Apollo and Poseidon

The relation between Apollo and Poseidon is worthy of, at least, an entire article (hack, I think some would even be able to do more than one book!), but right in the middle of my finals I cannot afort to do it, even though it is something that interests me a lot.

Anyway, so you won't complain I haven't been very productive, here is a small list of things I might include in the said article:

• The very famous confrontation of the elder and stormy (literally) Poseidon and the younger and moderated Apollon in the Iliad, were the young God avoids confrontation with the elder saying the humans are like leaves and not worth of a fight between them (even though he kept fighting with Athena, Ares and even, indirectly, with Hera throughout the book!);
• The fact that they are opposites in age and self-control (in general, of course) but still they are often associated in cult;
• One account according to which Poseidon was lord of Delphi before Apollo;
• The myth when Apollo and Poseidon both wanted Hestia who chose not marry any of them not to offend them;
• The detail that in myth Zeus often makes decisions when Poseidon is not present (of which the God many times complains) while Apollo, on the other hand, is like a "book keeper" of Zeus' plans;
• Poseidon is obviously Lord of the Sea, but Apollo is also the dolphin, guides sailors, saves them, is the God celebrated when the sea travelling season opens and is "of the cliff" and "of the shore"
• They built together the Walls of Troy, but then were not paid: Poseidon turned against the Trojans, but Apollo stood by their side;
• It is also interesting that the other Gods usually have no problems, most of the time, having mortals love them (or at least have an affair with them), while many myths show both Apollo and Poseidon having problems with love;
• Poseidon is father of Evadne, who later had a son of Apollo, Iamos;
• This has probably no meaning, but of the 4 pan-hellenic games, 2 were celebrated in honour of Zeus and the Isthmic Games in honour of Poseidon and the Pythian Games in honour of Apollo.
  

Apollo Near and Far

Apollo is the one who shoots from afar, who stands at the distance watching down at us, meere leaves that fall just as easily. This is the aspect most schoolars focus, trying to understand all his being through this - Burkert does this brilliantly IMHO.

However, no one ever says that:

• He is the God that possesses people and inspires them prophetic mania;
• He whispered to his prophets in clear words and some even say that he sexually raped them when they were prophetizing;
• He has contless myths where he falls in love with mortals, plays with mortals, talks with mortals;
• He did a number of works on earth: killed the Python, built the walls of Troy, worked has a shepherd, not to mention his participation on the Trojan War;
• He was reputed to conduct men sailing abord a ship, to save them and even guide them in the form of a Dolphin;
• He has several earthen symbols (plants such as the bay and the cypress, animals like the mice, wolves and lion) and few aerial (crow, some types of falcon).

And these are just the ones I can think of the top of my head. I wander if this has something to do with Apollo being a God of contradictions because he teaches moderation: neither too much distance nor too much closeness.

Temple Updates

I have updated the Temple of Apollon and Asklepios with links (finally!). Not that much, just a side note :)

Apollo and Daphne

Muses of the divine Olympus, Goddess whose braids are crowned with violets and whose lyres and thousand arts mesmerize the Gods and inspire the mortals, daughters of Mnemosine, I beg you inspire me to sing of the golden archer who strikes form afar, Lord of Delphi and Delos, Apollo of the lyre.

Great is his power, when he shines like the day in the house of the immortals and plays his magical lyre, entrancing the Gods like no other, inspiring them the sweet sleep and heavy reflection. But he can also excite the heart and electrify the soul with his tunes, inspiring movement and dynamic to the Gods who soon rise from their seats to enjoy the dances of Artemis and the Kharites.

And when the feasts are over is power does not end. Then he descends to the earth and cleans all that is too much, the great Alexikakos, purifying us from our core so that we may be pure and thus may worship the Gods not fearing they won’t respond for repugnance of our miasma.

It was on one of these days, when he walked in the earth, a laugh like the song of a thousand birds, a freshness of the chastest spring radiating from his golden hair, the splendour of his being astonishing all creatures, that he was seen by the young Eros, the trickster, who soon armed himself.

He watched the God and the nymph who sang in the woods hugging the trees and worshiping Ge, our Great mother, and soon his heart filled with dark plans, for Apollo had won him in competition. Eros grabbed his feared and loved quiver and from it took two arrows: with one, golden and lilac, fair as the flowers, he shot the God who instantly fell in love for Daphne; the other, dark as Tartarus, he aimed without failing to the innocent nymph, whose heart filled with disgust for the one who now loved her.

Apollo immediately ran chasing the nymph, like hunter and prey, unwearyingly trying to gain her affection, but the nymph always repudiated him and ran away. Until one day, desperate with the strength of Apollo’s love, she asked the Great Mother for help. And thus from her fingers spring perfumed leaves, thus reaching her arms towards the skies branches they become, with her feet set in the earth they pierce it and her eyes become beautiful berries.

Greatly Apollo grieved in his heart, for love did not abandon his heart, like hate did from Daphne’s, for it is not correct that a tree hates. And so the God gently picked a few branches from the mighty tree and with them made a crown which now graces his hair. And ever since he declared the bay, Daphne’s tree, his most sacred plant, and instituted that it shall represent him on earth.

And hence we use laurel leaves to purify and sweep the temples, and hence we grace our winners with bay branches and offer the perfumed leaves to the great Golden God.

May you be favourable towards us, Apollo, and may we please you with simple rites and words. Ie, Apollon!

Apollo in the videogames

These are my two favorite images of Apollo. Funy thing is they are both from video games and not ancient...

This picture is from the game Age of Mythology. You can see in the last post this is also the picture I currently have on my Shrine to Apollo, and it is also the picture I have has a cover in the notebook I use to record rituals I make to Apollo, offerings and divination. I think it blends in a very profound way both the light and dark aspects of Apollo.

This picture is concept art from the game Zeus, Master of Olympus. I currently have it as a cover of my journal and use it everywhere to keep the God present in my mind (at my wallet, my notebooks..). I just like it, don't know why...

Apollon's Shrine

Yesterday I took some pictures of my thanksgiving ritual to Apollon, Asklepios, Hermes and Aphrodite and decided to take one of my Apollon's Shrine. It is quite simple, and is like this since last Noumenia (probably by the next Noumenia it will be different), and I use it to pray, do ritual, divination, meditate and practice Yoga.

Noumenia Hymn

An Hymn to read during the Noumenia in honour of all the Gods and in the context of Neokoroi.

Noumenia Hymn to All the Gods

A new month begins and we, the neokoroi, again join to worship the immortal Gods and request their aid in re-establishing their cult. Hear, athanatoi, while I praise you and sing of you in this new month, after cleaning your shrines and lighting the perfumed incense in your honour.

First Hestia, Goddess of the hearth so calm and gentle, the One who comforts us, always the first, always the last, as the law commands, may your fires burn once again in lovely temples inside each of us and outside as well.

Then Apollon, the God to whom I sing and whom I praise with greatest enthusiasm, the Lord, guide of light in the darkness, with his bow of fair heart-calming music he soothes the thunder and with his lyre of lethal arrows the God tremble before him, may your oracles guide us once more and help us, may our actions fit the words you inspire in an ever-flowing stream.

And then Selene the Moon, who now slowly unveils her face and greets us, mere mortals, again with her silvery beauty, the Goddess for whom the shepherds’ heart long as they gaze the starry sky, the one who stands among the stars, may you look down and see us, your worshipers, once more singing and celebrating the Immortal Ones.

And to the Agathos Daimon as well, the gorgeous heavenly spirit, may you possess us always, may our actions be righteous reflexes of your guidelines and mirrored images of your unspeakable brothers, great serpent and youth of the vine.

And now, Muses of fair braids and crowned with violets, maidens of infinite art, lend me a piece of your grace to honour all the Gods, and may my words please the voice no man can resist as well.

So I sing of the Olympians, father Zeus who rules all: Zeus that was, Zeus that is, Zeus who will be, Zeus who is all, Zeus who is nothing, the voice of thunder and wind; and Hera of the divine throne, whose beauty entrances even the most powerful of Gods, perfect, Teleia, heavenly bride who guides us with the strength of your spirit; and to Poseidon too, who rules the seas and also the fertility of the land, shaker of the earth with his feared trident, ancient and venerable God; and Demeter, sister of Zeus, of golden hair like the cereals, the one who feeds us with care, eternal mother for us, even after such great sufferings her heart bearded. May the brothers and sister I already sang of and also the other, the terrible, the unseen, the venerable Hades, Lord who rules over our souls for ever, help us and be please with the offerings we offer with our heart, may their temples again be filled with perfume and the sweet taste of everflowing libations.

And also Aphrodite is a righteous Olympian, Goddess who amazes mortals and immortals alike, with an irresistible smile, whose web of Eros, her winged son, no one can oppose, feared and love with an equal measure is this pair. To she who walks with the Kharites, powerful Goddesses who decide what a man shall have and shall not, beauty, wisdom, character; and to all her power we sing.

And Hephaistos, noble artisan, a God who does not refuse work or arts, lord of the anvil who teaches to persist and to labour, great immortal who is in Olympus by merit and not just by birth, as is common and right to such superior beings, great artisan of lovely arts, may our rude craft please you.

And Ares too, who bears so much, tough God and teacher for Man, may we understand the valour of strife and bravery, give us strength to stand steady and face all obstacles. Keep Eris by your side, ride Phobos and Deimos away from us, so that you may enjoy with them our songs.

And Artemis, Goddess so charming as she dances and laughs through the mountains, and the beautiful Nymphs who dance with her, all spirits of Nature and the Great mother Gaia, all of them we worship and with all of the the Great Artemis rejoice, a terrible Goddess of love and agony, nurturing Goddess of children and brides, may your vitality inspire us and may we be free to worship you! And to Leto as well, you mother and of the divine Phoebus, we worship in our heats.

Athena too, of the sparkling eyes shining in the night, who whispers wise advices at her heroes hears, Goddess who weaves strategies like no one and with tools relieves our labours, may you guide us, the neokoroi, with words of wisdom and divine counsel.

And the blissful Dionysus who worship, God of enthousiasmos who allows us to understand a tinny spot of the immortal aspect, who dances with his satyrs and maenads, great is our wonder and our heart burns with praise when the divine pompé walks by, crown with the God of ivy, may rivers of wine flow in your honour once more and our minds become obscure and our spirits filled with divine ecstasy. And may our heart sing of your mother Semele and your lovely Ariadne.

And to Hermes, winged God swift as no other, great Angelos and guide, may your messages reach us loud and clear and may you guide us in the way of the neokoros, you who guide even the dead, who transpose all we thought unbreakable, who shake the world and give all that is dynamic, and to your great mother Maia.

And also to those who inhabit the dark ends of the world, their king the horrifying Hades, their queen the awful Persephone for whom our hearts rejoice in spring and mourn in winter, Goddess of great forgiving heart, and also to the Styx, great oath of the Gods, Kharon, to whom we own a dark trip, and to all the beings I dare not name. To all of you I praise and also to Hekate, endowed with power over all that exists in our material world, who commands the skies, the earth and the seas with magic of her unseen hand, triple Goddess of road crosses and night.

And those deities that rejoice in the Earth, the Nymphs and the Satyrs, also Eos who shreds the mists, pink Goddess who loves her brother Helios, of the golden chariot, whom brings Hemera and carries Hiperion, great Gods whom we love. And to all the rivers and seas, all the mountains and trees, the caves that hide beneath the earth, the springs and wells, the lakes, clouds, stars, the rain and the land, prairies, swamps, oceans, the frozen fields of the peaks, the hills and cliffs, beaches and deserts and all that is and was I praise. And to Pan with his flute, who rejoices in fields with herds running in panic, and the Anemoi who always run.

And to Themis, divine order whom all weights and pounders; and her daugheters, the Horai, Goddess of the just and righteous measurem, Eunomia, who does all in the right order, Eirine, of whom we sing hymns and to whom we praise, and Dike, whom so many offend; but Zeus lets no man offend the daughters of Themis for long, harshly punishing any who does. And to Metis, eternal wisdom, Thetys, a name of water, leader of the Nereids and also Tethys, source of water. And surely to the great Ocean who embraces all.

And to the Moiroi who impose the limits and weave endlessly, to Nemesis who is terrible to the enemies of the divine order, as well as to the Eumenids, whom the wrong-doer fears greatly. To Nix, the awful night without end, to Khronos, who eats all and has no mercy, to Tartarus, dark place of the great offenders. To Ananke of whom none escapes we also praise, and to Khaos, who was first.

And also to Rhea, great Mother, Ouranos, father Sky, and to Kybele, to the Titans favoured by the immortal one and to those that, yet inferior to the Gods, are terribly superior to the strongest of Man. To the Kabeiroi, the Koribants, Kouretes, Dione, Bendis, Zagreus, to all the beings that are companions of the Gods, to Hebe, who serves the divine nectar, to Iris, who carries their messages, blissful bridge from heaven to hearth, Eileithya for whom the women yell, to Priapos, who suffers a curse and still blesses us, to Prometheus, who endured a great pain and nurtures us, to Nike, the sweet victory, may all Gods and Goddesses be pleased and bless us.

And also to Tyche, whose power is great, the Goddess who decides what each man and woman will have and not have, the Goddess who gives and takes away, great is the power Zeus gifted you and great are our praises.

And to the Gods who already experience our mortal suffering, my dear Asklepios, great father of Medicine who relieves the terrible pain, may you teach us and bring with you your lovely daughter Hygia; to Herakles, great inspiration to us all, you who bearded so much and gained the hug and breast of Hera, whom taught you in the harshest way; to the protecting Dioscuroi, their sister, the fair Helen, Ganymedes who was taken, Adonis who was loved, and also to all heroes of all the world, to the dead ones – to all of them, ancestral creators of what we are today.

May I delight all the divine beings, and also those I didn’t mentioned, hoping not to offend any of you and hoping to have pleased you.

And again I praise you, maidens of violet braids, with lyres and arts, and to your mother Mnemosine, I praise and thank you for inspiring me in this hymn to the Gods!

And, as is fit, again of Hestia, the first and the last, I sing.

Asklepios Ascends

And now the hymn to Asklepios for that same thanksgiving. (I have also made and hymn to Aphrodite and Hermes for the same ritual, but this is no place for them, you can read them inmy livejournal, Writing Temple).

There is a God, who once was less,
But still he would relief our pains,
Still he would teach us and aid us,
And even still he could break death.

Dazzling was his father,
But he was a splendorous man,
A wise, bright and selfless man.
But alas, Ananke must never be broken,
And death is not to be reversed:
Slowed down, fooled, stoped,
Never reversed.

And a powerful thunder,
A great bean of divine energy,
Came down from the skies…
Oh, why haven’t you foreseen this?
You, father who cried tears of amber,
Who can foresee all there is to come,
And who knows all there is and was…
And we lost a great man.

But Zeus is not blind to our prayers
And the same energy that destroys
Can also create and bestow eternity.
And so it was that Asklepios,
Great helper and reliever,
Became a God, a much loved God.

To you I sing this hymn;
I thank your for your blessings
And ask that you continue to watch over me,
And stay by my side, close to me,
With your perfumed haired daughter.

Dark Darter, Bright Archer

Like I said, I need to make a ritual of thanksgiving to Apollo, here is the only English poem I wrote for that occasion (the others will be in Portuguese), Dark Darter, Bright Archer:


The sun rests once more
In the land beyond the world
Where a dark temple of gloom
Houses the darkest light.

In the quiet sounds of night
A shadow moves terribly,
All Gods tremble as he goes,
Soft and dreadful as a panther,
All creatures hide in terror
At the sound of the plague arrows
Clashing against the golden quiver.

And our hearts shiver
At the sound of the dark laugh,
When the Lord draws an arrow
And points His terrible bow.
A dark dart crosses the skies
And we fall like leaves from trees.

But He is sweeter than the work of bees,
And soon the sun is born again,
The night turns to day
And pink-fingered Eos smiles.
Then, the Lord descends once more
Laughing like a lovely song
Singing and dancing,
All Gods rise from their seats and dance,
All creatures rejoice and greet Him,
And the birds sing, both the swans and sparrows.

And again he darts, with golden arrows,
All troubles are relieved, all pain suppressed,
Light fills us and all is clear and soft;
No more desperate, no longer darker.

And again the night, the dark darter,
Again the day, the bright archer,
Dark darter, bright archer,
Again and again.
Apollon, I thank you for your gifts,
Gifts darker than the absence of light,
Gifts brighter than a thousand days,

And As this worshiper prays,
May the words please you
And may we meet again
In joyful celebration of your being!

Apollon Dionysodotes

I have several thoughts on what does it mean to have an Apollon Dionysodotes (who gives us Dionysos), but yesterday as I watched the replay of the Award Ceremony of the Nobel Prize for Peace (awarded to Muhammad Yunus) it just occurred to me:

Apollon is the God of music and music induces trance and is a vital part of Dionysos worship (not to mention the cult of all other Gods, but especially Dionysos), so maybe what Apollon Dionysodotes means is that it is through the arts of Apollon that we can communicate and experience Dionysos.

Apollo Butterfly

Yay! I just discovered that there is a butterfly named Parnassius Apollo. This is probably of no interest to any of you, but here are some pictures anyway:

Bow = Lyre

On Kyklos Apollon list there has recently been a discussion about the lyre and the bow. People eventually got to the conclusion that they are one and the same. Yesterday I was reading Pindar (Olympic Odes) and found this:

Many are the arrows I carry underneath
my arm in the quiver,
arrows that speak to those who understand them! But in general
it is necessary interpreters.

A poet carries arrows underneath his arm (where bards would carry lyres) and arrows that speak to those who understand? That seems quite like the same conclusion that the bow and the lyre are one and the same. I leave you with another of Pindar's disturbing sentences:

But now from the bows that strike from afar, of the Muses

PS: I am reading Pindar translated to Portuguese by Frederico Lourenço and am translating from Portuguese to English myself. This last sentence looks confusing in English with the words arranged like that, but if I were making a freer translation it would be:

But now from the bows that strike from afar, which the Muses own

Long time...

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted something!

I am in the mid of my exams and have little time, so my religious life is now in a sort of standby in which I merely do daily devotional acts and think about the gods now and then, but the thoughts are immediately replaced with physiology, immunology, biochemistry, histology and the likes and I forget them.

Either way, I am being very luck and I recon that at least Apollon, Hermes and Asklepios are being kind to me. I also get the impression Aphrodite is calling me, but this is subject to another place.

Anyway, when I have time I have been researching about Pyanepsia, so I am actually doing something, just not updating that much.