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The
Daily Gyro January 22, 2007 Priestess Calls on Zeus to Bring Rain to the Planet Group campaigning for the revival of ancient Olympian religion defies government, conducts ceremony at ancient temple of Zeus. A small group of followers of the ancient Olympian religion defied a government decision to ban them from an 1800 year-old temple of Zeus in the middle of central Athens, and conducting a ceremony to honor the ancient Greek gods yesterday. "These are our temples and they should be used by followers of our religion," said Doreta Peppa, head of the Athens-based Ellinais, a group campaigning to revive ancient religion. The Culture Ministry banned the planned ninety-minute ceremony for fears of damage to monuments at the site. "Ancient sites are not available for this kind of event ... the (panel) ruled unanimously against the proposal," ministry official Eliza Kyrtsoglou said. It was thought to be the first time in about 1600 years that such a ceremony took place since the ancient religion was banned after the rise of Christianity in Greece. The actual point of the ceremony was summed up by one of the “high priests” overseeing the event. "Our message is world peace and an ecological way of life in which everyone has the right to education," said Kostas Stathopoulos. To the Greeks, ecological awareness was fundamental, he said, after a priestess, with arms raised up to the sky, called on Zeus "to bring rain to the planet.” (These folks must also believe that the planet is bound by the Mediterranean because there are some places on this planet that don’t really need the rain or any more flooding.) While no one can argue against world peace or calls to respect the environment, it is doubtful that Zeus and the rest of the Mt. Olympus crowd would have been in favor of universal education. Wasn’t Prometheus chained to a rock and given the privilege of having his liver picked at by a very large eagle or some other bird for eternity for bringing fire (and knowledge) to the masses (mortals)? Stathopoulos’ statement on education is probably inspired by the modern day clashes in Greece surrounding education reform and the opposition to the privatization of universities, which goes to show that even the message of ancient religions can be bastardized by the politics of today. The group’s argument that ancient sacred sites belong to the groups that worshipped in them is interesting. Almost every ancient site around the world holds some sort of religious significance. Could you imagine followers of the Mayan religion taking over the temples in Mexico, or the Pyramids in Egypt being fully operational, or Hagia Sophia in Constantinople being used as an Orthodox church again? With the turnover of many of the sites in Greece, from the ancient Olympian religion to Christianity to Islam and beyond, how far back do you turn the clock and who if anyone really gets to use these sites for religious purposes?
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