Mystic Musings: Prometheus

This post was inspired by a quote I found on Facebook. While the actual content of the quote was a bit too "mystic sounding" and seemed to lack any actual substance, I thought I'd explore Prometheus a bit more. (The quote from FB is posted at the end of this blog post.)


Prometheus ("forethought") was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was entrusted with the task of moulding mankind out of clay. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into direct conflict with Zeus. 

The Prometheus myth first appeared in the late 8th-century BCE Greek epic poet Hesiod's Theogony. He was a son of the Titan Iapetus by Clymene, one of the Oceanids. He was brother to Menoetius, Atlas, and Epimetheus ("hindsight" or "after thinker"). In the Theogony, Hesiod introduces Prometheus a lowly challenger to Zeus's omniscience and omnipotence. In the trick at Mekone, a sacrificial meal marking the "settling of accounts" between mortals and immortals, Prometheus played a trick against Zeus. He placed two sacrificial offerings before the Olympian: a selection of beef hidden inside an ox's stomach (nourishment hidden inside a displeasing exterior), and the bull's bones wrapped completely in "glistening fat" (something inedible hidden inside a pleasing exterior). Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future sacrifices.

Henceforth, humans would keep that meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. This angered Zeus, who hid fire from humans in retribution. In this version of the myth, the use of fire was already known to humans, but withdrawn by Zeus. Prometheus, however, stole fire back in a giant fennel-stalk and restored it to humanity. This further enraged Zeus, who sent Pandora, the first woman, to live with humanity, Pandora. 

Prometheus, in eternal punishment, is chained to a rock in a mountain range where his liver is eaten daily by an eagle, only to be regenerated by night, due to his immortality. The eagle is a symbol of Zeus himself. Years later, the Greek hero Heracles slays the eagle and frees Prometheus from the eagle's torment.

Hesiod revisits the story of Prometheus in the Works and Days . Here, the poet expands upon Zeus's reaction to Prometheus's deception. Not only does Zeus withhold fire from humanity, but "the means of life," as well. Had Prometheus not provoked Zeus's wrath, "you would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year even without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the smoke, and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste." 

Hesiod also expands upon the Theogony's story of the first woman, now explicitly called Pandora ("all gifts"). After Prometheus' theft of fire, Zeus sent Pandora in retaliation. Pandora was fashioned by Hephaestus out of clay and brought to life by the four winds, with all the goddesses of Olympus assembled to adorn her. "From her is the race of women and female kind," Hesiod writes; "of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in wealth."

Despite Prometheus' warning, his brother, Epimetheus accepted this "gift" from the gods. Pandora carried a jar with her, from which were released  "evils, harsh pain and troublesome diseases which give men death". Pandora shut the lid of the jar too late to contain all the evil plights that escaped, but foresight remained in the jar, depriving humanity from hope.

Of Prometheus, Eliphas Levi in his book Magic: A History of Its Rites, Rituals, and Mysteries, writes:

"Prometheus, the Golden Fleece, the Thebaid, the Iliad and the Odyssey - these five great epics, full of the mysteries of Nature and human destinies, constitute the bible of ancient Greece, a cyclopean monument, a Pelion piled upon an Ossa, masterpiece over masterpiece, form on form, beautiful as light itself and throned upon eternal thoughts, sublime in truth. It was, however, at their proper risk and peril that the hierophants of poetry committed to the Greek people these marvellous fictions in which truth was shrined."  

The little bit of exploring I have done on Prometheus online, has lead me to believe that there are great mysteries that can be unlocked by Prometheus and his mythos. What exactly these mysteries are, remain to be discovered. 

Sources: Theoi.com, Wikipedia.com, and Magic: A History of Its Rites, Rituals, and Mysteries by Eliphas Levi

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Quote from Facebook :

This Promethean soul of man come down from heaven can only be freed from the earth-chains and the Time-Vulture by the destruction of Zeus (that is, his transformation—transfiguration into the higher form), the phenomenal world, and by its elevation to a higher power, that of the ideal, the only real.

Prometheus is moreover the revolt of the enlightened Soul against all false—popular—sacerdotal—established—hierarchical forms of religion, those religions which seek for personal salvation, founded on egoism, instead of general universal good and the salvation of all sentient beings.

Prometheus is the Grecian form of the Atman of the Vedanta— the true ego, set free from incarnations in the masks (personae) of personality and the torture wheel of Necessity and Fate, and admitted into its rest and home in the universal—immanent Cosmic Spirit, escaped from the sorrows of the world of Creation. Prometheus is the ideal “Nomos” or Law in the soul itself, the “Conscious law—the King of Kings,” the God “seated in the heaven of the heart.”

In the Agonies of this “Nous Agonistes”—the birth agonies of the race and of each individual there must ever be that Crucifixion of the ideal man represented by Odin—Prometheus—Christ; but after the Cross comes the transfiguration, in which these words of Prometheus are fulfilled,

“By myriad pangs and woes
Bound down, thus shall I ’scape these bonds.” 

-Schelling

http://www.esophoria.org

The Idea of Patron Gods...

A recent discussion on HoM's Facebook page regarding the article on Patheos.com titled "Our Gods Are Not Safe" , has given me an idea for this blog post. 

One of HoM's members, who is also a practicing Heathen of the Norse Tradition, commented on the article: 

"That's why in terms of Heathenry the worship of the gods was and continues to be a group thing. Much easier to enter into a gift-cycle with them as a group. [sic] This is not to say that you can't have your own personal reverence of the gods, or even be drawn to particular ones, but you don't necessarily want to have personal relationships with them. 

For example, in the lore if a god was in a personal relationship with a human, it usually didn't bode well for the human." 

This comment got me thinking about Hellenismos, and whether or not it is appropriate to incorporate the modern Pagan ideas of Patron/ess deities, and personal relationships with the Theoi.

For those of you who are not familiar with the terms 'Patron and Patroness', here is a definition by Elani Temperance on her blog Baring the Aegis:

"Modern patronage, in this context, is the support or encouragement of a patron, where the patron or patroness  is a divine being. In these relationships, the active party is often the deity in question, who claims the passive human. Some will describe a sense of 'being owned' by their patron. The human becomes a conduit for the work and will of the patron in question, and is required to spend large portions of their lives in active service to that deity. The bond between deity and human is personal."

Lets also note that Patron = Male God, Patroness = Female Goddess. 

While the idea of Patron deities is a popular one among Neo-Pagans, it's not exactly a well supported idea in Hellenismos. Here is what Elani has to say on the subject:

"... patronage is not part of Hellenismos, and it was not part of ancient Hellenic life.

Hellenism has its own beautiful system of kharis (religious reciprocity), and because of that, there is no need to bring in a modern concept like patrons. When we, in Hellenismos, petition the Gods for aid, we always do so with an offering. This offering can be incense, a libation, a food offering or anything else. It must be something tangible. Good thoughts and intentions don't count. This offering is given freely, joyfully, with pleasure, out of respect and love for the Gods. We ask what we feel we need--sometimes that's a new job, sometimes just a sentiment like honor and prosperity to the household--and never expect to be granted this request. Petitions aren't bribery. We give to the Gods and should They feel inclined to grand us our request, we thank Them by offering to Them again, to which the Gods might respond, to which we will sacrifice, and so on. This circular practice of voluntary giving is called kharis, and through it, we built relationships with all Theoi.

In ancient Hellas, there were priests; most of them were chosen through hereditary lines and often served short terms in the temple of a deity their family was connected to, either through the family line or by choice. There were also priests who chose to come into the service of a Theos or Theia; they were voluntary priests and they devoted themselves to the God(s) they were drawn to or especially thankful to. Neither type of priest would have worshipped only the deity they were in service to, and all would have attended state festivals, and most likely had a household practice that included a large number of deities. Note that the active party in these relationships is the human, not the deity in question.

There are a few (mythical) exceptions to this rule that could be seen as patronage: Athena was a guide and aid for Odysseus and his son, and many Gods were (temporary) aids of Hēraklēs. These were heroes, chosen by the Theoi to suffer a specific fate and to rise above it as heroes. If you are Hellenistic and you feel you are being divinely aided to make it through such a path then by all means, say you have a patron. If not, it feels like hubris (excessive pride or self-confidence) to me to make that claim. Of course, there is a degree of personal viewpoint here (i.e. we can never judge the lives of others; what feels like an epic quest of hardship to you, may seem like a breeze to me and the other way around), so for safety's sake, I stick with my viewpoint that patronage has no place in Hellenism, because as much as our lives may feel like an epic journey, we are not all Odysseus."

As we can see in the above quote, and Elani is a reliable source, patronage was not a part of ancient Hellenic practice. Also, there is the issue with modern Neo-Pagans whom 'take on' a Patron/ess and do not work with any other members of the pantheon. While there is essentially nothing wrong with this, this is not polytheism, and especially not Hellenismos. 

"Polytheism means that many gods are worshipped not only at the same place and at the same time, but by the same community and by the same individual; only the totality of the gods constitutes the divine world. […] To overlook or despise a god is to curtail the richness of the world and hence the fullness of man. - Walter Burkert

To practice Hellenismos, is to honour all the deities of the pantheon. Our levels of worship may ebb and flow depending on our lives, our personal struggles and situations, (example: if your marriage is struggling, you'll feel a pull to work more with Hera, Goddess of Marriage), but all in all, one must remember to honour all the Olympians, lest one get offended. As the article 'Our Gods Are Not Safe' mentioned, especially when it comes to the Greek Gods, jealously is a common thread that flows through the mythos of our gods. And if you view the Theoi in a slightly Jungian archetypical view point as I do, as expressed in my blog post 'Asteria's Personal Theogony', you will understand that favouring one deity over others for a long period of time will stunt your growth in spiritual development/enlightenment. 

To conclude this post, be wary of the person who claims to work with Hekate (or other Greek deity) and is therefore a practicing Hellenic. Hellenismos is the inclusion of all the Hellenic deities, with special focus on the Olympians, not just a focus on one or two.

A link to Elani Temperance's full blog post can be found here. 

EDIT:  I just wanted to add that a form of patronage did take place in Ancient Greece, but this was in a group setting and formed the basis of the religious cults. Cults sprung up all over Greece and were usually area specific. For example, the Cult of Aphrodite would appear on Cyprus where the Goddess was said to have sprung up from the sea foam (where she was "born"), or the Cult of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, which was tied into the myth about Persephone's return from the Underworld. However, even members of these cults still paid their respects to the other Olympians. 

Demeter, Goddess of Agriculture

October happens to be my favourite month. 

Actually, I think it's a popular month for all North American Pagans. After a hot, humid summer, the earth is dry and still a bit warm, but the breeze is cooler. Perfect weather for cozy sweaters, colourful scarves, fashionable boots, and mugs of warm liquid. 

This is also the time of year that most Pagans in the Northern Hemisphere associate with dying. Whether it's the Neo-Pagan celebrations of Samhain, Mexico's Day of the Dead, or just Halloween in general, there is definitely something going on during the cross-quarter period between the Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice. 

That is why, for Hellenismos of Manitoba, we celebrate and honour the Goddess Demeter, and her daughter Persephone. Along side the two Goddesses, we also take this time to acknowledge the Khthonioi (Chthonic) deities associated with the Greek Underworld. 

But first, as the first Sunday of the month approaches, lets take a look at Demeter:

Demeter was the daughter of Kronus and Rhea, and sister of Hestia, Hera, Haides, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like the other children of Kronus she was devoured by her father, but he gave her forth again after taking the emetic which Metis had given him. 

Demeter was the goddess of the tilled earth, and more especially of the earth as producing fruit, and consequently of agriculture, whence human food or bread is called by Homer, the gift of Demeter. The notion of her being the author of the earth's fertility was extended to that of fertility in general, and she accordingly was looked upon also as the goddess of marriage (along side Hera), and was worshipped especially by women. Her priestess also initiated young married people into the duties of their new situation.  As the goddess of the earth she was like the other theoi chthonioi, a subterraneous divinity, who worked in the regions inaccessible to the rays of Helios. As agriculture is the basis of a well-regulated social condition, Demeter is represented also as the friend of peace and as a law-giving goddess. 

She was often represented in works of art, though scarcely one entire statue of her is preserved. Her representations appear to have been brought to ideal perfection by Praxiteles. Her image resembled that of Hera, in its maternal character, but had a softer expression, and her eyes were less widely opened. She was represented sometimes in a sitting attitude, sometimes walking, and sometimes riding in a chariot drawn by horses or dragons, but always in full attire. Around her head she wore a garland of corn-ears or a simple ribband, and in her hand she held a sceptre, cornears or a poppy, sometimes also a torch and the mystic basket. 

The Abduction of Persephone

By her brother Zeus, Demeter became the mother of Persephone. The most prominent part in the mythos of Demeter is the rape of her daughter Persephone by Haides, and this story not only suggests the main idea embodied in Demeter, but also directs our attention to the principal seats of her worship. 

Zeus, without the knowledge of Demeter, had promised Persephone to Haides, and while the unsuspecting maiden was gathering flowers which Zeus had caused to grow in order to tempt her and to favour Haides' scheme, the earth suddenly opened and she was carried off by Haides. Her cries of anguish were heard only by Hecate and Helios. Her mother, who heard only the echo of her voice, immediately set out in search of her daughter.

Demeter wandered about in search of her daughter for nine days, without taking any nectar or ambrosia, and without bathing. On the tenth she met Hecate, who told her that she had heard the cries of Persephone, but did not know who had carried her off. Both then hastened to Helios, who revealed to them that Haides had been the ravisher, and with the consent of Zeus. Demeter in her anger at this news avoided Olympus, and dwelt upon earth among men, conferring presents and blessings wherever she was kindly received, and severely punishing those who repulsed her or did not receive her gifts with proper reverence. In this manner she came to Celeus at Eleusis. As the goddess still continued in her anger, and produced famine on the earth by not allowing the fields to produce any fruit, Zeus, anxious that the race of mortals should not become extinct, sent Iris to induce Demeter to return to Olympus.  But in vain.

At length Zeus sent out all the gods of Olympus to conciliate her by entreaties and presents; but she vowed not to return to Olympus, nor to restore the fertility of the earth, till she had seen her daughter again. Zeus accordingly sent Hermes into Erebus to fetch back Persephone. Haides consented, indeed, to Persephone returning, but gave her a part of a pomegranate to eat, in order that she might not always remain with Demeter. Hermes then took her in Haides' chariot to Eleusis to her mother, to whom, after a hearty welcome, she related her fate. At Eleusis both were joined by Hecate, who henceforth remained the attendant and companion of Persephone. Zeus now sent Rhea to persuade Demeter to return to Olympus, and also granted that Persephone should spend only a part of the year (i. e. the winter) in subterraneous darkness, and that during the rest of the year she should remain with her mother. 

Rhea accordingly descended to the Rharian plain near Eleusis, and conciliated Demeter, who now again allowed the fruits of the fields to grow. But before she parted from Eleusis, she instructed Triptolemus, Diocles, Eumolpus, and Celeus in the mode of her worship and in the mysteries. These are the main features of the mythus about Demeter, as it is contained in the Homeric hymn; in later traditions it is variously modified.

The mythos of Demeter and her daughter embodies the idea, that the productive powers of the earth or nature rest or are concealed during the winter season; the goddess (Demeter and Persephone, are here identified) then rules in the depth of the earth mournful, but striving upwards to the all-animating light. Persephone, who has eaten of the pomegranate, is the fructified flower that returns in spring, dwells in the region of light during a portion of the year, and nourishes men and animals with her fruits.

Later philosophical writers, and perhaps the mysteries also, referred the disappearance and return of Persephone to the burial of the body of man and the immortality of his soul.

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology; via theoi.com