what is hellenism religion

Question: "What is Hellenism, and how did it influence the early church?" One name that He is also referred to by is Hypatos, “the highest,” for He is not only merely the highest God of the Hellenic religion, but in truth He is the highest and most supreme God in the entire Kosmos. One does not become part of a ethnos simply by birth. This is demonstrated with Hellenic-born Christian apologist Aristeides, who picked out the Hellenes as one of the representative Pagan peoples of the world alongside Egyptians (Aristeides, Apology), and Hellenic-born Christian apologist Clement of Alexandria, who specifically identified the Hellenes with Paganism (Clement of Alexandria Miscellanies, 6, 5, 41). Kaldellēs, Antōnios Emm. It is well known that the Living Immortals dwell on Mount Olympos, but only the uneducated would actually think that the location of Mount Olympos was synonymous with the mountain in northern Greece. This word continues to have this meaning in the derived French word pays, which implies “a nation” or “country.” As such, we can understand that an ethnos denotes a “tribal identity.” An ethnos can be understood to designate a group of people who share a common ethos (Latin: Mores) meaning “character” or “culture.” This includes language, literature, history, philosophy, science, morality, unwritten moral codes which stem from common habits, socially acceptable behavior, and so on. So in this case you get -50% piety from the Theologian tree, but at the same time Hellenism being dead religion alone gives you +500% piety. Hellenism (Greek: Ἑλληνισμός, Ἑllēnismós), the Hellenic ethnic religion (Ἑλληνικὴ ἐθνική θρησκεία), also commonly known as Hellenismos, Hellenic Polytheism, Dodekatheism (Δωδεκαθεϊσμός), or Olympianism (Ὀλυμπιανισμός), comprises various religious movements which … ), The Einalic/Dii Mari, or Sea deities (e.g., Poseidon, Coventina, etc. It is not vague, undefined “earth-based” spirituality. Firstly, because it allows atheists (i.e., monotheists) to be the one who define what is and what isn’t a religion, which can have enormous ramifications, both against Hellenes and non-Hellenes alike. 2010. A similar logic can be applied to the Olympian Gods, who are the Hypercosmic Powers who overlook each of the Zodiac Houses. Hellenes worship a large number of deities, which includes: Those who practice Hellenism are called Hellenes, which in this context is not the same as citizens from the contemporary Christian nation in Greece who likewise call themselves Hellenes but partake in a “Christian Hellenism” invented by the Romiosyni (i.e., Greek Christians) 200 years ago. One of the features of Romanticism was love for the classical past. In today’s day and age, despite the history of Hellenism’s universalism and its wide spread from Britain to Afghanistan, with there having been Hellenes of every colour and background, and despite the fact that since the days of ancient Athens anyone could join the Hellenic ethnos so long as they underwent the Hellenizing process of paideia, there are some people who are Hellenic by genos who try to deny the religion to those born outside of the genos. As such, when engaging with Zeus, or any Hellenic manifestation of divinity, They should be worshiped in distinctly Hellenic cultural systems of worship, which includes sacred rites, methods, attire, and traditions. With its divine kernel preserved, Hellenism resurfaced in the public sphere in Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Italy during the 1980s and 1990s. It’s given notice by Agamemnon in his prayer to Zeus: “Zeus, most glorious, supreme, that dwells in the sky [aither], and rides upon the storm-cloud” (Homer Iliad, II, 412 ff). The majority of modern historians agree that the religion practiced by the ancient Greeks had been extinguished by the 9th century AD at the latest and that there is little to no evidence that it survived past the Middle Ages. As such, Hellenism and its practices are applicable to all peoples, and this is one of the reasons for the tradition’s heavenly majesty. The Odyssey. The History of the Peloponnesian War. As such, we understand that Hellenism is a religion, which at the same time as an orthopraxic tradition, is not merely confined to a temple in an artificial divorce from secular life. Church of Hellenes", Hellenion, Inc. This identification of Hellenes as a separate peoples continued into the Medieval era, with Procopius writing that the Christian Emperor Justinian tried to destroy Hellenism, even within private life, with new decrees and lawcodes such as his Corpus Juris Civilis, stating that “he [Justinian] turned the persecution against the ‘Greeks’ [Hellenes], torturing their bodies and looting their property. The works of emperor Julian. Hellenismos is the term used to describe the modern equivalent of the traditional Greek religion. This process is mandatory to practice Hellenism, but it is available to all who wish to join the Hellenic tradition. Hellenism proper is Minoan-Mykenaian in its origins, and it came to be the practiced not only by those who were born Greek by genos, but also by other peoples that came to shaped and/or influenced by the Hellenic ethos and, ultimately, adopted the Hellenic ethnos. A Hellenic community’s acceptance of you as part of the ethnos is based Herodotos’ categorization of what makes up the Hellenikon (Herodotos Histories, 8.144.2): The more of these you have, the more of a Hellene one can be considered. There exists economic strife in the country, and its heritage is often subject to attack from all sides thanks to a kind of internal colonialism within Europe. Others, however, were driven underground and forced into an unsure secrecy, enduring a long period of trial. This additionally means that they forfeit the claim to their sacred sites, which currently lack the legal rights of a religion and are thus often deemed secular and state property. Overall, as Herodotos tells us, though religion is part of Hellenism, Hellenism is more than a religion. Orpheus had taught that Dionysos has come to save all those who desire Him; to transform and ultimately free our souls from the painful cycle of metempsychosis (reincarnation) and the suffering of lower realms of matter, to return us back into the heavens. In fact, the word Olympos itself derives from the primary verb λαμπο, “lampo,” meaning “to shine.” Olympos is “never shaken by the wind, or wet with rain or blanketed by snow; A cloudless sky is spread above the mountain, white radiance all around” (Homer Odyssey, VI 42-46) (Philostratus the Elder Imagines, 1. Rather, one must embrace the Hellenic ethos to truly become a practitioner of Hellenism. One G-d The belief in one G-d is the first of the Ten Commandments. Participation in an ethnos is defined by having acceptance in a community and participating in the life of that community. It is thus very straightforward to understand that Hellenism was the world’s first universal religion. Overland Park (Kan.): Digireads.com Publishing, 2009. (in certain isolated areas it survived until the 12th century, see Tsakonia and Maniots) The majority of modern Hellenic polytheist organizations view their religious traditions as either "revivalist" or "reconstructionist", though most modern individual adherents exist somewhere on a reconstructionist to … ISBN 0-571-13524-2. ), Ancestors and ancestral divinities (e.g., Lares, Penates, etc. Wright. ), Terrestrial Daimons/Genii (e.g., Daktyloi, Satyrs, Nymphs such as Nereids and Dryads, etc. This website is under constant construction. As stated prior, Hellenism on an global scale began after the death of Alexander the Great and the spreading of Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean. The term paganus, coming from Latin pagus, “district,” also relates to the idea of nationhood. Hellenism is more than a religion, but religion is part of it. “THE ANCIENT GREEK RELIGION IS A UNIVERSAL RELIGION,NOT AN ETHNIC RELIGION.” http://Www.HellenicGods.org. Many who held dear our sacred tradition were eventually were forced to abandon them, either for implicit or practical reasons such as rising in society, or for explicit reasons such as violence. Many articles are incomplete, and those which do seem complete may be subject to complete revision. Life is not to be lived for self but for him. December 01, 2016. Rather, to be a practitioner of Hellenism, one must embrace the Hellenic ethos via a process of education where one Hellenizes themselves and ultimately participates in the ethnos. ), The Titans (e.g., Kronos, Meter Theon, etc. To revive Hellenism and form a living tradition and uphold proper practice appropriate the! Many of the two religions have many similarities, as Herodotos tells us, though religion is part a! 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