Triads of Greco-Roman Religion

Cassidy Gale

1541364

Classics 303 A1

Religion in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Dr. Selina Stewart

November 23, 2018

The concept of triads has been around for thousands of years, spanning from the

ancient Sumerian religion to modern day religion and stories. If you open a book about
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fairy tales the groups of threes pop out; Goldilocks and the three bears; three billy goats

gruff; three wishes for the Genie in the lamp within ‘Aladdin’; three blind mice; securing

a love of a prince before sunset on the third day for ‘The Little Mermaid’. One also often

hears the phrases ‘third time lucky’ and ‘fall twice before succeeding.’ It can be taken

that a pair suggests there to be two sides, opposing forces, creating a balance, such as

good and evil, order and chaos. A trio suggests unity, and a cycle unto itself. The Trio is

a moving energy, and is considered an expression of feminine energy, mystery and

psychic ability. In ancient religions the triad, and the concept of a trinity of divine nature,

have appeared in creation tales, myths, religious writings, and holy texts around the

world. The trinity encompasses a multi-faceted representation of a whole or a cycle.

Many ancient cultures have the groups of three divinities, or three enemies, or of three

intangible beings of myth, however their necessity can be debated. Does the myth of

Perseus change if there is a single Gorgon, or if there are three? The Greek

Philosophers, Aristotle and Pythagoras in particular, both touch on the trinity as a

concept in their written works. The importance of triads extends up to Christianity, and

the three-fold nature of God, and in other religions around the world.

In Greece, the well known sons of Rhea and Kronos form the ruling triad of Zeus,

king of the gods and Heavens, Poseidon, god of the Seas, and Hades, god of the

Underworld. Another well known male trinity in Ancient Greece is the generational

rulers, Ouranos, Kronos, Zeus, each ruling a different set of divinities and existing in a

linear timeline that replaced one another. A younger male trinity is that of Apollo,

Hermes, and Dionysus, all sons of Zeus, and considered the brothers of pleasure. With

Apollo’s connection to balance and harmony, Dionysus’ moonlit night of unbridled

passion, and with Hermes connection to fertility. Their connections to pleasure are
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individual to themselves, but they most certainly can be related. From the physical

strength, and discipline, Apollo is the grace in action. Dionysus is the ecstacy of

pleasure, letting loose of the ties that bind oneself, lest they drive themselves insane

with the restrictions of society. The trickster Hermes with his connections to the Herma

with the male genitalia attached, along with his associations with fertility.

In many religions the female trinity of the Mother, Maiden, Crone exist, albeit

using a variety of names, and in Ancient Greece it is quite the same, though they did not

call them as such. And while many fit into the terms of Mother, Maiden and Crone, the

focus here shall be on the triad of Demeter, Kore/Persephone, and Hekate. The Mother

title fits Demeter through her name of “De-Meter”/”God [the] Mother” along with

physically being a mother of Kore. The Mother as a character is representational of

fertility, fulfillment, stability and power, along with the wellspring of life, and the

compassion of a mother. Outside of Ancient Greece the gods that take this place are

that of Ceres from Roman religion, Astarte from Egyptian religion, along with Lakshmi

and Ambika from Hinduism.

While Kore fits the Maiden position through her youth and maidenhood. The

Maiden is often connected with purity, and is a representation of new beginnings,

outside of Ancient Greece, both Brigid of pre-christian Ireland and Nimue of the Celts

would also fit this characteristic role. The Maiden also represents enchantment,

inception, expansion, excitement and a carefree erotic aura. This is often times

connected to transitional goddesses, such as Kore, who changes dramatically as she

ages, along with the name change to Persephone. Even her name causes the change,
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Kore as “the maiden” and Persephone as “Bringer of Destruction”1, thus her connection

to the new beginnings.

While the Maiden and Mother were fit seamlessly, Hekate’s fits the Crone with

her association with the underworld. The meaning of Crone would better correlate with

the understanding of being the wise one, who has a culmination of experience 2. She

can be presented as the one who is the ‘dark’ mother, the one who destroys time, and

can be presented as she who in-breathes all the worlds at the end of time, and she who

out-breathes them at time’s beginning. These interpretations of the Crone show her as

beyond time and space in manifestation. Outside of Ancient Greece, Hel from Norse

religion, Oya from Africa and Yoruba religions, and Sedna in Inuit belief all fit the role of

the Crone in their own religions. Another take on this triad fits into the Warrior, Virgin,

Queen archetypes, with Hekate as the Warrior, Kore as the Virgin, and Demeter as the

Queen.

In a different vein of female triads, the nine muses of Hesiod’s account can be

split into three groups of three, dividing them into more technical groups of Poetry,

Genre, and Truth. Within poetry, Erato, Polyhymnia and Euterpe are the triad. Within

the genre triad there is Melpomene, Thalia, and Calliope. In the final triad is Clio,

Urania, and Terpsichore. This contrasts the three muses of the Roman scholar Varro

(116-27 BCE), and of Pausanias3, named Melete or “practice”, Mneme or “memory”,

and Aoide or “song”. One of the common factors of all the Muses is their helpfulness to

the god Apollo as he is often depicted as their leader, and to man and their inventions.

1
According to "The Greek Myths" by Robert Graves, "Persephone means "bringer of destruction", and
"Persephatta" means "she who tells of destruction" or "destructive dove".
2
Walker, Barbara G. “The crone: Woman of age, wisdom, and power.” San Francisco: Harper & Row,
1985.
3
Pausanias, “Description of Greece” 9.29.1.
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In Greek myth, there are many more examples of triadic groups, the Moirai,

Erinyes, Graeae, the Oneiroi, and the Horae. The fates, Greek Moirai as they were

known, were a triad of Clotho the spinner of human fate, Lachesis the one to dispense

it, and Atropos who cut the thread. Homer refers to Moira, as a singular power with

functions interchangeable with the Olympians, yet from the Time of Hesiod, in the 8th

century BCE and forward, the Fates were shown as old women spinning the threads of

human destiny. The Erinyes, or the furies, were also a Triad of three ‘sisters’ who

punished those who escaped, or defied public justice. They were Alecto the never

ceasing, Tisiphone the grudger, and Megaera the avenger of blood. The Graeae were

the grey maids, and were considered to be old age personified and the three shared

one eye and one tooth between the three of them, by name of Pemphredo, Enyo, and

Deino. The Oneiroi, the three who can control dreams, were children of Hypnos and

Pasithea, and were called Morpheus, Phobeter, and Phantasos. However, in modern

times Morpheus and Hypnos are the recognizable figures who control the dream realm.

The Horae is an interesting group, like the muses of before, set into three groups

of three. Thallo, Auxo and Carpo standing for the Hora of spring, summer, and autumn,

also for flora, growth, and fruit. This group represents the cycle of agricultural fertility.

The second trinity, Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene all stand for the people in society and

what they must follow: order, justice, and peace. The final of the Horae are

Pherusa(substance), Euporia(abundance), and Orthosia(prosperity) 4.

Some creatures of mythology represent triads that are three-bodied instead of

three individuals in a group, for example, Cerberus and the Chimera. While early

depictions of the Cerberus have as many as 50 or 100 heads, most commonly it is

portrayed with three heads. The Chimera on the other hand is most often depicted as a

4
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 183 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.)
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lion with the head of a goat from its back, and a tail that is the head of a living snake. In

myth the triplification of monsters is quite redundant, as the myths would be the same if

Perseus had one Gorgon or three, and Orestes would be as destructive if there was a

single Fury. Outside of well known triads, Eusener cited that there were 75 trinities of

the Greeks, of which 19 were predominantly female (containing 2 or 3 females)5.

The Philosophers in Ancient Greece touched on the triads in a way that made

sense for their time. Pythagoras found that the ‘3’ equated completion and perfection,

which is also the connection he found within mathematics to create the Pythagorean

theorem. The triad for Pythagoreans also had an ethical dimension, as “the goodness of

each person was believed to be threefold - prudence, drive and good fortune.”6 The

Pythagoreans also had a system based on numerology, focusing on the first nine

numbers. In this, 1 was considered Unity, 2 as Disorder, and 3 as a representation of

Harmony7. Plato’s three parts of man, the mind/intellect “Nous”, the soul “Psyche” and

the body “Soma”8, along with his three transcendentals, truth “Verum”, goodness

“Bonum”, and beauty “Pulchrum”. Both these follow the idea of three as a necessity for

living, and when including Plato’s tripartite soul9 shows the philosophers recognition of

the importance of the triad as a way to express unity. These triads fall under the three-

way classificatory division of trichotomy. Shown further by Aristotle, in the 4th century

BCE, and his ideas of the three kinds of soul10. Aristotle created the three ways to

5
Lease, Emory B. "The Number Three, Mysterious, Mystic, Magic." Classical Philology 14.1 (1919): 56-
73.
6
Vamvacas, Constantine J. (2009). “The Founders of Western Thought - The Presocratics”. Springer
Science & Business Media p. 72 ISBN 9781402097911
7
Side note: Pythagoreans took 9 as a triple perfection number as it is 3x3
8
Plato, Timaeus, 30
9
Republic IV 439 e3–9
10
Lorenz, Hendrik. “Ancient Theories of Soul.” Edited by Edward N. Zalta, “The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy”, Stanford University, 23 Oct. 2003, plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/.
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persuade man, Logos, Pathos, and Ethos11. Logos, appealing the the logical, using

facts and statistics from data, along with quotations from reputable sources, however

without Pathos, Logos comes across as ‘dead’ to the reader and listener. Pathos

appeals to the emotion of the audience, and carries both Ethos and Logos to the

audience. Ethos is the ethical side of the argument, relating to the morals and character

of the audience, and is the most fluid of the three. Aristotle also had the order of Ethos,

Logos, Pathos, to set the way to persuade, credibility, reliability, intimacy. Along with the

writings of Aristotle:

'All things are three, and thrice is all:

and let us use this number in the worship of the gods;

for, as the Pythagoreans say, everything and all things are bounded by threes,

for the end, the middle and the beginning have this number in everything,

and these compose the number of the Trinity'12.

And the other writing of Aristotle:

‘The triad is the number of the complete whole,

Inasmuch as it contains a beginning, middle, and an end.

Nature herself has provided us with this number for use in the holy service of the gods’13

The Archaic Triad of the pre-roman and early-roman period of what we know as

Rome is no longer detectable, but is in various testimonies and literature, and is made

11
McCormack, Krista C. "Ethos, pathos, and logos: The benefits of Aristotelian rhetoric in the courtroom."
Wash. U. Jurisprudence Rev. 7 (2014): pp: 134-142
12
Weigall, Arthur “Paganism in Our Christianity”, 1928, pp. 197-198
13
Goldsmith, Elisabeth E. “LIFE SYMBOLS AS RELATED TO SEX SYMBOLISM: a Brief Study into the
Origin and Significance of... Certain Symbols Which Have Been Found in All Civil.” Forgotten Books,
2016.
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up of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus1415. The latter, Quirinus, fell out of use in later times

and was equated with Janus Quirinus along with becoming epithets to Jupiter and Mars.

When the Archaic Triad transitioned into the Capitoline Triad the Romans kept Jupiter

as the king of the gods, but added Juno (in the aspect as Juno Regina as Queen Juno)

and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and daughter of Jupiter, to replace Mars and Quirinus.

This grouping is unusual in the Indo-European religions, the single male with the dual

female group, and is likely derived from the Etruscan Trio of Turan, the supreme deity,

Uni, the wife, and Menrva, the daughter and goddess of wisdom16.

The Capitoline Triad were honoured and worshiped in the Temples known as the

Capitolia, that were built primarily on hills and in prominent areas in the cities of Italy

and the Provinces during the Augustan and Julio-Claudian periods. Many of the

Capitolia had three inner chambers of the temple, each specific for their god, and the

term ‘Capitolium’ could have been used to refer to any temple dedicated to the triad.

However, the temple upon the Capitoline Hill is most referenced as such, and called

Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini, or Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the

Capitoline. The first Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was built under the reign of

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, also known as Tarquin the Proud, who was the last king of

ancient Rome before it became a republic. In most of the Capitoline temples it was

customary to have Juno Regina in the left chamber, Minerva to the right, and Jupiter in

the middle. While the Capitoline was for all citizens of Rome, it seemed to focus more

on the upperclassmen of society. The Aventine Triad was the opposite, focusing on the

plebeians and agriculture.

14
Ryberg, Inez Scott (1931). "Was the Capitoline Triad Etruscan or Italic?". The American Journal of
Philology: 145–156. doi:10.2307/290109. JSTOR 290109.
15
According to scholar Georges Dumezil the God Quirinius was a deified version of Romulus
16
De Grummond, Nancy Thomson. “Etruscan myth, sacred history, and legend”. UPenn Museum of
Archaeology, 2006. Pg 89
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The Aventine Triad of Rome was considered both a plebeian and agricultural

triad, and was for Ceres, Liber, and Libera, and was around the Aventine Hill and

established around 493 BCE. The temple built for the triad served as a way to focus the

three gods as a part of the plebeian identity, and lays outside of the sacred boundary of

Rome. The Aventine Triad was parallel and potentially a self-conscious antithesis to

both the Archaic and the later Capitoline Triads. Ceres was the goddess of grain crops,

fertility and agriculture, and is the central deity in the Aventine Triad. Liber was the god

of viticulture, wine, fertility and freedom, and was a Patron of the Plebeians of Roman

society. Liber is also equated with the Greek Dionysus and the Romanied form

Bacchus.Liber was often a companion to both Ceres and Libera in separate and

disparate fertility cults in the Roman world. Libera was the goddess of wine, fertility,

and freedom, and was a sort of female counterpart of Liber17, however, in 205 BCE she

was officially identified as Proserpina, daughter of Ceres18. The triad all served as

agriculture and fertility deities for the plebeians as a distinct social group in roman

society, and their worship was widespread through the hellenised Italian peninsula long

before it was officially adopted into Rome.

Sources in later Rome state that the gods become distinctively Greek 19 in

character, having Ceres as Demeter, Liber as Dionysus, and Libera as Persephone,

however, Cicero rejects the equivalence of Liber and Dionysus, asserting Ceres as the

mother of Liber and Libera2021. In keeping with roman theology the equivalence

17
Spaeth, Barbette Stanley “The Roman goddess Ceres”, University of Texas Press, 1996, p.6-8; the
pairing of Libera and Liber identifies both as aspects of an "etymological duality" – cf Roman Faunus and
Fauna.
18
Later Roman accounts describe Ceres, Liber, and Libera as equivalent to the Greek deities Demeter,
Dionysus, and Persephone
19
Cornell, T. “The beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000–
264 BC)”, Routledge, 1995, p. 264:
20
Spaeth, Barbette Stanley “The Roman goddess Ceres”, University of Texas Press, 1996, pp.6 - 8, 44.
21
Wiseman, T.P. “Remus: a Roman myth,” Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.133, notes 20,22
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remained speculative and broad. The temple was vowed to the patron deities of the

plebeians by the Dictator Postumius in either 498 or in 496 BCE22. This pragmatic, and

timely recognition of the plebeian citizens as distinct social groups gave confirmation to

their status within Rome even though some aspects of the Aventine Triad were morally

‘un-roman’ in the authoritarian view. Priests of this triad likely acted for their community,

and served Liber and Libera23, while Ceres was served by “Flamen Cerealis”, a title that

was held be a plebeian, whos duties included the invocation of the other deities 24. In

205 BCE the temple of the Aventine Triad included a mystery cult to Ceres and

Proserpina, in addition to Liber and Libera of the Aventine Temple. The temple served

not only as a religious space but also as a location for sacred records and a place for

the priests to meet.

The Lunar triad of Rome consisted of Selene/Luna, Artemis/Diana, and Hekate,

and a few writers have noted their connections. In one of Seneca’s works Phaedra

prays to the three and invokes them by epithets as Diana is “queen of the groves” and

Luna is the “goddess of the groves…[and] glory of the night” and then refers to Hekate

as three-formed25. Statius also describes Diana as a triple goddess with aspects of

Luna and Hekate26, and when Teiresias performs necromantic rites in their grove 27.

Nonnus also describes Selene, Artemis, and Hekate as a triple goddess28 and refers to

the three-fold nature of Hecate within the same passage. While these Greco-Roman

examples are primarily female centered, continued religion in the Roman empire was

22
Ridley, R. T. “Notes on the Establishment of the Tribunate of the Plebs.” Latomus, vol. 27, no. 3, 1968,
pp. 535–554. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41526929.
23
Beard, M., Price, S., North, J., “Religions of Rome: Volume 1, a History”, illustrated, Cambridge
University Press, 1998, pp. 64 -5.
24
Scheid, John "Graeco Ritu: A Typically Roman Way of Honoring the Gods", Harvard Studies in
Classical Philology, Vol. 97, Greece in Rome: Influence, Integration, 1995, p. 23.
25
Seneca, Phaedra 406 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.)
26
Statius, Thebaid 10. 365 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.)
27
Statius, Thebaid 4. 410 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.)
28
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 44. 198 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.)
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not, due to the introduction of Christianity, and the three-fold understanding of the

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In Christianity the trinity of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost, all being a part of the

three-fold nature of the singular divinity. Due to Christianity being Monotheistic, triads in

this religion come from more of a humanistic sense, rather than the mythological and

religious type from Greece and Rome. Starting from the beginning of the religion, their

belief was that Adam and Eve had three sons, Cain, Abel, and Seth within Genesis 5.

The Biblical Magi, or the Three wise men, Melchior who was a persian scholar,

Caspar, and Balthazar a Babylonian scholar were an important triad due to their actions

the day of Christ’s birth. They also played a part in creating a tradition of kneeling in

Christian worship. Christianity also had three theological virtues, that of faith, hope and

charity. Faith was the belief in God, and in the truth of His revelation and obedience to

Him29. Hope was the expectation of and desire of receiving, along with refraining from

despair and not giving up in your belief in God. Charity was a supernatural virtue that

has the practitioners love God and one’s neighbors more than the individual themself. In

opposition, the three vices were the lacking of the virtues, such as a lack of faith may

lead to incredulity and blasphemy, a lack of hope may lead to cynicism, and a lack of

charity will lead to wrath and indifference. Christianity also had three realms of the

afterlife, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Parallel to Christianity, Islam also holds a trinity in

their religion which includes the Father, Son, and Mary, giving a feminine aspect to the

divine godhead. This triune nature of existence on the deepest level of subconscious,

which then translated into symbols and archetypes found in origin stories, myths,

religious texts.

29
Pickar, C. H. (1981) [1967]. "Faith". The New Catholic Encyclopedia. 5. Washington D.C. p. 792.
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Coming up to modern day, the aspect of the triads still remains, even in literature.

Take for example Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and the three weird sisters, they are

representational of the Moirai and Fates of the Greco-Roman religion and belief. The

three supernatural female figures were called by many different names, including the

Kindly Ones, a form of apotropaic worship to avoid the bad luck that was believed to be

associated with them. Today the well known triads of thought are those that are cycles,

such as birth, life, and death, or past, present, future in reference to time and in

conjunction with the morning, afternoon, and night, showing the complete cycle unto

itself. It is even seen in grammar, with the three genders being female, male, and

neuter, and three cases of first person, second person, and third person.

Sphinx Riddle - "the creature that goes on four legs in the morning, two

legs in the day, and three legs at night" analogy 3 phases of human life:

childhood, adulthood, old age.