ellie

adult | they/them | hellenic polytheist | hestia devotee

[honorthegods]

Hellenic polytheism - free (and reliable!) resources

Updated 23 February 2022

The Homeric Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns1.html              

The Homeric Hymns, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis are also available to read online for free: 

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00home 

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00atha

https://archive.org/details/homerichymns0000unse

The Orphic Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html

The Orphic Hymns, translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis:   https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780891301196

The Delphic Maxims: https://www.scribd.com/document/186693295/Delphic-Maxims

Many other primary sources from ancient Greece can be found in English translations at theoi.com, which is a fantastic resource for information about the Theoi.

Modern prayers to the Theoi:

Hearthstone: https://greekpagan.com & https://greekpagan.tumblr.com/ Note: downloads of Hearthstone’s two books of Hellenic prayers can be purchased at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HearthfireHandworks

winebrightruby: https://winebrightruby.tumblr.com/devotional

Some of the best and most essential sources to start with - and for continuous reference, in my opinion:

Adam, John. The Religious Teachers of Greece. Clifton, New Jersey: Reference Book Publishers, Inc, 1965.  https://www.giffordlectures.org/lectures/religious-teachers-greece

Adkins, Lesley and Adkins, Roy A. Handbook To Life In Ancient Greece https://archive.org/details/handbooktolifein00adki

Betegh, Gabor. Greek Philosophy and Religion. https://www.academia.edu/4990433/Greek_Philosophy_and_Religion

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion  https://archive.org/details/greekreligionarchaicandclassical

Angelos Chaniotis, “The Life of Statues of Gods in the Greek World’” Kernos  [Online], 30 | 2017, posted on October 01, 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/2492 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.2492

Dignas, Beate, and Kai Trampedach, eds. 2008. Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Figures from Homer to Heliodorus.Hellenic Studies Series 30. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.  http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_DignasB_and_TrampedachK_eds.Practitioners_of_the_Divine.2008

Dillon Matthew. “Household, Families and Women” in Kindt, J. Eidinow, E. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Religion in the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015. https://www.academia.edu/7974646/HOME_AND_HEARTH._THE_CLASSICAL_GREEK_EXPERIENCE_OF_DOMESTIC_RELIGION_in_Kindt_J._Eidinow_E._eds_The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Religion_in_the_Ancient_World_Oxford_University_Press_Oxford_2015

Furley, WIlliam D. and  Jan Maarten Bremer. Greek Hymns: Selected Cult Songs from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Part One: The texts in translation.Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.  https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/uploads/tx_sgpublisher/produkte/leseproben/9783161586552.pdf

Garrett, Jan. Did Socrates ‘Teach New Deities’? Or: Homer’s Gods, Plato’s Gods  http://people.wku.edu/jan.garrett/pgods.htm

Hesiod. Theogany  https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html 

Hesoid. Works and Days https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html

Kearns, Emily. The Nature of Heroines in The Sacred and the Feminine in Ancient Greece edited by Sue Bundell and Margaret Williamson, Routledge, 1998. pp. 96-110.  http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1500680.files/kerns%20nature%20of%20heroines.pdf

Kindt, Julia. “Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion?” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 135, 2015, pp. 35–50., www.jstor.org/stable/44157346

Kitts, Margo. What’s Religious about the Iliad? Religion Compass 7/7 (2013): 225–233, 10.1111/rec3.12050 Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2013.  https://www.academia.edu/5744383/_Whats_religious_about_the_Iliad_Religion_Compass_7_7_2013_225_233_draft_version_

Koutoupas, A. “The Meaning of Reciprocity in Ancient Greek Religion.”  https://www.academia.edu/12126893/The_Meaning_of_Reciprocity_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion

Meyer, Marvin.The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World   https://archive.org/details/ancientmysteries0000unse_p7i2

Morford, Mark, P.O., Lenardon, Robert J. and Sham, Michael. “The student companion to Classical Mythology, Tenth Edition”: https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/

Otto, Walter.The Homeric Gods  https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4448/page/n5/mode/2up

Petrovic, Andrej, and Petrovic, Ivana. “Introduction” in Inner Purity and Pollution in Ancient Greek Religion Vol I.  https://www.academia.edu/30262742/Introduction_in_Inner_Purity_and_Pollution_in_Ancient_Greek_Religion_Vol_I

Pirenne-Delforg, Vinciane and and Francesca Prescendi. Feeding the gods? Sacrifice and representation of the divine.   https://books.openedition.org/pulg/1604

Rask, K.A. “Devotionalism, Material Culture, and the Personal in Greek Religion.”  https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/23

Seznac, Jean.The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art, Princeton University Press, 1953. Chapter One, pp. 11-36. http://people.bu.edu/bobl/paganchristian.pdf

Smith, William. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities John Murray, London, 1875. Articles on Greek and Roman religion, including divination, festivals, funerals, magic, priestly officers, and rituals: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA/Religion/home.html

Von den Hogg, Ralf. “Images and Prestige of Cult Personnel in Athens between the Sixth and First Centuries BC” in Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus, edited by Kai Trampedach, and Beate Dignas. Kolloquium. pp 107-141 http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/2166/1/vdH_Images_Prestige_2008.pdf

Webster, Michael. Reading Hesiod’s Theogany. 2005.   https://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Hesiod2.htm

Webster, Michael.

Ways of Interpreting Myths

. 2005.   

https://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/ways.htm

Weddell, Poly. Touching the Gods: physical interaction with cult statues in the Roman world. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/555/1/Touching_the_Gods.pdf?DDD3+

Whitmore, Emily. Personal Religion in ancient Greece.  https://www.academia.edu/8729313/Personal_religion_in_ancient_Greece

Woodward, Roger D. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology https://archive.org/details/TheCambridgeCompanionToGreekMythology/page/n1/mode/2up

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Find more information at my Masterpost of Resources for Hellenic & Roman Polytheism: https://honorthegods.tumblr.com/masterpost

Please feel free to ask me questions or contact me about books/articles on specific topics related to ancient Greek religion and modern Hellenic polytheism!

[cinematropes]

Redraw of Polyxena and Phaedra

Two tragic princesses with very different paths

Trojan clothing inspired by @chotomy !!

Tagging @margaretkart the specialist of the cretan family ^^

[rynquestionmark]

Beautiful Helen

[persephoneist]

Yolk of Aphrodite, Helen

[zaraasays]

Clytemnestra, what’s on your mind?

[wishmemellon]

Aphrodite fresh out of the shell 🐚

[themirroredmoon]

Hymn to Hestia

Hestia, blessed flame who dwells at the heart, Äídios, Eternal, keeper of the sacred spark. You are the first to be called, the last to remain, Unmoving one, in you all things sustain.

Voulaia, wise one, mistress of council and law, Whose calm breath steadies both kingdom and hearth. You guide every vow with invisible thread, In your silence, the voice of right reason is read.

Khlöómorphos, Verdant, in stillness you bloom, Life stirs in the warmth of your gentle perfume. Grain rises and ripens by your quiet grace, You hold spring and autumn in one sacred place.

O Daughter of Kronos, O flame without end, You who dwell where peace and holiness blend. Accept this prayer, this reverent song, And dwell in my home, a presence lifelong.

With incense I honor your ever-bright name, May your blessings descend as a gentle flame.

[drawingsmariae]

Zeus

[aeness]

[minoanmagissa]

Strawberries aren't sacred to Hermes, koumara are!

It is said that the strawberry tree was important to Hermes because he was nursed under one.

There's this misconception going around that Hermes loves strawberries and they'd make a great offering 🍓. At first, I thought so too, but actual strawberries grow on bushes, not trees. Misleading in name, the strawberry tree (also known as the cane apple tree) produces round, red, and lychee-like fruit called koumara, not strawberries. Strawberry plants aren't even closely related to this tree! 😅

However, with this particular fruit being native to the Mediterranean and Western Europe, they're hard to come by if you don't live in those areas, so I can't imagine Hermes will be upset with an offering of strawberries. Simply use your discretion there. It's just important to know what fruit is actually sacred to him. 😊

By the way, no worries if you've been one of the people who thought Hermes was a strawberry-holic, especially because many others mention that being the case. I almost put "go strawberry picking" on my devotional acts to Hermes list... But having gone strawberry picking myself, I had a hard time picturing him being nursed under a small bush close to the ground 😆. That's actually the only reason why I looked into it further, and I'm glad I did. 😁

[jezzzebel]

Go on, put the shirt on.

Join the Zeus keyboard warrior club 🔥🔥🔥

[view-from-up-here]

[bodhi-devotee]

devotional journal tips!

they can be great for having no altar space or supplies! here are some ideas of what to put in it to get you started

prayers -

this is good for those who don’t feel safe speaking their prayers out loud. it can be meaningful to keep a written log of all your prayers instead of keeping them in your head. some day you may be able to look back at all the prayers your deity has answered, or at all the ways your prayers have evolved. if you want to memorize a prayer you can write it in the journal to repeat later!

aid + questions -

are there times in your day that you felt like you received your deities’ aid? or, are there times where you wished you’d received help and felt like you hadn’t? will you need aid in the future? similarly, do you have any little questions? write down the question or request, and then what symbols or signs you’ll be looking for as an answer. this can help you keep track of what certain signs mean and what questions you’ve asked/requests for aid you’ve done in the past that have been answered.

symbols -

have you noticed any symbols of your deity in your day that made you think of them? what did seeing that symbol make you feel like your deity was trying to communicate? this relates heavily to the section above. this can include historical symbols or signs that you’ve personally learned to associate with your deity!

offerings -

it might be helpful to record your offerings, past present & future! perhaps journaling IS the offer? if you want to offer your deity writing, do it here! out down your poems, short blurbs, brainstorming, doodles, etc. and dedicate it to your god!

drawings -

as mentioned a couple times above, if you like to draw, feel free to! you can draw the symbols you’ve seen, images of your god, and offerings you’ve given or plan to give, or just whatever comes to mind. the art you create for your deity is personal and yours to make!

divination -

jot down the results of any divination with your god specifically! if you do tarot, what cards did you pull, and what did they mean to you? what answers did your dice, smoke, or pendulum give you? it can be fun to look back after time has passed :))

i would recommend having a journal per deity for organizational purposes but also i’m not a cop! your relationship with your gods is yours alone, develop it as you see fit

happy worshipping & journaling!!!

[leosuntaurusmoon]

Lord Hermes,

Friend of mortals,

Swift-footed and wise,

Bringer of good fortune and opportunity,

May your speed and wisdom guide my actions,

May you and your luck join me on my adventures,

Thank you for your presence and guidance 🎲 🪽

[homey-worshiper]

for lady hestia

[brunoartist]

Athena / Minerva

[tyeu-deactivated20250509]