"There are countless characteristics of Dionysos for those who wish to represent him in painting or sculpture, by depicting which even approximately the artist has captured the god. For instance, the ivy clusters forming a crown are the clear mark of Dionysus, even if the workmanship is poor; and a horn just springing from the temples reveals Dionysus, and a leopard, though but just visible, is a symbol of the god;" - Philostratus, Imagines 1.15 (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.)
when i started worshipping the Theoi i did not expect to fall as deeply in love with Zeus as i have. but how silly? He is their king, i worship His court.
did any deities sneak up on you guys in your practice?
I never thought I'll work with any other deities because I am so focused on Father Apollo, but They suddenly made Their appearances out of no where LOL. ( forever grateful that They appeard tho 😂 )
This is not a serious analysis of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, as searching for a logically unified motive behind the goddess's actions is overinterpretation, potentially diminishing the original text's intrinsic value.
The relationship between Demeter and Hades in hymn is not direct adversaries. A careful reading of the text reveals a more nuanced dynamic: Demeter never questions the marriage itself. In fact, Helios' words serve as a powerful defense for Hades (The arguments still used by some today. Though I don't agree with them.):
The marriage was ordained by the king and father of gods.
No one else among all the immortals is responsible [aitios] except the cloud-gatherer Zeus himself, who gave her to Hādēs as his beautiful wife. So he gave her to his own brother.
2. The groom's lineage is unobjectionable.
It is not unseemly to have, of all the immortals, such a son-in-law as Hādēs, the one who makes many sēmata. He is the brother [of Zeus], whose seed is from the same place.
3. The groom's status and honor are considerable.
And as for tīmē, he has his share, going back to the very beginning, when the three-way division of inheritance was made. He dwells with those whose king he was destined by lot to be.
Whether Demeter ever contemplated annulling the marriage, she ultimately realizes swiftly that challenging its legitimacy is futile (though the fictional tale in lines 120-135 can be read as an indirect rebuttal, focusing more on condemning the act of abduction itself). Consequently, she directs her fury toward Zeus and refuses to associate with the Olympian gods.
From this perspective, Demeter's plan of resistance appears remarkably shrewd. Her actions threaten to destroy the entire race of mortals and, by extension, deprive the Olympian inhabitants of their honors (tīmai). This course of action first compelled Zeus to withdraw his support for his brother.
Yet, her strategy ultimately serves one ultimate purpose: to secure the privilege of entering the underworld to see her daughter. In the Homeric world, a natural law stood as a barrier between the gods and the underworld—a realm the gods detested, where only a select few were permitted to set foot. Demeter, however, proves her right to stand among the gods of the dead by bringing all living things to the brink of death.
And she [Demeter] was visited by grief [akhos] that was even more terrifying than before: it makes you think of the Hound of Hādēs. In her anger at the one who is known for his dark clouds, the son of Kronos, she shunned the company of gods and lofty Olympus.
She made that year the most terrible one for mortals, all over the Earth, the nurturer of many. It was so terrible, it makes you think of the Hound of Hādēs. The Earth did not send up any seed.
But no one could persuade her in her thinking or in her intention [noēma], angry as she was in her thūmos, and she harshly said no to their words. She said that she would never go to fragrant Olympus, that she would never send up the harvest of the earth, until she saw with her own eyes her daughter, the one with the beautiful looks.
This overturns the Homeric conception of the underworld, positioning a life-bearing goddess as a ruler of the dead. In Ovid's work, Ceres explicitly states this demand (Fasti, 611-612). This privilege, as Helios stated, was precisely the honor Hades drew by lot. Hermes' message from Zeus implicitly conveys a concern: that the bride's mother might, through this marriage, claim a share of your rightful realm.
For she [Demeter] is performing a mighty deed, to destroy [root phthi-] the tribes of earth-born humans, causing them to be without menos, by hiding the Seed underground—and she is destroying [root phthi-] the tīmai of the immortal gods. She has a terrifying anger, and she refuses to keep company with the gods. Instead, far removed, she is seated inside a temple fragrant with incense. She has taken charge of the rocky citadel of Eleusis.
Hades' response was equally intriguing. What he promised Persephone was almost the inverse of Demeter's goal, not the kingship of the dead, but the dominion over all living creatures here, accompanied by proper rites and offerings. To me, it seemed almost suspect: did he truly possess the share he promised? Has he been waiting all along for Persephone's return, so that she might take her place among the gods of the living? Anyway, judging by pomegranate seed's trickery, he also had no intention of granting Demeter the privilege of entering the Underworld—at least not for the time being.
He did not want her to stay for all time over there, at the side of her honorable mother, the one with the dark robe.
Regarding the hymn's outcome, Demeter's plan is not fully realized. The ultimate concession from Zeus is granting Persephone the right to travel to and from the Underworld, not Demeter herself. The mother is still meant to remain among the Olympian gods in heaven.
He [Zeus] assented that your daughter, every time the season comes round, would spend a third portion of the year in the realms of dark mist underneath, and the other two thirds in your company and that of the other immortals.
Yet, beyond the hymn's narrative, Demeter's triumphant march among the dead is now unstoppable. Her apprentice, Triptolemus, who spreads grain, will become the fourth judge after Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. She herself will descend into the Underworld to be with Persephone. On curse tablets, she is invoked alongside the other gods of the underworld and the souls of the departed.
I've already done a post on Oracles of the Dead and Necromancy; however, it's about time I do a deep-dive into actual ancient Greek death rites and how death was perceived in antiquity.
[very long post under cut]
The chief new feature revealing itself to comparative study in the development of religion in the post-Homeric period is the worship of chthonic deities, that is, of deities dwelling in the interior of the earth. And yet it is an undoubted fact that these divinities are among the oldest possessions of Greek religious faith. Indeed, bound as they are to the soil of the country, they are the true local deities, the real gods of home and country¹.
In Athens, it was written into law that if you stumbled upon an unburied corpse, you would have to cover them with dirt², even if it was just a sprinkle, as seen in the story of Antigone and Polyneices.
It was believed that a body left unburied would roam the land with a vengeance—it was a punishment reserved only for the sacrilegious and traitors of their country¹. While in modern praxis, we often consider death to be purely miasmic and taboo—taking care of the dead and offering dead relatives regular gifts were considered one's duties. It was both legal law and a religious requirement.
To intentionally leave a body unburied was to go against the Gods and incur divine retribution (ἄγος), or the anger of the Gods.
Ἄγος (agos) represented to the ancient Greeks the anger of the Gods for a terrible crime. As offensive human behavior ὕβρις (hubris) lacked 'shame', i.e. modesty, αἰδώς (aidos). This provoked the divine curse of guilt. [...] As opposed to 'honorable and respectful' behavior, ἄγος (agos) is used for every act which can cause disgrace o a person or a state, an act which always subsequently requires purification, restoring the offender to a previous 'good' condition³.
It was believed to be worst for the person who withheld the proper burial, than the person whose burial was refused. It was a son's duty to bury his father and offer regular gifts at his grave; if the son couldn't bury his father, then the Demarch would see to the burial¹. The details of what happens to women is less clear, although it's likely that the responsibility for taking care of a woman's burial (regardless of whether she was married or not) fell to the oldest male of her family, often her brother or uncle, or her son if no one else was available.
The ancient Greeks took funeral preparation very seriously. Those who intentionally neglected to bury a parent, a relative, or a close friend were deemed unfit to live with the rest of the community. One could be disqualified for civic office on this alone, such as the case of Philon who was disqualified after it was discovered that his mother had paid a stranger to take care of her funeral rites over her own son, who she was sure would abandon his duties to her.
Now that we've established just how important it was to care for the dead in antiquity, we can move onto the three distinct stages:
Dying,
Being dead but uninterred, and
Being dead and interred⁴.
Robert Garland, author of 'Greek Way of Death,' notes that the Greeks did not believe that one's soul immediately left their body after death. It was a lengthy process, which often required the participation of friends and relatives⁴. Garland writes:
"Consideration must be paid to the condition not only of the very aged, the morally wounded and the incurably sick, but also to persons in perfect health facing the immediate prospect of death."
In the case of Alkestis, her handmaid tells us: 'When she knew that her appointed day had come, she washed her white skin in river water, took out a dress and some jewels from her cedar chest, and adorned herself magnificently. Then standing before the altar of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, she prayed, "Mistress, as I pass beneath the earth, I fall before you and pray for the last time. Look after my children ... Let them not die before their time, as their mother died." Then she went up to all the altars in Admetos' house and adorned them with wreaths and prayed, plucking tresses of myrtles.'
"The last moments of Sokrates (Socrates) are reported in Plato's Phaedo. After dismissing the women so that there should be no weeping or display of violent emotion, Sokrates (Socrates) bathed and continued chatting with his friends. Upon receiving the cup of hemlock [poison], he prayed that his 'change of residence' (metoikesis) as he put it, might be blessed with good fortune."
[...] When Oedipus knew that his hour was at hand he called for running water, in order to wash himself and make a libation (choai). After he had bathed and dressed 'in the manner ordain by custom,' Oedipus wept with his daughter. Then, being summoned by a mysterious voice, he committed them to the care of Theseus and ordered everyone, except Theseus, to depart as not to witness the moment of his passing.
Ajax [...] before taking his own life prays to Zeus that his brother Teukros may be the first to come across his body and give it a decent burial; to Hermes that his death may be swift; and finally to the Furies that the hated Atreidai may be made to pay for his death. Then, after bidding farewell to his homeland and hearth, to Athens, his relatives, and to Troy, he falls upon his sword.
These four instances are a far cry from the typical, as noted by Garland: the first, a substitute-sacrifice to Thanatos, the second a condemned criminal and philosopher, the third a hero getting spirited away, and the fourth a suicide⁵.
However, Garland highlights their preparations for death:
The ritual bath (Alkestis, Socrates, and Oedipus)
The commitial of one's children to the safe care of others (Alkestis and Oedipus)
The settling of one's affairs (Socrates)
The prayer to Hestia (Alkestis and Ajax)
The prayer for safe passage to Hades (Socrates and Ajax)
The farewell to family and friends (Alkestis, Oedipus and Ajax)
These preparations were often made alone or with a small group of friends, and included the ritual bath, prayers and final offerings to the Gods, and finishing any last minute business. There's a between period, from after the person dies and before they are properly buried. As mention earlier, the soul of someone left unburied cannot properly rest in Hades and is forced to wander around the land.
The funeral, or the kedeia (meaning caring for), was just the start of a multi-day long process. There are three distinct parts:
Laying out of the body,
moving the body to the place of interment (burial or cremation).
and finally, the disposition of its cremated or inhumed remains⁶.
After the eyes and mouth have been closed by the next of kin, the body is washed and anointed by women of the family, and clothed in clean garments. It is then laid out upon a bier in the interior of the house for the ceremonial lying-in-state. In Athens marjoram was strewn under the body, for superstitious reasons, and also four broken-off vine branches; in thee grave, also, the corpse lay on vine branches.
[...] At the door of the room, for the benefit of those leaving the house who had incurred religious defilement by coming in contact with the corpse, was placed a bowl full of pure water brought in from another house. Cypress branches fixed upon the house door outside warned the scrupulous that a corpse was in the house. The head of the dead person was generally decked with garlands and fillets, in a manner unknown to the Homeric age, as a sign, it appears, of respect...¹
The funeral was anything but simple.
It was very throughout, with numerous rules and regulations. It must be noted that the funeral rite could vary greatly depending on the city-state, although none was stricter than Athens.
Some of these Athenian laws⁶ included:
During the Prothesis:
The deceased was to be be buried as followed: in three white garments, the strôma (bed covering/cloth), the endyma (underwear), and the epiblema (outer wear); The deceased had to be covered, and could be buried in their covers.
The prothesis (laying-out) had to take place inside the house.
The deceased had to be carried on a bier. It was illegal to cover the bier with the shrouds (the fabric used to wrap the body).
During the Ekphora:
The ekphora (procession) had to take place the next day before sunrise; during this, men were required to walk in the front and woman in the back.
No woman was allowed to enter the house of the deceased or to be part of the ekphora who is under sixty years old, with the exception of close relatives within the degree of second cousins.
The deceased had to be taken in silence to the grave*.
No man or woman was allowed to inflict wounds on themselves or indulge in other excesses of grief. Singing dirges and/or lamenting at other graves was considered out of line, too.
The attendees could bring no more than three chous wine (also known as oinochoe) to the grave and one of oil—the vessels had to be removed afterwards.
After the Ekphora:
It was law to hold a preliminary sacrifice (prosphagion), but you couldn't sacrifice an ox at the grave. There were two types of sacrifice: libation (choe/choai) and blood-propitiation (haimacouria). They would offer kollyba, too—the first fruits of the crop, and fresh dried fruit.
According to tradition, the bier and the plaids (strôma) had to be taken from the grave and placed indoors; the next day a priest would come to purify the house.
One should not speak ill of the dead, and any previous animosity was expected to be forgiven now that the person was dead.
The purification process included purifying the house with seawater, followed by rubbing the house with earth and washing the dirt away with clear water. After the house was purified, a sacrifice was made at the hearth, and the funeral was officially over.
These laws don't cover all of the rules that Athenians were expected to adhere by. Erwin Rohde, author of 'Psyche: Cult of Souls,' writes:
Solon's legislation had to restrain and limit such exaggeration in many ways, and in particular, the tendency to increase unduly the lamentation sung over the dead body required to be kept within bounds.
Only the women of the immediate family of the dead might take part in it, for to them alone the cult of the departed belonged as a duty. The violent expression of grief, the tearing of the cheeks, beating the breast and head, was forbidden, as also was the singing of 'poems,' i.e. in all probability regular funeral dirges.¹
In several books ('Psyche,' and 'Solon of Athens'), Solon's intentions with these laws are brought under scrutiny. Beyond the fact, that Solon may not have just been one person—some believe that the purpose of having these strict laws was to remove the power women had as the primary planners and overseers of funerary rites, and give the power to city-state.
Before regulations, the family had total control of where the deceased was buried, which often times was the family residence. In Athens, this led to new legislation where the dead had to be buried out of city-limits², often on the small island of Rhene. In Sparta, burying the dead within the city walls was preferred, though. Some were buried close to the temples as a way to ensure their graves weren't desecrated by enemies².
Athens required the deceased to be buried outside city-limits.
Sparta allowed the deceased to be burned within city-limits, occasionally by temples (ex., Pausanias was said to be buried before the temple of Athena or Artemis, sources vary)
The Tarentines and Megarens buried all their dead within city-limits by word of an oracle.
Peribolos tombs line a roadway in the Kerameikos cemetery of Athens. This road leads to one of the major gates of the city. (Photo: Wendy Closterman)
After the funeral (kedeia) came a feast.
Up until this point, it was customary for the relatives of deceased to be fasting for several days now. The perideipnon, or funeral feast, would be hosted at deceased's house, likely immediately after the funeral (or perhaps after the purification).
At this feast, the dead man was considered the host and it was regarded as his expression of thanks to his comrades for their courtesy in burying him. Since it was the duty of the nearest surviving relative to provide for all the customary obsequies (funeral rites), this entertainment was provided at his house².
Feasts would often be held for the deceased as the ancient Greeks believed that their ancestors still needed food and drink, and it was the duty of the living to provide that for them. It was believed that if the family did not have feast in the dead's honor regularly, they would become malevolent and becoming wandering shades looking to punish their relatives for abandoning them.
It was customary for friends and family to give gifts to the death.
An example of one of these gifts would be wreaths for the dead. These wreaths would often be present at the at the funeral, although the flowers greatly varied depending on season. It seem common to use parsley when other flowers were not available². These wreaths would often be placed on the head of the deceased as a simple offering, or just decorations.
Other customary gifts included honey-cake, which may have been an offering to Cerberus rather than the deceased, and an obol (coin-offering) for Charon, the ferryman of Death, although this was not customary everywhere.
A late innovation by no means universally observed in Greece was the placing of an obol between the teeth of the deceased as payment to Charon for being ferried across the Styx. [...] Coins are not actually found in Athenian graves, however, before the Hellenistic period. They were not always inserted in the mouth, some being placed here, others randomly in the grave⁷.
Perfume was often involved—although how it was incorporated isn't as well-documented. The most common gift was undoubtedly pottery though, according to Garland, although they would often be buried with the deceased.
Garland notes that over time, the ancient Greeks began to give less to the deceased. By the 4th Century, they would give the deceased just a couple flasks of olive oil, known as lekythoi. Olive oil was considered a luxury item; the survivors would sometimes buy smaller containers just to avoid filling the entire vase up.
After the main funeral, the grave would primary be visited during mourning holidays, such as genesia—likely the birthday of the deceased, although family were expected to visit more often. In Athens, they also had the nekysia (nekya/nekyia), which was a general holiday dedicated to all the dead. On these days, offerings would be left at the graves of the departed.
In early antiquity, likely just in Mycenean Greece, it was common to host funeral games in honor of the deceased as well. These games often included horse and/or chariot racing, boxing, wrestling, armed combat, archery, and javelin throwing². It is unlikely that these happened at regular funerals, and were most likely reserved for heroes or persons of extreme significance.
If you're interested in reading more, I highly recommend Frank Graves, "The Burial Customs of Ancient Greece", and Robert Garland, "Greek Way of Death," as they were both super helpful in my research.
[1] Erwin Rohde, "Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief,"
[2] Frank Graves, "The Burial Customs of Ancient Greece,"
[3] Evaggelia Kiosi, "Ancient Greek Ἄγος and the Warrior Ethos," 49.
[4] Robert Garland, "Greek Way of Death," 13.
[5] Robert Garland, "Greek Way of Death," 19.
[6] Josine Blok, "Solon of Athens," 207-208, 219.
[7] Robert Garland, "Greek Way of Death," 23.
Ancient Greek Religion & Hellenic Polytheism: A Reading Guide
I’ve been wanting to make something like this for a long while, and talking to my friend @olympianbutch today gave me the push I needed to do so. When I was starting out as a Hellenic Polytheist years ago, this is the kind of resource I needed. So I hope you all enjoy and find this helpful!
Introductory Reading:
Ancient Greek Religion by Jon D. Mikalson
Athenian Popular Religion by Jon D. Mikalson
Greek Religion by Jan N. Bremmer
On Greek Religion by Robert Parker
Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship by LABRYS
Comprehensive Guides:
Greek Religion by Walter Burkert
Companion to Greek Religion edited by Daniel Ogden
Understanding Greek Religion by Jennifer Larson
Rethinking Greek Religion by Julia Klindt
The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion edited by Esther Eidinow and Julia Klindt
Polytheism and Society by Robert Parker
The Gods and Theology:
Ancient Greek Cults by Jennifer Larson
Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion edited by Esther Eidinow, Julia Klindt, and Robin Osborne
Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion by Ellie Mackin Roberts
Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World (Routledge Series)
Offerings and Sacrifice:
Personal Experience and Materiality in Greek Religion by K.A. Rask
Singing for the Gods by Barbara Kowalzig
Smoke Signals for the Gods by F.S. Maiden
Sharing with the Gods by Theodora Suk Fong Jim
Primary Sources:
Theogony & Works and Days by Hesiod
The Homeric Hymns
The Orphic Hymns
Sources for the Study of Greek Religion by David Rice and John Stambaugh
Greek Religion: A Sourcebook by Valerie M. Warrior
Ancient Greek Religion: A Sourcebook by Emily Kearns
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