Yulia Ustinova
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548569
- eISBN:
- 9780191720840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548569.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter discusses oracles focused on caves and subterranean chambers, such as the prophetic caves belonging to Pan and the Nymphs, oracles of the dead (at Taenarum, Heracleia Pontica, and ...
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This chapter discusses oracles focused on caves and subterranean chambers, such as the prophetic caves belonging to Pan and the Nymphs, oracles of the dead (at Taenarum, Heracleia Pontica, and elsewhere), the caverns in the valley of Meander (Hierapolis and Acharaca), oracular cults of immortal subterranean daimons (Trophonius, Amphiaraus, Zalmoxis, Rhesus, and Orpheus), and several ancient and important oracular shrines of Apollo (Ptoion, Claros, and most notably, Delphi). The main reasons for location of oracles in caves are sensory deprivation or inhalation of poisonous gases that induced altered states of consciousness required for inspired divination. It is also argued that cave experiences of ordinary Greeks were quite widespread. Prophetic priests, members of sacred embassies, private consultants who applied to various oracles for advice, and individuals who personally experienced in caves altered states of consciousness—all these people knew that descent into caves brought about noetic sensations.Less
This chapter discusses oracles focused on caves and subterranean chambers, such as the prophetic caves belonging to Pan and the Nymphs, oracles of the dead (at Taenarum, Heracleia Pontica, and elsewhere), the caverns in the valley of Meander (Hierapolis and Acharaca), oracular cults of immortal subterranean daimons (Trophonius, Amphiaraus, Zalmoxis, Rhesus, and Orpheus), and several ancient and important oracular shrines of Apollo (Ptoion, Claros, and most notably, Delphi). The main reasons for location of oracles in caves are sensory deprivation or inhalation of poisonous gases that induced altered states of consciousness required for inspired divination. It is also argued that cave experiences of ordinary Greeks were quite widespread. Prophetic priests, members of sacred embassies, private consultants who applied to various oracles for advice, and individuals who personally experienced in caves altered states of consciousness—all these people knew that descent into caves brought about noetic sensations.
Corinne Ondine Pache
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195339369
- eISBN:
- 9780199867134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339369.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Religions
It is a commonplace to say that the heroes of Homeric epic have close bonds with gods and goddesses. Yet the degree to which goddesses are preoccupied with heroes is striking, and this concern is ...
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It is a commonplace to say that the heroes of Homeric epic have close bonds with gods and goddesses. Yet the degree to which goddesses are preoccupied with heroes is striking, and this concern is consistently expressed in terms of erotic love. Chapter 4 focuses on the motif of the goddess in love in the Odyssey, a poem structured around a series of encounters between Odysseus and several goddesses. The poem offers three Odyssean versions of the goddess-in-love motif. Odysseus’s rejection of Calypso’s love and offer of immortality is unique: Odysseus is the only Greek hero who rejects a goddess’s advances and survives the experience, a choice and outcome that are central to his status of epic hero. The hero’s relationship with Athene includes nympholeptic aspects and comes close to the ideal marriage described by Odysseus to Nausicaa in Odyssey 6. Finally, the Ithacan sanctuary of the nymphs inspires reminiscences of the cultic and folklore versions of nympholepsy. Each Odyssean version thus highlights different features of the nympholeptic pattern, which in turn help define Odysseus’s distinct form of heroism.Less
It is a commonplace to say that the heroes of Homeric epic have close bonds with gods and goddesses. Yet the degree to which goddesses are preoccupied with heroes is striking, and this concern is consistently expressed in terms of erotic love. Chapter 4 focuses on the motif of the goddess in love in the Odyssey, a poem structured around a series of encounters between Odysseus and several goddesses. The poem offers three Odyssean versions of the goddess-in-love motif. Odysseus’s rejection of Calypso’s love and offer of immortality is unique: Odysseus is the only Greek hero who rejects a goddess’s advances and survives the experience, a choice and outcome that are central to his status of epic hero. The hero’s relationship with Athene includes nympholeptic aspects and comes close to the ideal marriage described by Odysseus to Nausicaa in Odyssey 6. Finally, the Ithacan sanctuary of the nymphs inspires reminiscences of the cultic and folklore versions of nympholepsy. Each Odyssean version thus highlights different features of the nympholeptic pattern, which in turn help define Odysseus’s distinct form of heroism.
Corinne Ondine Pache
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195339369
- eISBN:
- 9780199867134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339369.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Religions
Leaving the city of Athens in the classical period, chapter 6 turns to the countryside of the Hellenistic poets. Hellenistic poets highlight the indeterminacy of nympholeptic encounters, which can ...
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Leaving the city of Athens in the classical period, chapter 6 turns to the countryside of the Hellenistic poets. Hellenistic poets highlight the indeterminacy of nympholeptic encounters, which can result in blindness, death, disappearance, or poetry. For Theocritus, the death of a nympholeptic herdsman, Daphnis, becomes the beginnings of a new genre, bucolic poetry. Callimachus plays on the paradigm of the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite to tell a story of divine punishment that leaves the mortal Teiresias blinded but endowed with a prophetic gift. The pastoral nymph, a goddess who lives in the human landscape, displaces the more traditional Muses as the source of inspiration for this new genre of poetry that fuses folk narratives and archaic models into a new poetic and religious landscape, where the nympholept becomes a central figure simultaneously as he disappears.Less
Leaving the city of Athens in the classical period, chapter 6 turns to the countryside of the Hellenistic poets. Hellenistic poets highlight the indeterminacy of nympholeptic encounters, which can result in blindness, death, disappearance, or poetry. For Theocritus, the death of a nympholeptic herdsman, Daphnis, becomes the beginnings of a new genre, bucolic poetry. Callimachus plays on the paradigm of the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite to tell a story of divine punishment that leaves the mortal Teiresias blinded but endowed with a prophetic gift. The pastoral nymph, a goddess who lives in the human landscape, displaces the more traditional Muses as the source of inspiration for this new genre of poetry that fuses folk narratives and archaic models into a new poetic and religious landscape, where the nympholept becomes a central figure simultaneously as he disappears.
Oliver Thomas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199589036
- eISBN:
- 9780191728983
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199589036.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter offers a systematic reading of the nineteenth Homeric Hymn to Pan and considers its relationship to the long Hymn to Hermes. A detailed analysis treats the poetics of the Hymn's ...
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This chapter offers a systematic reading of the nineteenth Homeric Hymn to Pan and considers its relationship to the long Hymn to Hermes. A detailed analysis treats the poetics of the Hymn's narrative structures and Pan's representation in relation to other gods. It is argued that the inset musical performances of the nymphs serve to reflect upon the contents and performative roles of hymns in Greece. The chapter also considers carefully the poem's place and date of composition and its relationship to the spread of Pan's cult in Greece.Less
This chapter offers a systematic reading of the nineteenth Homeric Hymn to Pan and considers its relationship to the long Hymn to Hermes. A detailed analysis treats the poetics of the Hymn's narrative structures and Pan's representation in relation to other gods. It is argued that the inset musical performances of the nymphs serve to reflect upon the contents and performative roles of hymns in Greece. The chapter also considers carefully the poem's place and date of composition and its relationship to the spread of Pan's cult in Greece.
Carolyn M. Laferrière
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198777342
- eISBN:
- 9780191823060
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198777342.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Religions
The presence of Hermes on many Attic fourth-century BCE votive reliefs dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs is a common but unexpected feature of the corpus. Although he is not mentioned in the ...
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The presence of Hermes on many Attic fourth-century BCE votive reliefs dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs is a common but unexpected feature of the corpus. Although he is not mentioned in the dedications inscribed onto the reliefs, Hermes nevertheless occupies a prominent position within the images as leader of the Nymphs’ dance. The incongruity between the dedication and the sculpted scenes is accounted for by considering the votive reliefs’ ritual function within Athenian religion and the genealogical relationship established between Hermes and Pan by the Homeric Hymn to Pan. It is argued that the votive reliefs, as expressions of Athenian visual theology, emphasize Hermes and Pan as coordinated figures within the reliefs, suggesting that the two gods work together to integrate the cult of the Nymphs within Athenian religious life.Less
The presence of Hermes on many Attic fourth-century BCE votive reliefs dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs is a common but unexpected feature of the corpus. Although he is not mentioned in the dedications inscribed onto the reliefs, Hermes nevertheless occupies a prominent position within the images as leader of the Nymphs’ dance. The incongruity between the dedication and the sculpted scenes is accounted for by considering the votive reliefs’ ritual function within Athenian religion and the genealogical relationship established between Hermes and Pan by the Homeric Hymn to Pan. It is argued that the votive reliefs, as expressions of Athenian visual theology, emphasize Hermes and Pan as coordinated figures within the reliefs, suggesting that the two gods work together to integrate the cult of the Nymphs within Athenian religious life.
