PRAYER IN HELLENIC POLYTHEISM
There are three main parts to prayer in ancient Greek religion: the invocation, the argument, and the petition.
This is where you address the god by name, including any honorifics, references, functions, or qualities you wish to entreat. Several stacking elements of identification are used here—including epithets.
Why should the god listen to you? Remind the god of your prior relationship. If you haven’t yet built one, you should ask a friend or devotee to pray on your behalf. Better yet, use this as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the god and sing their praises.
State your purpose. This can include what you want the god to do, regardless of whether your request is specific or relatively intangible.
Of note is the fact that the petition is not a mandatory part of the prayer structure. “You might as easily invoke a god and remind them of your relationship, but not want anything specific, just to keep in touch as it were, and that would be totally fine” (Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts).
According to Aristotle “we humans all stretch our hands towards the heavens when we make our prayers” (On the Cosmos). Pollux too suggests this, using the phrases “to pray to the gods” and “to stretch one’s hands upward” interchangeably.
That said, not every prayer was accompanied by a grand gesture. Simon Pulleyn relates how artistic depictions more commonly show the worshipper with one hand raised—not above the head, but “held out in front of [oneself] in a gesture like that used by a policeman to halt traffic” (Prayer in Greek Religion, 1997, pg. 189).
Don’t overthink hand gestures. More than anything, know that prayers were typically done when the individual was standing, their face tilted up towards the heavens (where the gods reside). When consulting the Underworld gods, though, it would make sense to direct your prayers downward. An example of this is seen in the ninth scroll of the Iliad when Althaea prays to Haides and dread Persephone by kneeling and beating her hands on the ground.
The following illustrations were made by @seedsandsprouts / @jellynymphh and show the many gestures that can accompany your prayers to the gods.
Spoken prayers are typically paired with more dynamic gesticulations, while those that are silent (or muttered) are done more discreetly.
Ancient peoples believed that the gods could hear silent prayers, but such a practice was regarded as anomalous and looked upon with great suspicion. Such suspicions are better left in antiquity, seeing as we live in an age where spoken prayer is no longer standard.
When praying with one hand raised to your lips or the heavens, the hand at your side can be balled into a fist with the thumb tucked into the fingers.
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