shepherd-god
- Klarios from Doric klaros "allotment of land", for his supervision over cities and colonies.
- Kynthios is another epithet, stemming from his birth on Mt. Cynthus
- Loxias ("the obscure"), as Apollo a god of prophecy specifically.
- Argurotoxos, ("with the silver bow") for archery.
- Aphetoros, ("god of the bow") for archery.
- Alexikakos, ("restrainer of evil"), as Apollo the healer.
- Akesios or Iatros, "healer"

Birth

When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Hera's husband, Zeus, was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra-firma", or the mainland, or any island at sea. In her wanderings, Leto found the newly created floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island, and gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean. This island later became sacred to Apollo. Alternatively, Hera kidnapped Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor. The other gods tricked Hera into letting her go by offering her a necklace, nine yards long, of amber. Either way, Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo. Another version states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Apollo was born on the 7th day (ἡβδομαγενης) of the month Thargelion according to Delian tradition or of the month Bysios according to Delphian tradition. The 7th and 20th, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him.

Youth

In his youth, Apollo killed the vicious dragon Python, which lived in Delphi beside the Castalian Spring, according to some because Python had attempted to rape Leto while she was pregnant with Apollo and Artemis.This was the spring which emitted vapors that caused the Oracle at Delphi to give her prophesies. Apollo killed Python but had to be punished for it, since Python was a child of Gaia.

Apollo and Admetus

As punishment, Apollo was banned from Olympus for nine years. During this time he served as shepherd or cowherd for King Admetus of Pherae in Thessaly. Since Admetus was good to Apollo, the god promised him that when time came for King Admetus to die, another would be allowed to take his place instead. Admetus then fell in love with Alcestis. Her father, though, King Pelias would only give permission if Admetus rode a chariot pulled by lions and boars and other wild animals. Apollo helped Admetus accomplish this, and the pair wed. When time came for Admetus to die, Alcestis agreed to die for him. Heracles intervened and both of the pair were allowed to live. When he returned after the nine years, Apollo came disguised as a dolphin and brought Cretan priests to help found his cult in Delphi. He also blessed the priestess of the Oracle at Delphi, making her one of the most famous and accurate oracles in Greece. He had other oracles, including Clarus and Branchidae.

Apollo During the Trojan War

Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment during the Trojan War in rage because the Greeks had kidnapped Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest. He demanded her return, and the Greeks eventually complied. When Diomedes injured Aeneas during the Trojan War, Apollo rescued him. First, Aphrodite tried to rescue Aeneas but Diomedes injured her as well. Aeneas was then enveloped in a cloud by Apollo, who took him to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy. Artemis healed Aeneas there. Apollo had aided Paris in the killing of Achilles. If he did not accomplish the task himself.

Niobe

A Queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, with the last begging for his life, and Artemis her daughters. Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions of the myth, a number of the Niobids were spared (Chloris, usually). Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge. A devastated Niobe fled to Mt. Siplyon in Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept, or committed suicide. Her tears formed the river Achelous. Zeus had turned all the people of Thebes to stone and so no one buried the Niobids until the ninth day after their death, when the gods themselves entombed them.

Apollo's romantic life and children

Heterosexual relationships

Daphne

Apollo chased the nymph Daphne, daughter of Peneus, who had scorned him. His infatuation was caused by an arrow from Eros, who was jealous because Apollo had made fun of his archery skills. Eros also claimed to be irritated by Apollo's singing. Simultaneously, however, Eros had shot a hate arrow into Daphne, causing her to be repulsed by Apollo. Following a spirited chase by Apollo, Daphne prayed to Mother earth (alternatively, her father- a river god) to help her and he changed her into a Lauraceae tree, which became sacred to Apollo.

Leucothea

Apollo had an affair with a mortal princess named Leucothea, daughter of Orchamus and sister of Clytia. Leucothea loved Apollo who disguised himself as Leucothea's mother to gain entrance to her chambers. Clytia, jealous of her sister because she wanted Apollo for herself, told Orchamus the truth, betraying her sister's trust and confidence in her. Enraged, Orchamus ordered Leucothea to be buried alive. Apollo refused to forgive Clytia for betraying his beloved, and a grieving Clytia wilted and slowly died. Apollo changed her into an incense plant, either heliotrope or sunflower, which follows the sun every day.

Marpessa

Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between them, and she chose Idas on the grounds that Apollo, being immortal, would tire of her when she grew old.

Castalia

Castalia was a nymph whom Apollo loved. She fled from him and dived into the spring at Delphi, at the base of Mt. Parnassos, which was then named after her. Water from this spring was sacred; it was used to clean the Delphian temples and inspire poets.

Cyrene/Aristaeus

By Cyrene, Apollo had a son named Aristaeus, who became the patron god of cattle, fruit trees, hunting, husbandry and bee-keeping. He was also a culture-hero and taught humanity dairy skills and the use of nets and traps in hunting, as well as how to cultivate olives.

Hecuba

With Hecuba, wife of King Priam of Troy, Apollo had a son named Troilius. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilius reached the age of twenty alive. He and his sister, Polyxena were ambushed and killed by Achilles.

Cassandra

Apollo also fell in love with Cassandra, daughter of Hecuba and Priam, and Troilius' half-sister. He promised Cassandra the gift of prophecy to seduce her, but she rejected him afterwards. Enraged, Apollo indeed gifted her with the ability to know the future, with a curse that no one would ever believe her.

Coronis

Coronis, daughter of Phlegyas, King of the Lapiths, was another of Apollo's liaisons. Pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus. A crow informed Apollo of the affair. When first informed he disbelieved the crow and turned all crows black (where they were previously white) as a punishment for speading untruths. When he found out the truth he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. As a result he also made the crow sacred and gave them the task of announcing important deaths. Apollo rescued the baby and gave it to the centaur Chiron to raise. Phlegyas was irate after the death of his daughter and burned the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Apollo then killed him for the slight.

Homosexual relationships

Apollo, the eternal beardless youth himself, had the most male lovers of all the Greek gods, as could be expected from a god who was god of the palaestra, the athletic gathering place for youth, who all competed in the nude. Many of Apollo's young beloveds died "accidentally", a reflection on the function of these myths as part of rites of passage, in which the youth died in order to be reborn as an adult.

Hyacinth

Hyacinth was one of his male lovers. Hyacinthus was a Spartan prince, beautiful and athletic. The pair were practicing throwing the discus when Hyacinthus was struck in the head by a discus blown off course by Zephyrus, who was jealous of Apollo and loved Hyacinthus as well. When Hyacinthus died, Apollo is said in some accounts to have been so filled with grief that he cursed his own immortality, wishing to join his lover in mortal death. Out of the blood of his slain lover Apollo created the hyacinth flower as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with άί άί, meaning alas. The Festival of Hyacinthus was a celebration of Sparta.

Acantha

One of his other liaisons was with Acantha, the spirit of the acanthus tree. Upon his death, he was transformed into a sun-loving herb by Apollo, and his bereaved sister, Acanthis, was turned into a thistle finch by the other gods.

Cyparissus

Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Apollo gave the boy a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo turned the sad boy into a cypress tree, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.

Apollo and the Birth of Hermes

Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. The story is told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. His mother, Maia, had been secretly impregnated by Zeus, in a secret affair. Maia wrapped the infant in blankets but Hermes escaped while she was asleep. Hermes ran to Thessaly, where Apollo was grazing his cattle. The infant Hermes stole a number of his cows and took them to a cave in the woods near Pylos, covering their tracks. In the cave, he found a tortoise and killed it, then removed the insides. He used one of the cow's intestines and the tortoise shell and made the first lyre. Apollo complained to Maia that her son had stolen his cattle, but Hermes had already replaced himself in the blankets she had wrapped him in, so Maia refused to believe Apollo's claim. Zeus intervened and, claiming to have seen the events, sided with Apollo. Hermes then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo, a god of music, fell in love with the instrument and offered to allow exchange the cattle for the lyre. Hence, Apollo became a master of the lyre and Hermes invented a kind of pipes-instrument called a syrinx. Later, Apollo exchanged a caduceus for a syrinx from Hermes.

Other stories

Musical contests

Pan

Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and to challenge Apollo, the god of the lyre, to a trial of skill. Tmolus, the mountain-god, was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but Midas agreed with the judgment. He dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.

Marsyas

donkey Marsyas was a satyr who challenged Apollo to a contest of music. He had found an aulos on the ground, tossed away after being invented by Athena because it made her cheeks puffy. Marsyas lost and was flayed alive in a cave near Calaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge a god. His blood turned into the river Marsyas.

Miscellaneous

When Zeus killed Asclepius for raising the dead and violating the natural order of things, Apollo killed the Cyclopes in response. They had fashioned Zeus' thunderbolts, which he used to kill Apollo's son, Asclepius. Apollo also had a lyre-playing contest with Cinyras, his son, who committed suicide when he lost. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his surviving crew landed on an island sacred to Helios the sun god, where he kept sacred cattle. Though Odysseus warned his men not to (as Tiresias and kirke had told him), they killed and ate some of the cattle and Helios had Zeus destroy the ship and all the men save Odysseus. Apollo killed the Aloadae when they attempted to storm Mt. Olympus. Apollo gave the order, through the Oracle at Delphi, for Orestes to kill his mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. Orestes was punished fiercely by the Erinyes for this crime. It was also said that Apollo rode on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans during the winter months. Apollo turned Cephissus into a sea monster. Consorts/Children # Male Lovers ## Acantha ## Cyparissus ## Hyacinth # Female Lovers ## Arsinoe ### Asclepius ## Cassandra ## Calliope ### Linus ### Orpheus ## Chione ### Philammon ## Coronis ### Asclepius ## Cyrene ### Aristaeus ## Daphne ## Dryope ### Amphissus ## Hecuba ### Troilius ### Polyxena ## Leucothea ## Manto ### Mopsus ## Psamathe ### Linus ## Rhoeo ### Anius ## Terpsichore ### Linus ## Unknown Mother ### Cinyras ### Cycnus ### Phemonoe ## Urania ### Linus

Spoken-word myths - audio files

References in other media

In the Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?", a man claiming to be Apollo is seen on a Greek-themed planet that Captain Kirk, Pavel Chekov, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy arrive on. In the Battlestar Galactica series, one of the main characters is given the call-sign of Apollo. The song "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres" by Rush is about the struggle between the champions of the two Hemispheres, Apollo, the God of Reason, and Dionysus, the God of Love. The song appears of the 1978 album Hemispheres.

References


- F. L. W. Schwartz, De antiquissima Apollinis Natura (Berlin, 1843)
- J. A. Schönborn, Über das Wesen Apollons (Berlin, 1854)
- A. Milchhöfer, Über den attischen Apollon (Munich, 1873)
- T. Schreiber, Apollon Pythoktonos (Leipzig, 1879)
- W. H. Roscher, Studien zur vergleichenden Mythologie der Griechen und Romer, i. (Leipzig, 1873)
- R. Hecker, De Apollinis apud Romanos Cultu (Leipzig, 1879)
- G. Colin, Le Culte d'Apollon pythien à Athènes (1905)
- L. Dyer, The Gods in Greece (1891)
- articles in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopädie, W. H. Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie, and Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire des antiquités
- L. Preller, Griechische und romische Mythologie (4th ed. by C. Robert)
- J. Marquardt, Römische Staalsverwaltung, iii.
- G. Wissowa Religion und Kultus der Romer (1902)
- D. Bassi, Saggio di Bibliografia mitologica, i. Apollo (1896)
- L. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, iv. (1907)
- O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte, ii. (1906)
-

External links


- [http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/ Greek Mythology resource]
- [http://www.gregoryferdinandsen.com/FCO2003/apollo.htm The Temple of Apollo, Rome]
- [http://www.androphile.org/preview/Library/Mythology/Greek/ The stories of Apollo and Hyacinthus; and Apollo and Cyparissus; and Apollo and Orpheus]
- [http://janusquirinus.org/essays/Apollo/MultifacetedGod.html Apollo and the Romans] Category:Greek gods Category:Roman gods Category:Solar gods ko:아폴론 ja:アポロン

Labyrinth

:This article is about the mazelike labyrinth. For other uses, see labyrinth (disambiguation) labyrinth (disambiguation) labyrinth (disambiguation) labyrinth (disambiguation) In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate maze-like structure constructed for King Minos of Crete and designed by the legendary artificer Daedalus to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. Theseus was aided by Ariadne, who provided him with a fateful thread to wind his way back again. The term labyrinth is often used interchangeably with maze, but a maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage, with choices of path and direction, while a single-path ("unicursal") labyrinth has only a single, Eulerian path to the centre. A labyrinth has an unambiguous through-route to the centre and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.

Ancient labyrinths

Labyrinth is a word of pre-Greek ("Pelasgian") origin absorbed by classical Greek, and is apparently related to labrys, a word for the archaic iconic "double axe", with -inthos connoting "place" (as in "Corinth"). The complex palace of Knossos in Crete is usually implicated, though the actual dancing-ground, depicted in frescoed patterns at Knossos, has not been found. Something was being shown to visitors as a labyrinth at Knossos in the 1st century AD (Philostratos, De vita Apollonii Tyanei iv.34, noted in Kerenyi, p 101 n. 171) The oldest known examples of the labyrinth design are small simple petroglyphs (incised stones) perhaps dating back 3000 years. These spiralling labyrinth-pattern petroglyphs are found in numerous places across the world, from Syria to Ireland. Greek mythology did not recall, however, that in Crete there was a Lady who presided over the Labyrinth. A tablet inscribed in Linear B found at Knossos records a gift "to all the gods honey; to the mistress of the labyrinth honey." All the gods together receive as much honey as the Mistress of the Labyrinth alone. "She must have been a Great Goddess", Kerenyi observes (Kerenyi 1976 p 91). That the Cretan labyrinth had been a dancing-ground and was made for Ariadne rather than for Minos was remembered by Homer in Iliad xviii.590–593 where, in the pattern that Hephaestus inscribed on Achilles' shield, one incident pictured was a dancing-ground "like the one that Daedalus designed in the spacious town of Knossos for Ariadne of the lovely locks". Even the labyrinth dance was depicted on the shield, where "youths and marriageable maidens were dancing on it with their hands on one another's wrists... circling as smoothly on their accomplished feet as the wheel of a potter...and there they ran in lines to meet each other." The labyrinth is the referent in the familiar Greek patterns of the endlessly running meander, to give the "Greek key" its common modern name. In the 3rd century BC coins from Knossos are still struck with the labyrinth symbol. The predominant labyrinth form during this period is the simple 7-circuit style known as the classical labyrinth (illustration). The term labyrinth came to be applied to any unicursal maze, whether of a particular circular shape (illustration) or rendered as square. At the center, a decisive turn brought one out again. In the Socratic dialogue that Plato produced as Euthydemus, Socrates describes the labyrinthine line of a logical argument: :Then it seemed like falling into a labyrinth: we thought we were at the finish, but our way bent round and we found ourselves as it were back at the beginning, and just as far from that which we were seeking at first." "Thus the present-day notion of a labyrinth as a place where one can lose [his] way must be set aside. It is a confusing path, hard to follow without a thread, but, provided [the traverser] is not devoured at the midpoint, it leads surely, despite twists and turns, back to the beginning." (Kerenyi, p. 91.) Even more generally, "labyrinth" might be applied to any extremely complicated maze-like structure. Herodotus, in Book II of his Histories, describes as a "labyrinth" a building complex in Egypt, "near the place called the City of Crocodiles," that he considered to surpass the pyramids in its astonishing ambition: :It has twelve covered courts—six in a row facing north, six south—the gates of the one range exactly fronting the gates of the other. Inside, the building is of two storeys and contains three thousand rooms, of which half are underground, and the other half directly above them. I was taken through the rooms in the upper storey, so what I shall say of them is from my own observation, but the underground ones I can speak of only from report, because the Egyptians in charge refused to let me see them, as they contain the tombs of the kings who built the labyrinth, and also the tombs of the sacred crocodiles. The upper rooms, on the contrary, I did actually see, and it is hard to believe that they are the work of men; the baffling and intricate passages from room to room and from court to court were an endless wonder to me, as we passed from a courtyard into rooms, from rooms into galleries, from galleries into more rooms and thence into yet more courtyards. The roof of every chamber, courtyard, and gallery is, like the walls, of stone. The walls are covered with carved figures, and each court is exquisitely built of white marble and surrounded by a colonnade.

Labyrinth as pattern

In Antiquity the more complicated labyrinth pattern familiar from medieval examples was already developed. In Roman floor mosaics the simple classical labyrinth is framed in the meander border pattern, squared off as the medium requires, but still recognisable. Often an image of a bull-man, a minotaur, appears in the centre of these mosaic labyrinths. Roman meander patterns gradually developed in complexity towards the four-fold shape that is now familiarly known as the medieval form. The labyrinth retains its connection with death and a triumphant return: At Hadrumentum in North Africa, a Roman family tomb has a fourfold labyrinth mosaic floor, with a dying Minotaur in the center and a mosaic inscription: HICINCLUSUS.VITAMPERDIT "Enclosed here, he loses life" (Kerenyi, fig.31). image:Conímbriga minotauro.jpg|Minotaur in the Labyrinth, a Roman mosaic at Conímbriga, Portugal image:Labyrinth_Lucca.jpg|Wall maze in Lucca Cathedral, Italy (probably medieval) image:Rocky_Valley_labyrinth_Tintagel.jpg|Finger labyrinth of unknown age in Rocky Valley near Tintagel, Cornwall, UK image:Trojaburg_(Scandinavian_stone_labyrinth).jpg|A Scandinavian "Trojaburg" ("Troy town") labyrinth outlined with stones image:Dalby_City_of_Troy_turf_maze.jpg|A small "turf maze" near Dalby, North Yorkshire image:Wing_Maze.jpg|The turf maze at Wing in Rutland The full flowering of the medieval labyrinth design came about during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with the grand pavement labyrinths of the gothic cathedrals, most notably Chartres and Amiens in Northern France and Siena in Tuscany. It is this version of the design that is thought to be the inspiration for the many secular turf mazes in the UK, such as survive at Wing, Rutland, Hilton, Cambridgeshire, Alkborough (North Lincolnshire), and at Saffron Walden in Essex. Over the same period some 500 or more non-ecclesiastical labyrinths were constructed in Scandinavia. These labyrinths, generally in coastal areas, are marked out with stones most often in the simple classical form. They often have names which translate as "Troy Town". They are thought to have been constructed by early fishing communities, to trap malevolent trolls/winds in the labyrinth's coils in order to ensure a safe fishing expedition. There are also stone labyrinths on the Isles of Scilly, although none of them is known to date back as far as the Scandinavian ones. There are remarkable examples of the labyrinth shape from a whole range of ancient and disparate cultures. The symbol has appeared in all its forms and media (petroglyphs, classic-form, medieval-form, pavement, turf and basketry) at some time, throughout most parts of the world, from Java, Native North and South America, Australia, India and Nepal.

Modern labyrinths

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, which has inspired a revival in labyrinth building, notably at Willen Park, Milton Keynes; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; Tapton Park, Chesterfield; and the Labyrinthe de Harbor 16 in Montreal. Countless computer games depict mazes and labyrinths.

Modern interpretations of the Greek labyrinth

In modern imagery, the labyrinth is often confused with the maze, in which one may become lost. The myth of the labyrinth has in recent times transformed into a stage play by Ilinka Crvenkovska in which exploring notions of a man's ability to control his own fate, Theseus in an act of suicide is killed by the Minotaur only to be killed himself by the horrified towns people. The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges was entranced with the idea of the labyrinth, and used it extensively throughout his short stories. His modern literary use of the labyrinth has inspired a great many other authors in their own works (e.g. Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves).

Cultural meanings

Cultural meaning and interpretation of the labyrinth as a symbol is quite interesting. Shortly put, prehistoric labyrinths serve either as traps for malevolent spirits or as defined paths for ritual dances. During Medieval times the labyrinth symbolized a hard path to the God with a clearly defined center (God) and one entrance (birth). Starting from the Renaissance labyrinths lose their central point: the person in the labyrinth is its center, a reflection of humanistic teachings. At last, nowadays the labyrinths moved into higher layers of reality, the Internet with its hypertext feature being a good example (the symbol of labyrinth merges with a symbol of book). Mazes often play a major role in modern computer games, e.g. the Lara Croft series.

See also


- Caerdroia
- Turf maze
- Troy Town
- Julian's Bower
- Pharaoh (novel by Bolesław Prus, incorporating an Egyptian Labyrinth inspired by that described in Book II of The Histories of Herodotus).

Further reading


- Kereny, Karl, 1976. Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, (Princeton University Press).

External links


- [http://www.fisheaters.com/labyrinths.html Traditional Catholic use of Labyrinths] Category:Puzzles Category:Puzzle games Category:Greek mythology Category:Crete ja:迷宮

Leto

In Greek mythology Lētō' (Greek: Λητώ, Lato in Dorian Greek, the "hidden one") is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, and in the Olympian scheme of things, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis. Still, Leto is scarcely to be conceived apart from being pregnant and finding a suitable place to be delivered of Apollo, the second of her twins. This is her one active mythic role: once Apollo and Artemis are grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a dim, benevolent matronly figure upon Olympus, dark and mild, her part already played. In Crete, at Dreros, Marinatos uncovered an 8th-century post-Minoan hearth house temple in which there were unique hammered brass figures of Apollo, Artemis and Leto. Walter Burkert notes (in Greek Religion) that in Phaistos she appears in connection with an initiation cult. In Roman mythology her equivalent, as mother of Apollo and Diana, is Latona. Leto was the principal goddess of Anatolian Lycia. Her sanctuary, the Letoon near Xanthos, united the Lycian confederacy of city-states. The people of Cos also claimed Leto as their own. A measure of what a primal goddess Leto was can be recognized in her Titan father, whose name "Coeus" links him to the sphere of heaven from pole to pole, and her mother "Phoebe," who is precisely the "pure" and "purifying" epithet of the full moon. When Hera, the most conservative of goddesses — for she had the most to lose in changes to the order of nature — discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she realized that the offspring would cement the new order. She was powerless to stop the flow of events, but she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra firma", on the mainland, or any island at sea, or any place under the sun (Hyginus, Fabulae, 140). Some mythographers hinted that Leto came down from the land of the Hyperboreans in the guise of a she-wolf, or that she sought out the "wolf-country" of Lycia for her denning. But most accounts agree that she found the barren floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island, and gave birth there, promising the island wealth from the worshippers who would flock to the obscure birthplace of the splendid god who was to come. The island was surrounded by swans. As a gesture of gratitude, Delos was secured with four pillars and later became sacred to Apollo. It is remarkable that Leto brought forth Artemis, the elder twin, without struggle or pain, as if she were merely revealing another manifestation of her self. For Apollo, Leto labored for nine nights and nine days, according to the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo in the presence of all the first among the deathless goddesses as witnesses: Dione, Rhea, Ichnaea and Themis and the sea-goddess "loud-moaning" Amphitrite. Only Hera kept apart, and perhaps she kidnapped Eileithyia or Ilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to prevent Leto from going into labor, but Artemis was born first and then assisted with the birth of Apollo. Another version states that Artemis was born one day before Apollo, on the island of Ortygia, and that she helped Leto cross the sea to Delos the next day to give birth to Apollo. Leto was threatened and assailed in her wanderings by chthonic monsters of the ancient earth and old ways, and these became the enemies of Apollo and Artemis. One was the Titan Tityos, a phallic being who grew so vast that he split his mother's womb and had to be carried to term by Gaia herself. He attempted to waylay Leto near Delphi, but was laid low by the arrows or Apollo— or possibly Artemis, as another myth-teller recalled. Another ancient earth creature that had to be overcome was the dragon Pytho or Python which lived in a cleft of the mother-rock beneath Delphi, beside the Castalian Spring. Apollo slew it but had to do penance and be cleansed afterwards, since Python was a child of Gaia. Sometimes the slaying was said to be because Python had attempted to rape Leto while pregnant with Apollo and Artemis, but one way or another, it was necessary that the ancient Delphic Sibyl pass to the protection of the new god. A Queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion, Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. For her hubris, Apollo killed her sons as they practiced athletics, with the last begging for his life, and Artemis her daughters. Apollo and Artemis used poisoned arrows to kill them, though according to some versions a number of the Niobids were spared (Chloris, usually). Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge. A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylus in Asia Minor and turned to stone as she wept, or committed suicide. Her tears formed the river Achelous. Zeus had turned all the people of Thebes to stone and so no one buried the Niobids until the ninth day after their death, when the gods themselves entombed them. Leto was intensely worshipped in Lycia, Asia Minor. In Delos and Athens she was worshipped primarily as an adjunct to her children. Herodotus reported hearsay of a temple to her in Egypt attached to a floating island called "Khemmis" in Buto, which also included a temple to Apollo. However, Herodotus apparently didn't believe in the existence of either temple.

Witnesses at the birth of Apollo

The goddesses who assembled to be witnesses at the birth of Apollo, according to the Homeric hymn, were responding to a public occasion in the rites of a dynasty, where the authenticity of the child must be established beyond doubt from the first moment. The dynastic rite of the witnessed birth must have been familiar to the hymn's 8th-century hearers. The dynasty that is so concerned to be authenticated in this myth is the new dynasty of Zeus and the Olympian Pantheon, and the goddesses at Delos who bear witness to the rightness of the birth are the great goddesses of the old order. Demeter is not present; her mother Rhea attends. Aphrodite, a generation older than Zeus, is not present either. The goddess Dione (in her name simply the "Goddess") is sometimes taken by later mythographers as a mere feminine form of Zeus (see entry Dodona): if this were so, she would not have assembled here. As it is in heaven, so on earth: the very public birth of Frederick Hohenstaufen, the future Holy Roman Emperor, was a requirement to reassure dynastic legitimacy. Thus when the Empress Constance, heavy with child despite her advanced years (she was about forty), was travelling down the Adriatic coast of Italy to join her husband Henry in Sicily, she was forced to stop at the town of Jesi in the march of Ancona. Jesi was one of the key walled borderland communes disputed between the Papacy and Sicily, but it was dependably loyal to imperial interests. There, a large tent was erected in the main square of the town, and on December 26, 1194 Constance gave birth 'in the presence of all the married ladies of the territory', so that there could be no future dispute of the legitimacy of the heir.

Dune novels

In the Dune novels, Leto I is the father of Paul Muad'Dib Atreides. He was killed on Arrakis by the baron Vladimir Harkonnen. His grandson, Leto II, became the God Emperor after "mixing" with sandtrouts. After a few centuries, he no longer looked like a human, but rather like a worm with a human head. When he died, his sandtrout skin left him and made new worms on Arrakis. Category:Greek goddesses Category:Mother goddesses ja:レト

Sanctuary

:This article is about the sanctuaries, for the band, see Sanctuary (band). Sanctuary has multiple meanings. A sanctuary is the consecrated (or sacred) area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar. In medieval law, a sanctuary was a place of religious right of asylum for felons on the run from the law. An animal sanctuary is a place where animals live and are protected.

Sanctuary as a sacred place

In Europe, Christian churches were usually built on a holy spot, generally where a miracle or martyrdom had taken place or where a holy person was buried. Examples are St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and St. Albans Cathedral in England, which commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Peter (the first Pope) and Saint Alban (the first Christian martyr in Britain), respectively. The place, and therefore the church built there, was considered to have been sanctified (made holy) by what happened there. In modern times, the Roman Catholic Church has continued this practice by placing in the altar of each church, when it is consecrated for use, a box (the sepulcrum) containing relics of a saint. The relics box is removed when the church is taken out of use as a church. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the antimension on the altar serves a similar function. It is a cloth icon of Christ's body taken down from the cross, and typically has the relics of a saint sewn into it. In addition, it is signed by the parish's bishop, and represents his authorization and blessing for the Eucharist to be celebrated on that altar.

The Altar

The area around the altar was also considered holy because of the physical presence of God in the Eucharist (communion bread, which Catholics considered to have been 'transubstantiated" into the actual body of Jesus), both during the Mass and in the tabernacle on the altar the rest of the time. So that people could tell when Jesus was there (in the tabernacle), the "sanctuary lamp" would be lit, indicating that anyone approaching the altar should genuflect (bow by bending the knee and inclining the head), to show respect for Him. In most Eastern Orthodox churches, the sanctuary is separated from the nave (where the people pray) by an iconostasis, literally a wall of icons, with three doors in it. In many Roman Catholic churches, altar rails mark the edge of the sanctuary. The area around the altar came to be called the "sanctuary," and that terminology does not apply to Christian churches alone: King Solomon's temple, built in about 950 B.C., had a sanctuary ("Holy of Holies") where the tabernacle ("Ark of the Covenant") was, and the term applies to the corresponding part of any house of worship. Sanctuary can be a personal term; an individual can find or create a personal sanctuary.

Sanctuary in medieval law

Sanctuary was also a right to be safe from arrest in the sanctuary of a church or temple, recognized by English law from the 4th to the 17th century.

Right of asylum

Ark of the Covenant]] Many ancient peoples, including the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Hebrews, recognized a religious "right of asylum", protecting criminals (or those accused of crime) from legal action to some extent. This principle was adopted by the early Christian church, and various rules developed for what the person had to do to qualify for protection and just how much protection it was. In England, King Ethelbert made the first laws regulating sanctuary in about 600 A.D. By Norman times, there had come to be two kinds of sanctuary: All churches had the lower-level kind, but only the churches the king licensed had the broader version. There were at least twenty-two churches with charters for that kind of sanctuary, including Battle Abbey, Beverley (see image, right), Colchester, Durham, Hexham, Norwich, Ripon, Wells, Winchester Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and York Minster. Sometimes the criminal had to get to the church itself, to be protected, and might have to ring a certain bell there, or hold a certain ring or door-knocker, or sit on a certain chair ("frith-stool"), and some of these items survive at various churches. In other places, there was an area around the church or abbey, sometimes extending as much as a mile and a half, and there would be stone "sanctuary crosses" marking the boundary of the area; some of those still exist today, too. Thus it could became a race between the felon and mediaeval law officers to the nearest sanctuary boundary, and could make the serving of justice a difficult proposition indeed. Church sanctuaries were regulated by common law. An asylum seeker was to confess his sins, surrender his weapons, and be placed under the supervision of the head of the church or abbey where he had fled. He then had forty days to make one of two choices: surrender to secular authorities and stand trial for the crimes against him, or confess his guilt and be sent into exile ("abjure the realm"), by the shortest route and never return without the king's permission. Anyone who did come back could be executed by the law and/or excommunicated by the Church. If the suspect chose to confess his guilt and abjure, he would do so in a public ceremony, usually at the gate of the church grounds. He would surrender his worldly goods to the church, and landed property to the crown. The coroner, a medieval official, would then chose a port city from which the fugitive should leave England (though the fugitive himself sometimes had this privilege). The fugitive would set out barefooted and bareheaded, carrying a wooden cross-staff as a symbol of his protection under the church. Theoretically he would stay to the main highway, reach the port and take the first ship out of England. However in practice, the fugitive could get a safe distance away, ditch the cross-staff and take off and start a new life. But there was one problem: we can safely assume the friends and relatives of the victim knew of this ploy and would do everything in their power to make sure this did not happen; or indeed that the fugitive never reached his intended port of call, a victim of vigilante justice under the pretense of a fugitive who wandered too far off the main highway while trying to "escape". Knowing the grim options, some fugitives rejected both choices and opted for an escape from the asylum before the forty days were up. Others simply made no choice and did nothing; since it was illegal for the victims friends to break into an asylum, the church would deprive the fugitive of food and water until a choice was made. Henry VIII changed the rules of asylum, reducing to a short list the types of crimes which were allowed to claim asylum. The mediaeval system of asylum was finally abolished entirely by James I in 1623.

Relating to political asylum

Main article: political asylum During the Wars of the Roses, when the Yorkists or Lancastrians would suddenly get the upper hand by winning a battle, some adherents of the losing side might find themselves surrounded by adherents of the other side and not able to get back to their own side, so they would rush to sanctuary at the nearest church until it was safe to come out. A prime example is Queen Elizabeth Woodville, consort of Edward IV of England: In 1470, when the Lancastrians briefly restored Henry VI to the throne, Edward's queen was living in London with several young daughters. She moved with them into Westminster for sanctuary, living there in royal comfort until Edward was restored to the throne in 1471 and giving birth to their first son Edward during that time. When King Edward died in 1483, Elizabeth (who was highly unpopular with even the Yorkists and probably did need protection) took her five daughters and youngest son (Richard, Duke of York; Prince Edward had his own household by then) and again moved into sanctuary at Westminster. To be sure she had all the comforts of home, she brought so much furniture and so many chests that the workmen had to knock holes in some of the walls to get everything in fast enough to suit her.

Animal sanctuary

Main article: Animal Sanctuary An Animal sanctuary is a place where animals live and are protected.

References


- J. Charles Cox (1911). The Sanctuaries and Sanctuary Seekers of Medieval England.
- John Bellamy (1973). Crime and Public Order in England in the Later Middle Ages.
- Richard Kaeuper (1982). "Right of asylum". Dictionary of the Middle Ages. v.1 pp.632-633. ISBN 0684167603 Category:Disambiguation Category:Social institutions

Serpent

Serpent can be any of the following:
- The reptile commonly called snake.
- A representation of a snake used as a symbol, see serpent (symbolism).
- Among musical instruments, a Serpent is member of the brass family.
- In astronomy, several constellations are identified as serpents .
- In cryptography, the Serpent cipher is a symmetric key block cipher developed by Ross Anderson and colleagues for the AES competition. It was one of the finalists.
- The British Royal Navy ship HMS Serpent crashed into the rocks on Trece beach during a storm on the night of November 10th, 1890, killing 172 sailors. This occurred in NW Spain, off the coast of Finisterre (The Death Coast).
- "The Serpent" is a nickname of serial killer Charles Sobhraj. ja:サーペント

Epigoni

This is an article about the Greek myth. For the play by Sophocles, see The Progeny. In Greek mythology, Epigoni (Greek Epigonoi, meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war. Polynices and six allies (the Seven Against Thebes) attacked Thebes because Polynices' brother, Eteocles, refused to give up the throne as promised. The second Theban war, also called the war of the Epigoni, occurred ten years later, when the Epigoni, wishing to avenge the death of their fathers, attacked Thebes. According to Apollodorus, they were:
- Aegialeus, son of Adrastus
- Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus
- Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus
- Diomedes, son of Tydeus
- Euryalus, son of Mecisteus
- Promachus, son of Parthenopaeus
- Sthenelus son of Capaneus
- Thersander son of Polynices To this list, Pausanias also adds:
- Polydorus son of Hippomedon

The war

Both Apollodorus and Pausanias tell the story of the war of the Epigoni, although their accounts differ in several respects. According to Apollodorus, the Delphic oracle had promised victory if Alcmaeon was chosen their leader, and so he was. Aegialeus was killed by Laodamas, son of Eteocles, but Acmaeon killed Laodamas. The Thebans were defeated and, by the counsel of the seer Teiresias, fled their city. However, Pausanias says that Thersander was their leader, that Laodamas fled Thebes with the rest of the Thebans, and that Thersander became king of Thebes.

In art

There were statues of the Epigoni at Argos and Delphi. The war of the Epigoni was the subject of an epic poem, which some had attributed to Homer.

References


- Apollodorus, The Library, (Loeb Classical Library, No. 121, Books I-III), English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, Harvard University Press (1921), ISBN 0674991354[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Apollod.+toc  ]
- Herodotus, The Histories, (Loeb Classical Library, No. 118, Books Iii-IV), English Translation by A. D. Godley, Harvard University Press (1920), ISBN 067499131[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+toc  ]
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, (Loeb Classical Library, Arcadia, Boeotia, Phocis and Ozolian Locri; Books VIII-X), English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., Harvard University Press (1918), ISBN 0674993284[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+toc  ]

Notes

Apollodorus 3.7.2[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Apollod.+3.7.2  ] Pausanias 2.20.5[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+2.20.5  ] Apollodorus 3.7.2[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Apollod.+3.7.2  ] Apollodorus 3.7.3[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Apollod.+3.7.3  ] Pausanias 7.3.1[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+7.3.1  ], 9.9.4[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+9.9.4  ] Pausanias 9.5.13[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+9.5.13  ], 9.9.5[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+9.9.5  ] Pausanias 9.5.14[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+9.5.14  ] Pausanias 2.20.5[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+2.20.5  ] Pausanias 10.10.4[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+10.10.4  ] Pausanias 9.9.5[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Paus.+9.9.5  ], Herodotus 4.32.1[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+4.32.1  ] Category:Greek mythology ja:エピゴノイ

Mycenaean

Mycenaean can have the following meanings:
- coming from or belonging to the ancient town of Mycenae in Peloponnese in Greece;
- belonging to the culture of the Mycenaean period of the eastern Mediterranean in the late Bronze Age;
- the Mycenaean language, an ancient form of Greek, known from inscriptions in Linear B found in Mycenae and in Crete.

Thebes, Greece

:For the ancient capital of Upper Egypt, see Thebes, Egypt. Thebes (in modern Greek: Θήβα - Thíva, in ancient Greek and Katharevousa: - Thēbai or Thívai) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. In ancient times it was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and the modern city still contains the Cadmea (ancient citadel).

History

The record of the earliest days of Thebes was preserved among the Greeks in an abundant mass of legends which rival the myths of Troy in their wide ramification and the influence which they exerted upon the literature of the classical age. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished: #The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by Cadmus, and the growth of the Sparti or "Sown Men" (probably an aetiological myth designed to explain the origin of the Theban nobility which bore that name in historical times); #The building of a "seven-gated" wall by Amphion, and the cognate stories of Zethus, Antiope and Dirce; #The tale of the "house of Laius," culminating in the adventures of Oedipus and the wars of the "Seven Against Thebes" and the Epigoni; #The advent of Dionysus; and #The exploits of Heracles. It is difficult to extract any historical fact out of this maze of myths; the various groups cannot be fully co-ordinated, and a further perplexing feature is the neglect of Thebes in the Homeric poems. On the other hand, these myths cannot be entirely discarded, as shown by the recovery in the 1909 excavation of the "House of Cadmus", whom legend states was born in Tyre and taught letters to the Greeks, of a collection of Mesopotamian cylinder-seals, including one referring to a Kassite king who ruled between 1381 and 1354 BC. Further archeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to Mycenaean times containing weapons, ivory, and tablets written in Linear B. It seems safe to infer that it was one of the first Greek communities to be drawn together within a fortified city, that it owed its importance in prehistoric – as in later days – to its military strength. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading Dorians, and the fact of their eventual conquest of Thebes lie behind the stories of the successive legendary attacks on that city. The central position and military security of the city naturally tended to raise it to a commanding position among the Boeotians, and from early days its inhabitants endeavoured to establish a complete supremacy over their kinsmen in the outlying towns. This centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia. No details of the earlier history of Thebes have been preserved, except that it was governed by a land-holding aristocracy who safeguarded their integrity by rigid statutes about the ownership of property and its transmission. In the late 6th century BC the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians, who helped the small village of Plataea to maintain its independence against them, and in 506 repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). Though a contingent of 700 was sent to Thermopylae and remained there with Leonidas until just before the last stand when they surrendered to the Persians, the governing aristocracy soon after joined King Xerxes I of Persia with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the Boeotian League, and an attempt by the Spartans to expel it from the Delphic amphictyony was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens. In 457 Sparta, needing a counterpoise against Athens in central Greece, reversed her policy and reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of the country (457–447). In the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, embittered by the support which Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, which they vainly attempted to reduce in 431, were firm allies of Sparta, which in turn helped them to besiege Plataea and allowed them to destroy the town after its capture in 427 BC. In 424 at the head of the Boeotian levy they inflicted a severe defeat upon an invading force of Athenians at the Battle of Delium, and for the first time displayed the effects of that firm military organization which eventually raised them to predominant power in Greece. After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War the Thebans, finding that Sparta intended to protect the states which they desired to annex, broke off the alliance. In 404 they had urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in 403 they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the battles of Haliartus (395) and Coronea (394) they again proved their rising military capacity by standing their ground against the Spartans. The result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from its political control. Its power was further curtailed in 382, when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup-de-main. Three years later the Spartan garrison was expelled, and a democratic constitution definitely set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself the best in Greece. Some years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 in a remarkable victory over the pick of the Spartans at Leuctra. The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of the oppressed. They carried their arms into Peloponnesus and at the head of a large coalition permanently crippled the power of Sparta. Similar expeditions were sent to Thessaly and Macedonia to regulate the affairs of those regions. Macedonia who died in Battle of Chaeronea]] However the predominance of Thebes was short-lived; the states which she protected refused to subject themselves permanently to her control, and the renewed rivalry of Athens, which had joined with Thebes in 395 in a common fear of Sparta, but since 371 had endeavoured to maintain the balance of power against her ally, prevented the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of Epaminondas at Mantinea in 362 the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In a war with the neighbouring state of Phocis (356–346) it could not even maintain its predominance in central Greece, and by inviting Philip II of Macedon to crush the Phocians it extended that monarch's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. A revulsion of feeling was completed in 338 by the orator Demosthenes, who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance upon Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive battle of Chaeronea and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of her dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in 335 against his son Alexander was punished by Macedon and other Greek states by the severe sacking of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar. The city was refurbished in 315 by Cassander, but it never again played a prominent part in Greek politics. It suffered from the establishment of Chalcis as the chief fortress of central Greece, and was severely handled by the Roman conquerors Mummius and Sulla. Strabo describes it as a mere village, and in Pausanias's time (mid-1st century) its citadel alone was inhabited. During the Byzantine period it served as a place of refuge against foreign invaders, and from the 10th century, became a centre of the new silk trade. Though severely plundered by the Normans in 1146 it recovered its prosperity and was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche as its capital. In 1311 it was sacked by the Catalan Company. Today the city of Thebes still exists on Greek soil but only as a shadow of its former self. Portions of the historical section were taken from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

See also


- Sacred Band of Thebes
- List of traditional Greek place names

Bibliography


- Herodotus "The Histories of Herodotus"

Notes

# Herodotus Bibliography VII:205 ,222,223.

External links


- [http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/thebes.html Timeless Myths - House of Thebes] Category:Ancient Greek cities ja:テーバイ

Tiresias

In Greek mythology, Tiresias (also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet, the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias' daughter Manto was also gifted with prophecy.

Overview

Tiresias was a priest of Zeus, and as a young man he encountered two snakes mating and hit them with a stick. He was then transformed into a woman. As a woman, Tiresias became a priestess of Hera, married and had children, including Manto. According to some versions of the tale, Lady Tiresias was a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Tiresias again found mating snakes, struck them with her staff, and became a man once more. As a result of his experiences, Zeus and Hera asked him to settle the question of which sex, male or female, experienced more pleasure during intercourse. Zeus claimed it was women; Hera claimed it was men. When Tiresias sided with Zeus, Hera struck him blind. Since Zeus could not undo what she had done, he gave him the gift of prophecy. An alternative story in Callimachus' poem "The Bathing of Pallas" has it that Tiresias was blinded by Athena after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo, begged her to undo her curse, but Athena couldn't; she took the serpent from her aegis and commanded it to lick his ears, giving him prophecy instead. Stripped of its narrative and anecdotal and causal connections, the mythic figure of Tireisias combines several archaic elements: the blind seer; the impious interruption of a natural rite (whether of a bathing goddess or coupling serpents); serpents and staff (Caduceus); a holy man's double gender (shaman); and competition between deities. Tiresias's background was important, both for his prophecy and his experiences. Greek mythology contained many hermaphroditic figures (including Hermaphroditus), but Tiresias was fully male and then fully female. Also, prophecy was a gift given only to the priests and priestesses. Therefore, Tiresias offered Zeus and Hera evidence and gained the gift of male and female priestly prophecy. As a seer, Tiresias was "a common title for soothsayers throughout Greek legendary history" (Graves 1960, 105.5). In Greek literature, Tiresias's pronouncements are always gnomic but never wrong. He is generally extremely reluctant to offer his visions like most oracles. Often when his name is attached to a mythic prophecy, it is introduced simply to supply a personality to the generic example of a seer, not by any inherent connection of Tiresias with the myth: thus it is Tiresias who warns the mother of Narcissus that the boy will thrive as long as he never knows himself. This is his emblemmatic role in tragedy (see below).

Tiresias and Thebes

During the Seven Against Thebes, Megareus killed himself because Tiresias prophesied that a voluntary death from a Theban would save Thebes. Afterwards Tiresias appears in the tales associated with Oedipus. In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, Oedipus calls upon Tiresias to aid in the investigation of the killing of Laius. Tiresias refuses to give a direct answer and instead hints that the killer is someone Oedipus really does not wish to find. After Oedipus blinds himself and wanders, Tiresias appears in Antigone, also by Sophocles. King Creon of Thebes refuses to allow Polynices to be buried. His sister, Antigone, defies the order and is caught; Creon decrees that she is to be buried alive. The gods express their disapproval of Creon's decision through Tiresias. However, Antigone has already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Creon arrives at the tomb where she is to be interred, his son, Haemon, attacks him and then kills himself. When Creon's wife, Eurydice, is informed of their death she, too, takes her own life. He and his prophesy are also involved in the story of the Epigoni.

Death

Tiresias died after drinking the water from the spring Tilphussa, struck by an arrow of Apollo. After his death he was visited in the underworld by Odysseus, to whom he gave valuable advice concerning the rest of his voyage, specifically concerning the cattle of Apollo, which Odysseus' men did not follow.

In post-classical literature

The figure of Tiresias has been much-invoked by fiction writers and poets. Since Tiresias is both the greatest seer of the Classical mythos, a figure cursed by the gods, and both man and woman, he has been very useful to authors. In The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XX), Dante sees Tiresias in the fourth pit of the eighth circle of Hell (the circle is for perpetrators of fraud and the fourth pit being the location for soothsayers or diviners.) He was condemned to walk for eternity with his head twisted toward his back for in life: while in life he strove to look forward to the future, in Hell he must only look backward. Tiresias' daughter Manto is also assigned her punishment here. More recently, "Tiresias" was the title of a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. T. S. Eliot used Tiresias as the primary speaker in his landmark modernist poem, "The Waste Land". The French composer Francis Poulenc also wrote an opera called Les Mamelles de Tirésias ("The Breasts of Tiresias") based on Guillaume Apollinaire's surrealist text. Frank Herbert also uses the mythic characteristics of Tiresias in his second Dune novel, Dune Messiah, where the protagonist Paul Atreides loses his sight but has prophetic powers to counter this stemming from insights into both the male and female part of the psyche. Amy Seham, drama professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, wrote a musical entitled "Tiresias" in 1999, with music by Chanda Walker and Kira Theimer. Tiresias as a motif of doubleness (male/female) also occurs in the writing of Rohinton Mistry. There it serves as a co