I personally think this is something that the church should acknowledge as its pretty obvious it’s an act of extreme religious persecution and bigotry and is quite frankly no different from what the Taliban did to non Muslim Afghans as these Christians in Rome who did this were religious fundamentalists. Personally I think the Catholic and orthodox Christian churches should apologize for this as they’ve already apologized for many genocidal acts they’ve done in the past such as to the native Americans and other indigenous people(s) like the Incas. Especially considering Hellenism may grow as a religion in the future. What do you think personally?
My understanding is that the Ptolemaic kings were culturally Greek but portrayed themselves in traditional Egyptian ways to help them control their people. But in terms of family life they adopted a pharaonic tradition that is quite shocking to modern readers. I want to know if it was shocking at the time, too.
Do we have any writings from elsewhere in the Hellenistic world expressing an opinion on royal brother-sister marriages in Egypt? Were people shocked or disapproving? Did it reflect poorly on the dynasty? Did any other Hellenistic dynasties adopt royal incest as a strategy?
We know that the Greeks considered themselves superior to anyone who was not one of their own. We also know, from previous questions in this community, that Greek intellectuals were convinced that Latin was a partially barbaric and partially Hellenic dialect of Greek. I would be interested to know what was the immediate reaction of the Greek elites first to the defeat of Pyrrhus, who was considered one of the best generals in the world, and then to the subjugation of the major successor kingdoms.
Was the supposed racial superiority of the Greeks merely cultural or also physical? In other words, were the Greeks convinced that they were militarily superior to all other Mediterranean civilizations? How much did the Greek leaders know about the Roman state, and how convinced were the Macedonians and Seleucids that they were capable of standing up to the Romans? Finally, I would be interested to know what the opinion of ordinary people was once the Roman conquest of Greece was complete. Would the average Athenian have considered the Romans as barbaric as the Persians, or were there differences between these two civilizations in the common view?
Any suggestions?
Anyone got any recommendations for interesting Hellenistic/Greek paganism literature? I've learnt a lot about classics but I'm new to paganism and I'm interested to learn more - it seems to be reletively underrepresented on the internet. Thanks y'all :)
If you complete the To the Strongest mission in the Hellenistic empire mission tree it says you should get claims on all of Alexanders empire and a legion called ''The Silver Shileds''. Not only do you not get claims on the whole empire (just mesopotamia, nile delta, and some of macedonia) the code for getting the silver shields legion event is marked #TODO. This is a PAID FEATURE and after 2 patches hasn't been added/changed.
This one is a long one so brace yourselves
It all began when I was staying at my uncle's house out in the woods. I was bored so I was exploring the wilderness and surrounding area. I came across this decrepit and abandoned shack and decided to go inside. Inside was completely empty except for his hatch. Inside the hatch was a long series of staircases and ladders. Climbing down through this dirt tunnel with spiderwebs and skeletons for a good 10 minutes led me to this very well-maintained and very well preserved church-looking sanctuary.
I soon discovered people in red robes with gold accents with red face masks with that symbol that was on a spartan's shield (the best way I can describe it is it's like an inverted V with a circle around it). I met the high priestess of this cult. A skinny and tall woman with a similar robe to the others except hers was more frilly and the headpiece was partially see-through, like a red bridal veil.
She told me that the only way to stay is to become one of them and become a greek cultist. I joined because "I had nothing better to do" (not a joke) and put on the garb of the cultists and took part in a few rituals, those rituals I don't remember. I was warned ahead of time that I would have to do ANYTHING that the Priestess or the Gods said. To the letter. As a result, human sacrifices were very common.
One day, some people were lined up to be sacrificed, but I was not one of them. I had nothing to do that day so I wandered around the surprisingly large facility. Then I discovered in the back a locked door with a tiny window. Peering through the window, I saw an altar to the Norse Gods. The Allfather, Odin, being the centerpiece.
Curious and a bit confused, I politely asked the High Priestess why there is a Norse Altar in this Hellenistic Sanctuary. The entire room and all the other cultists went completely silent. The air stiffened, the air became cold. The High Priestess raised her knife and pointed at me, telling the others to kill me for heresy.
I started running away, coming across the Norse Altar. I broke open the door and kneeled before the Altar to Odin. Using my own blood as an offering, I pledged my allegiance to Odin. In return, the Allfather granted me his spear, Gungnir.
Gungnir, for those who don't know, has the nifty little ability where when thrown, it never misses this target. With the High Priestess on my tail, I threw the mighty spear, and it pierced her throat. She was killed instantly.
... keep reading on reddit ➡
So, I have recently found out what Hellenistic paganism was and felt very drawn to it as I'malready really into Greek mythology. I am mostly just teaching myself how to be a pagan but I would also like advice from real experienced pagans. I primarily am wanting to make Persephone my patron goddess along with the 10 Muses and Hyacinthus. Though I also like to worship others, these are just my main ones I've felt drawn to. So basically I just want some advice on how to start my Hellenistic pagan journey. I know a lot about the gods and goddesses but not much about how to actually do magic or work with my gods and goddesses.
Hey,
So. As I posted before, the Unitarian Universalist church I would theoretically (sans Covid) go to and support has a Pagan Interest Circle.
Turns out they are all Wiccans.
I used to be Wiccan when I was 14. That was how I found Apollo. He was pretty cool. So when I was like, "Hey, Wicca suckks, I'm gonna be an Atheist forever now!", Apollo kinda stuck around the entire time. And I would pray to him on airplanes. It was a thing.
Anyway. This Unitarian group. I just naively asked to join a spring ritual. And I told them that I followed Hellenistic Gods. Ares and Apollo, My best bros.
The response I got was: "Cool. We're Wiccan. Here are the 500 materials you need for this spring ritual. Also, we'd love to learn about "Hellenistic Paganism." We've literally never heard of that before. But as Unitarians, we love diversity!"
So, uh, that happened. And I'm usually the person on here arguing against everyone for being too orthodox and rigid. Goddamn,
I am neither very familiar with ancient military history, nor the bible, but out of interest of Carravaggios painting depicting Judith beheading Holofernes, I found a video that retells the story. The speaker, when asked by the audience how its possible that just killing the commander was enough to win the war, said that at the time it was a different society, with high personal loyalty to the commander, and that one did not go into war for their country, but rather for God and their commander. This seems a bit strange to me. Was there no chain of command? I can certainly see how the death of a commander mid-battle is problematic and extremely demoralizing, but as far as I understood it, this was not during a battle, it was while preparing for a fight, with all the soldiers in the camp.
It seems that, for much of Egyptian history, camels were unknown in the region. Today, however, they are an important pack animal and a crucial element of trans-Saharan travel. How did the introduction of the camel affect the economies of places like Ancient Egypt, Canaan, or Arabia?
I've read in a number of places that during this period, the Spartans won a reputation as excellent mercenaries, but I can't remember hearing about any individual instances apart from Xanthippus and Xenephon's Ten Thousand. Were they actually as common a sight as supposed? What exactly was the process through which they were recruited?
Hey, guys! I’m learning about different sects and how this affects my chart. I have a night (nocturnal) chart — I am a Libra sun in the third house with a cancer moon in the 12th and a Leo rising. Since I have a night chart, I know that my moon is emphasized in traditional astrology. However, the ruler of my ascendent (Leo) is the sun. How does this translate? Is my moon the more “dominant” luminary body or is my sun? I appreciate any help! Thank you!
Doing a series of presentations on Hellenistic Mystery Schools. I’ve started with Edith Hamilton’s Mythology and am almost done with Pagan Regeneration by H.R Willoughby. Any other recommendations?
Hello all!
I am wanting to take a year 1 astrology course that is based in Hellenistic Astrology. I want live/interactive instruction so I am not considering Chris Brennan right now.
I am debating between Austin Coppock and Acyuta-Bhava Das. Has anyone studied with either of them?
Looking for testimonials for either or recommendations for others to consider. Thank you in advance.
