Following the Footsteps of St. Paul (23)

The Cult of Asclepius at Epidaurus

The Asklepieion of Epidauros or the Sanctuary of the god Ascelpius was one of the most important and revered Ascelpieia in the ancient world. It flourished as a place of worship and healing from the fifth century B.C. The major festival were the Great Asklepieia which were celebrated every 4 years, 9 days after the Isthmian Games. The worship of Asklepios (Ascelpius) only ended in 426 A.D. when it was outlawed by the Christian Emperor Theodosius II.

This is what the Asclepieia looks like today

a reconstructed view of the Asclepieia

note the Temple of Asklepios in the centre

this is what remains of the Temple of Asklepios

a reconstruction of what the temple looks like

poster in the museum in Epidaurus

The god's cure was based on the faith of the patient. After the ceremony of purification and the appropriate sacrifices made, the patient went to sleep in the precinct of the sanctuary. The god would appear to the patient personally or in the patient's dream. He then gave instructions for the patient's treatment. The therapy involved the epiphany of the god's appearance as himself or in the form of his sacred creatures which include snakes and dogs.

Archaeological finds from the site include large numbers of surgical instruments indicating that the Sanctuary serves as a hospital and a place of healing.

view of the amphitheater from the top seat

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Great Paintings from the Great Meoteron (3)

sanctification of the water

prayer

listening

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Great Paintings from the Great Meteoron (3)

painting icons

holy relics

Holy Communion

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Great Paintings from the Great Meteoron (2)

the Divine Liturgy

confession

the choir

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Great paintings from The Great Meteoron (1)

studying the Holy Scripture

Kostas Adamos is a talented painter who painted his deep appreciation of the Greek Orthodox faith and tradition. His paintings are a reflection of this and is displayed in the Theological Galery of the Holy Monastery of the Great Metereon.

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The Cybelen cult, named after Cybele, goddess of Asia Minor, was officially recognised by Rome in 200B.C. Its rites include sacred prostitution. Perhaps a form of this cult lowered the scruples of the Corinthian believers by leading them into temple prostitution ( 1 Cor. 6:12-20). The ruins on top of the hill is the acrocorinth. At one time, legend has it that its was home to one thousand prostitutes.

Here are two views of the acrocorinth from different parts of ancient Corinth. It is a long way and steep climb. Me wonders if the devotees of this cult, after climbing the hill will still have the stamina and energy to perform?

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Some photos of the Corinth canal. Imagine in the old days, they have to drag their ships across the isthmus on rollers

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At the acropolis of Mycenae

what am I doing?

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One may sympathize with Paul as he faced rejection and persecution in Philippi and Thessaloniki as Kar Yong has written in his post. We always assume that Christians are being persecuted because they refuse to worship the deified Caesars. That may be the case in Gentiles but not so for the Jews. The Jews were excepted from worshipping Caesar.

What possible reasons may there being for the violent reaction of the Jews toward Paul? Throughout Jewish history there have been many persons claiming to be the Messiah.

I suggest that this may be due to the Mithraic mystery cult. Remember there were many mystery cults around at that time and some of them were very powerful and influential. The Mithraic cult worship Mithra, a Persian god, during the first four centuries AD. Only men were admitted so it was very popular among the soldiers. Again we are reminded that many of the landowners of Philippi and Thessaloniki were former Roman legionnaires.

There are a number of similarities between this cult and Christianity that the Jews may be mistaken in thinking Paul was preaching a Mithraic-Messiah cult. Later, this cult became Christianity's chief rival religion in the Roman era.

(1) Both appealed to the masses instead of limiting to the upper castes or intellectuals
(2) Both has baptism
(3) Both has a ritual similar to the Lord's supper
(4) Both preach a disciplined life, avoiding the ecstasies and orgies of the other cults
(5) Both taught a cosmic struggle between good and bad, with good being victorious; a great flood, immortality, a resurrection, final eternal punishment, a heaven, a hell, and even a festive day in December 25th !

No wonder Paul has a problem. Which one-ar?

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HT: Michelle

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(monument to the Battle of Thermopylae)

One of the spots I have wanted to visit on this trip is Thermopylae (nothing to do with St. Paul) – the site of the battle of Thermopylae. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to visit it. I was the first off the bus and forced Kos, our Greek guide to take me to the hill where the bodies of the 300 Spartans were burnt and to see for myself the site of the battlefield.

Here are some of my previous posts on this

King Leonidas
300 comic
300 movie
Battle of Thermopylae

This is the second Persian invasion in 480 B.C.. The first invasion by King Darius was stopped by the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. Though the Greeks were not conquered, the war had caused them dearly. Many cities including Athens were burnt and their economies destroyed. This invasion was by the new King Xerxes.

(King Leonidas of Sparta)

(there are two hills on the left and between them is the pass,

what is in the foreground was at that time part of the sea)

I am fascinated by Sparta and their warrior culture. Reminds me of the Klingons (Star Trek fans will understand). Their males and females brought up as warriors and spend their days training and night carousing. All the work were done by the Mycenaean which the Spartan had enslaved. “I am Sparta” was a cry that only citizens were allowed to use. When a Spartan soldier go to war, his mother or wife would tell them “to come back with your shield or on it.” No surrender. Do or die.

I am also fascinated by King Leonidas. Sparta, unlike other Greek city-states have two kings at one time. At the time of the Persian invasion, the other king has died and Leonidas was in sole command. He consulted the Oracle at Delphi.

The legend of Thermopylae as told by Herodotus has it that Leonidas consulted the Oracle at Delphi before setting out to meet the Persian army. The Oracle is said to have made the following prophecy in hexameter verse:

O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon!
Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus.
Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country
Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.










I am impressed by Leonidas' nobility that he set forth knowing that he have to give his life in exchange for his country. What greater gift can one man give to his country? This is a valuable lesson about sacrifice.

(the site of the battle underneath the trees)

(The memorial stone over site where the warriors were cremated)

As a memorial to the 300 Spartans that stayed to fight, 3 inscriptions were set up.

The first one, in honor of all, read:
Here did four thousand men from Pelops' land
Against three hundred myriads bravely stand.

Another was for the Spartans alone:

Go, stranger, and to Lacedaemon tell
That here, obeying her behests, we fell.

The third inscription was from a seer of Leonidas:

The great Megistias' tomb you here may view,
Whom slew the Medes, fresh from Spercheius' fords.
Well the wise seer the coming death foreknew,
Yet scorned he to forsake his Spartan lords.

Esther from the Bible

Esther, Queen of Persia and wife of Assuerus, who is identified with Xerxes (485-465 B.C.). She was a Jewess of the tribe of Benjamin, daughter of Abihail, and bore before her accession to the throne the name of Edissa (Hádássah, myrtle). Her family had been deported from Jerusalem to Babylon in the time of Jechonias (599 B.C.). On the death of her parents she was adopted by her father's brother, Mardochai, who then dwelt in Susan, the capital of Persia. King Assuerus (Xerxes) being angered at the refusal of his wife Vasthi to respond to his invitation to attend a banquet that he gave in the third year of his reign, divorced her and ordered the most attractive maidens of the kingdom brought before him that he might select her successor from among them.

Xerxes may have married Esther at 482 or 481 B.C. before he went to war to avenge his father, and fought the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. There is no record whether Ester went to Greece with Xerxes or stayed at Babylon.

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Kar Yong and Alex cheering for the persecuted Christians in the theatre in Philippi

If you have been arrested for being a Christian,
will there be enough evidence to convict you?

Following the Food_steps of St.Paul (10)

Souvlaki: (lit: 'skewer') Anything grilled on a skewer (lamb, chicken, pork, swordfish, shrimp). Most common is lamb, pork or chicken, often marinated in oil, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon.

Moussaka: eggplant casserole. There are other variations besides eggplant, such as zucchini or rice, but the eggplant version melitzanes moussaka is most popular.

does anyone have any idea what this was?

Ravani, is a golden yellow cake made with farina or semolina and topped with a light sugar/honey or orange-flavored syrup.


Yemista: Baked stuffed vegetables. Usually tomatoes, peppers, or other vegetables hollowed out and baked with a rice and herb filling.



Grilled lamb chops (païdakia) with lemon, oregano, salt and pepper

Salmon salad


Skordalia: thick garlic and potato puree, usually accompanies deep fried fish/cod.


and someone is playing with his food again

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spiritual strongholds: rulers, powers, princes, and principalities in the high places....

Delphi


The Deplhi sanctuary is located on a slope on the mountainous range of Krisa below Mount Parnassos. It can be reached by means of a road along the mountain ranges or from Corinth. Other than the sanctuary, it is also the site of the Pythian Games.

The first diviner of Deplhi oracle was the mother of the gods, Gaia, The second was her daughter, Themis and the third the female Titan, Phoibos. Apollo slew Python, the guardian of Gaia's oracle, making himself master of the oracle. (Python was the daughter of Gaia. Because he had killed a god, as punishment Apollo have to leave Delphi every three months during winter in addition to the eight years he served to cleanse himself of his sin of murder. He buried her underneath the omphalos). The temple in Delphi was dedicated to Apollos.

omphalos (navel-stone)

Another story was that Zeus wishing to find the centre of the earth sent two eagles to the ends of the earth and they met at Delphi thus making it the centre or 'navel' of the earth. An omphalos (navel stone) mark the centre of the earth.

The Apollonian oracle was the most celebrated and venerated place in the ancient world. It was a powerful spiritual stronghold in a high place. It was the centre of the earth. It also became one of the richest from offerings from the many Greeks and barbarian city-states. Croesus, king of Lydia sent a lion of solid gold weighing 250kg, set up a pyramid made of 117 bricks of "white gold." The oracle were protected by Phoibos during the Persian wars when huge boulders rolled down the hill on the invaders.

Delphi owed it fame to that fact that Apollos himself spoke through the Pythia. The Pythia was a woman over 50 years. No one know how she was selected. Yet, for nine days of the year when she spoke, the whole ancient world listened. Modern men tried to explain the trances, the ecstasies and oracles of the Pythia by noting that she breathed vapours from the 'chasm of earth', chewing laurel leaves and drinking from the water of the Kassotis spring (which contained "hydroflurocarbonate"). Another explanation may be that of a supernatural order. There seem to be a strong linkage to goddess worship which leads all the way to Gaia.

Many scholars offer evidence to support the idea that the Pythia was an office originating in the cult of Gaia. Dempsey states that the office of the Pythia was always held by a female (originally a virgin, but later at least fifty years old and married) and he points out the connection between the Pythia's gender and the cult of Mother Earth (53-55). Dempsey also points out that the ecstatic nature of the Pythia's prophecy was an abundant characteristic in the cult of Gaia (53-5). A detailed account of the frenzy or mania of the Pythia is presented when Appius Claudius Pulcher visits the oracle at Delphi in Lucan's Civil War (5.64-236). Additionally, many scholars believe that the Python's death at the hand of Apollo symbolized the change in oracles at Delphi (Powell 172). more

There may be a linkage to the spirit possessing the slave girl in Acts 16:16-19. As Kar Yong shows, the spirit may be the Python, daughter of Gaia. It is interesting to note how the Enemy twist the words to change its meaning. Note the "telling you to the way to be saved" and "telling you a way to be saved." By one 'article' the meaning changed. Jesus instead of the way becomes a way. Reminds me of another incident when another serpent said to Eve, "You will not surely die" (Gen.3:4). A twist of words makes a world of difference.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12 NIV)

May God have mercy

Following St.Paul's Footsteps (7)

spiritual strongholds: rulers, powers, princes, and principalities in the high places....


The Parthenon rests on a plinth three steps high. It is a peripteral temple (surrounded by columns). The peristyle consists of eight Doric columns on the east and west side, and seventeen along the north and south side (if you count the corner columns twice). The shafts consist of twelve fluted drums and are about 33 feet high (10.43 m), including the capitals, with diameters tapering from 6 feet 3 inches (1.92 m) at the base to 4 feet 9 inches (1.49 m) at the top.

There is a perceptible bulge two fifths up each column; the Greeks knew the principle of the outward curvature of a column (entasis), which compensates for the optical effect that makes columns seem thinner in the middle when viewed from below. The corner columns are thicker, reducing the space between them and their neighbors: because they receive more sunlight, they would otherwise have appeared thinner than the rest. Finally, to give the impression of absolute perfection, the plinth gradually increased in height, by about 4 inches in the middle of the long sides and by about 3 inches at the center of the facades.

When work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. Work on the temple continued until 432; it symbolizes the power and influence of the Athenian politician, Perikles, who championed its construction.

It was built to replace two earlier temples of Athena on the Acropolis. One of these, of which almost no trace remains today, stood south of the Parthenon (between the Parthenon and the Erechtheum). The other, which was still being built at the time of the Persian sack in 480 BC, was on the same spot as the Parthenon. It was called pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon. It was built as a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos shortly after the Battle of Marathon (c. 490-88 BC) in which the Greeks won a decisive victory against the Persians.

The name Parthenon means the "temple of the virgin goddess", and refers to the cult of Athena Parthenos that was associated with the temple. Athena's cult seems to have existed from very early times as the patron of Athens. The Parthenon survived as a temple to Athena for close to a thousand years.

After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 6th century, the Parthenon became the Church of the Parthenos Maria (Virgin Mary), or the Church of the Theotokos (Mother of God). During the Fourth Crusade where Greece was captured from the Byzantine Empire by the crusaders, it became a Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady.

Question: Is there a change in the deity worshipped or a change in name only?

After the Ottoman conquest, the church was converted into a mosque in the early 1460s. On 28 September 1687 an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon/church/mosque.

Following St. Paul's Footsteps (6)

Background to Religious Pluralism Facing Paul

The socio-political arena of the Greco-Roman world was in a time of great flux during the New Testament times. Even though Rome has proved herself to be the greatest military power at that time, she discovered that conquering a people was easier than keeping a people conquered. There were frequent revolts and the Roman legions were hard pressed to put down the many rebellions. In their conquest, the Roman Empire had come into contact with the ancient civilizations of Persian and Egypt. These ancient civilizations offered an exotic culture which was readily adopted by the Romans. Retired legionnaires and nobility given foreign lands as rewards often found themselves assimilated by the local culture. Those who settled in Philippi, Thessaloniki, Berea and Athens were mainly retired legionnaires.

Pax Romana had opened up provincial Judea to the rest of the Roman Empire by trade and travel. While most conquerors left religious Judea alone, however, there was nothing to prevent the infiltration into Judea of new ideas and formative practices. First, the increasing influence of Hellenistic-Roman philosophies on the more learned members of the Judea society. This was especially true of those who have sent their sons for a Greek classical education. Hellenistic-Roman philosophies as distinct from Greek philosophy from which it originates in that it is taught and lived as a religion as well as a moral code. Its spiritual formation practices were by learning a new viewpoint (protepsis), deciding on a moral set of action (paraenesis), and to act (diatribe). In its application it promoted individualism in that these philosophies “concentrated on the individual and his or her place in the cosmos.” This is obviously in conflict with the community based, theo-centric beliefs of Jews and Christians.

Second, the Roman authorities tolerated religious pluralism. The Roman pantheon has absorbed many of the Greek gods. It was not unusual for them to assimilate any local deities of the countries they have conquered. Added to this was the widespread acceptance of mystery cults. Mystery cults are those needing a secret initiation to join and in return, initiate may receive special knowledge, special relationship with certain deities, and be assured of special benefits to be member of such a cult. Latourette identifies some of these mystery religions. Of interest is Hermeticism which was claimed to be based on the writings of Herme Trismegistus. The teachings centred on the superiority of the spirit over matter from which it arises to immortality. It later developed to Gnosticism in Christianity.Some mystery cults are Gnostic in their teachings.

All these deities were appeased by various rituals. As historian Williams observes, “salvation has little to do with the exact content of what you believed as long as you did the prescribed acts. Form and action, not content, were most important.” The spiritual formation practices of these religious groups were in rituals or right practices. Its dichotomy with moral thinking may lead to living religious yet immoral life. As long as one performs the rituals correctly, other things do not matter. According to Williams, “everyone knows that the pax Romana was dependent on the pax deorum (peace of the gods)”

Finally, the understanding of community itself was changing during that period. This will have a profound effect on spiritual formation practices in Judea which were prominently Jewish. Where once a community was either the household or the city state, there arose around this time, voluntaries communities made up of members with special interests. Banks described these special interests as “political, military, and sporting concerns; professional and commercial guilds, artisans and members of craft; philosophical schools and religious society.” There came into existence four types of communities especially in the cities: (1) the household, (2) voluntary associations (sporting clubs, etc), (3) religious groups, and (4) schools teaching philosophy and rhetoric. The special interest communities had became so popular that it decreased the influence of the household as the major educator of its members.

Religious Judea too created special interest communities. Some examples of these communities are the synagogues, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, Samaritans, and members of Qumrun. During and after the time of the exile, the synagogues had gradually become centre of worship and learning. This model was also used by the Christian communities as they seek to develop a community for worship and learning, for interaction with Jews and together living a life glorifying to God.