Sanctuary of Hera at Samos
Samos was sacred to Hera. The single column marks her temple. Gorgeous little island!
u/Sophia_Joppolo — 12 days ago
u/Sophia_Joppolo
r/Persephone r/EtruscanPaganism r/theurgy r/RomanPaganism r/Hellenism r/AncientCivilizations r/Neoplatonism
Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis
A pic I took a few years back at the sanctuary of Demeter and Core at Eleusis. The cave is behind the stone sign. It's thought that participants re-enacted Persephone's springtime emergence here. There was also a small temple dedicated to Hades (Pluto) from the 6th century BCE, and you can see a few blocks remaining from a later 4th century BCE replacement.
The museum alongside the site is amazing: it's kept very dark, with statues and findings illuminated, as if you were really walking through the cave.
(Edit to get photo correctly formatted.)
u/Sophia_Joppolo — 18 days ago
Edmond's chapter 7 on Theurgy in Drawing Down the Moon (2019)
If you've read this chapter, what do you think about it?
The book is often highly recommended, and the author presents a lot of interesting history. However, I found this particular chapter blended goeteia and theurgy too readily, even using the PGM as examples to counter Iamblichus despite Iamblichus' rejection of such examples. Also, the author leans on Christian Neoplatonists as sources for Neoplatonism (and theurgy) in general, when the former reworked the latter for quite different religious purposes.
This is a small field of study, so I'd be interested in whether others felt the same. Also, additional recommendations for reading! I have read: Koutsoukos' Restoring the Ancient Religion and Shaw's Theurgy and the Soul (1995).
P.S. Magic and Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World (2024) is very good, so this is not intended as a slight on the author/editor.
(Edited for spelling, and additional sources.)
u/Sophia_Joppolo — 25 days ago
Etruscan Bronze Mirrors: What Were They For?
The Etruscans have left behind 3000 to 4000 polished bronze mirrors. They started making these as early as 900 BCE. Many have been found in the tombs of women, so their use seems to be gendered. Engravings leave behind the names of gods and other figures shown.
Because they were found in tombs, some have proposed they had a role in the afterlife. Others have argued they were used in scrying or divination, since many show scenes of prophecy -- a whole subclass show the oracular head of Orpheus. Others think they were purely functional and may have been marriage gifts.
What do you think they were for? Do you have a favourite?
Above: Bronze mirror engraved with a bearded Herakles seated holding his club; in the centre is Athena; on the left is Aphrodite holding fruit, and Apollo seated; their Etruscan names are inscribed (Hercle, Menrva, Turan and Aplu). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
u/Sophia_Joppolo — 1 month ago