The Virgin Mary of the Ancient Greeks

The Virgin Mary of the Ancient Greeks

Author: Thermou Maria (August 12, 2012, 05:45)

General, protector, and virgin. Is it the goddess Athena or the Virgin Mary? Protector of women, children, and childbirth. Is it Artemis Paidotrophos and Locheia, or the Virgin Mary? Prudent, modest, benevolent, gentle, and compassionate, having tasted unbearable pain and known much suffering. Is it the goddess Isis, or is it the Virgin Mary, mother of Christ?

There, at the turning point of the Greek world from polytheism to Christianity—when the latter began slowly to prevail in religious consciousness and worship practice—the blending of elements from the pagan past with the new religion, far from diminishing it, contributed greatly to its establishment. After all, centuries-old archetypes were difficult to abolish. On the contrary, their assimilation by Christianity was the connecting link people needed to accept it more easily. Consequently, many ancient deities and rituals remained in the Christian calendar and were adapted to the rubric and traditions of the new religion.

Is it a coincidence that the great feast of the Virgin Mary on August 15th coincides with the birthday of the goddess Athena on the 28th of the ancient month of Hekatombaion (mid-July to mid-August), when the Panathenaia—the greatest festival of ancient Athens—was celebrated? Or is it accidental that the temple of the virgin Athena on the Acropolis was converted into a church of the Virgin Mary (Panagia Parthenos)? Besides, it was not only the Parthenon that became a Christian church, as according to Justinian’s decree all ancient sanctuaries had to be converted into churches in order to be purified. Furthermore, in many of these sites, where female pagan deities were worshipped, churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary were built, who very often assumed the attributes of the ancient goddesses as well.

The Attributes

The repeating seasonal cycles of death and rebirth, along with worship customs related to the earth, vegetation, and a good harvest, were also linked to the Virgin Mary, as written by the great folklorist Georgios Megas.

The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (Eisodia) is connected to sowing, and the Virgin Mary takes on the characteristics of the goddess Demeter, acquiring at times the epithet Aposporitissa (she who marks the end of sowing) and at others Mesosporitissa (she who marks the middle of sowing). Indeed, the ancient custom of panspermia remains—the polysporia (mixed grains), as we call it today.

Ever-Virgin (Aeiparthenos), like the ancient goddesses Athena and Artemis, the Virgin Mary was named as such from the 6th century onward. At the same time, however, she is the protector of pregnant women who, to ensure a good delivery, keep a protective botanical amulet called "the Virgin Mary's herb" (tis Panagias to chortari). There were other ancient mother deities as well: Astarte, Leto, Gaia, Isis, with roots lost in the depths of the Neolithic era. Yet, the archetype of them all is considered to be the Great Mother or Mother Earth or Great Mother Goddess, which, according to Jung, is a matriarchal model inherent in humanity even prior to gestation.

The Great Mother was, moreover, the main deity in Minoan Crete—from a certain period onward, alongside the "young god" (either as the "divine infant" or as her consort). According to the cycle of nature regarding death and rebirth, the Great Mother continually marries the young god, who is born and dies every year.

Protector

General of generals, the Virgin Mary protects her faithful—much like the goddess Athena protected the Athenians—in every difficult moment. In 626, during the siege of Constantinople by the Avars and Persians, the faithful gathered in the Great Church suddenly saw before them the Virgin Mary, having protective spread her veil over the city (recall the veil/peplos of Athena during the Panathenaia). And the greatest proof: "To you, the Champion General, the hymns of victory..." chanted the besieged Christians during the last liturgy in Hagia Sophia in 1453.

The Akathist Hymn, however, somewhat resembles the "Isiac aretalogies"—that is, the hymns to the goddess Isis—according to Archaeology Professor Mr. Michalis Tiverios. Many characteristics of the Egyptian goddess, who had been Hellenized, passed onto the Virgin Mary. "Like the Virgin Mary, this goddess also acquired myriad epithets; she was, in other words, myrionymos (of ten thousand names), such as 'ruler of all' (pantokrateira) and 'queen of heaven, earth, and the underworld,'" notes Mr. Tiverios.

The Basilica of the Parthenon

It is unknown exactly when the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church, but it is certain that under Justinian (482–565) it was consecrated and designated as the "catholic church of Athens." The worship of the pagan virgin thus gave way to the Christian Virgin, and the church received the name Panagia Athiniotissa (Our Lady of Athens). For this purpose, and in order to serve the needs of the new worship, the Parthenon underwent many interventions and was transformed into a three-aisled basilica.

The prestige of the church was immense, as even Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer celebrated his victory against the Bulgarians at the Panagia Athiniotissa. It was, after all, a resplendent church, featuring the golden icon of the Virgin Mary and wonderful mosaics. Only 188 tesserae survived from these and were transferred in 1848 to the British Museum, while today barely any traces of the original depictions remain visible. What does survive, however, are hundreds of graffiti with the names of generals, bishops, etc., as well as simple inscriptions of names, deaths, titles, professions, prayers, and symbolic depictions carved over the centuries into the columns of the church. During the Fall of Athens to the Latins, however, the church was plundered and converted into a Catholic church named Santa Maria di Atene, and later became a mosque.

Furthermore, it is to the supposed resemblance of the depiction on a marble metope of the Parthenon to the scene of the Annunciation that its preservation during the Middle Ages is owed, saving it from fanatics of the new religion who destroyed the temple’s ancient decoration. This metope is today located in the Acropolis Museum.

Article Source: https://www.tovima.gr/2012/08/12/culture/i-panagia-twn-arxaiwn-ellinwn/

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