This post is the first of a new series, a series on places where worship took place in ancient Hellas. In future installments, I will talk about the household, about temples, about caves, springs, and other special places. A little while ago, I spoke about nature religions, and how I feel Hellenismos is not a nature religion in the Neo-Pagan sense. Because I like to make life difficult for myself, I will now write a post which basically says that the ancient Hellenes practiced much of their worship in nature, partly in sacred groves. Before reading this post, it might be good to read the post about Hellenismos and nature religions first.
For me, the most famous of groves is one written about by Sophocles, in Oedipus at Colonus, amongst others, the grove of the Erinyes, which is entered by a spiritually polluted Oedipus, for a rest, and to relieve his suffering. It is here that his daughters tend to him and perform sacrifice to the Erinyes in his name:
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This is great stuff, and so relevant for those of us who honor the Theoi! My thanks for finding it and sharing with us.
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Dear Elani, It seems to me that you may have misunderstood what Gus was saying about "nature religion". The very fact that the He
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Dear Constance, It may very wel be that I have misunderstood Gus's point. It still does nto change the situation in ancient Hella