Religion

Ancient Greece
• The Hellenic religion is a traditional religion and way of life, revolving
around the Greek Gods, primarily focused on the Twelve Olympians,
and embracing ancient Hellenic values and virtues.
Ancient Greece
• Hellenic polytheists worship the ancient Greek Gods including the
Olympians, nature divinities, underworld deities and heroes. Both
physical and spiritual ancestors are honored. It is primarily a
devotional or votive religion, based on the exchange of gifts
(offerings) for the gods' blessings.
Ancient Greece
• In 2017, Hellenism was legally recognized as a "known religion" in
Greece. Among them, the members are called Ethnikoi
Modern Greece
• The Greek Orthodox Church, largely because of the importance of
Byzantium in Greek history, as well as its role in the revolution, is a
major institution in modern Greece. Its roles in society and larger role
in overarching Greek culture are very important; a number of Greeks
attend Church at least once a month or more and the
Orthodox Easter holiday holds special significance.
Modern Greece
• Greek Orthodox Churches dot both the villages and towns of Greece
and come in a variety of architectural forms, from older Byzantine
churches, to more modern white brick churches, to newer cathedral-
like structures with evident Byzantine influence. Greece also polled as
one of the most religious countries in Europe, according to Eurostat;
however, while the church has wide respect as a moral and cultural
institution, a contrast in religious belief with Protestant northern
Europe is more obvious than one with Catholic Mediterranean
Europe.
Festivals
• January 6th, the Epiphany. This is the feast of Agia Theofania, or Fota,
which celebrates the day when the "kalikatzari", or hobgoblins that
appeared during the period of Christmas, are re-banished to the
netherworld by the church's rites
• February-March, The Carnival. The Carnival is called "Apokries" in
Greek and it is expressed by three weeks of feasting and dancing. The
Carnival takes place three weeks before Lent Monday. Important
Carnival Parades take place in Patra, Xanthi, Corfu island and Rethymno
with wonderful parties. The exact dates of the Carnival vary, depending
on the Easter. Actually, the Carnival finishes 7 weeks before Easter.
Festivals
• The Panathenaea was the most important festival for Athens and one
of the grandest in the entire ancient Greek world. This holiday of great
antiquity is believed to have been the observance of Athena's birthday
and honored the goddess as the city's patron divinity. A procession
assembled before dawn at the Dipylon gate in the northern sector of
the city.
• The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honor of
the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance
of tragedies. The Dionysia actually comprised two related festivals, the
Rural Dionysia and the City Dionysia, which took place in different parts
of the year.
Festivals
• The Lenaia was an annual festival with a dramatic competition but one
of the lesser festivals of Athens and Ionia in ancient Greece. The Lenaia
took place in Athens in the month of Gamelion, roughly corresponding
to January. The festival was in honour of Dionysus Lenaius.
• The Anthesteria, one of the four Athenian festivals in honour
of Dionysus was held annually for three days, the eleventh to thirteenth
of the month of Anthesterion (the January/February full moon); it was
preceded by the Lenaia. At the center of this wine-drinking festival was
the celebration of the maturing of the wine stored at the previous
vintage, whose pithoi were now ceremoniously opened, and the
beginning of spring.
Festivals
• The Boedromia was an ancient Greek festival held at Athens on the
7th of Boedromion (summer) in the honour of Apollo Boedromios.
The festival had a military connotation, and thanks the god for his
assistance to the Athenians during wars.
• The Thargelia was one of the chief Athenian festivals in honour of the
Delian Apollo and Artemis, held on their birthdays, the 6th and 7th of
the month Thargelion (about 24 and 25 May). Essentially an
agricultural festival, the Thargelia included a purifying and expiatory
ceremony.
Festivals
• The Adonia or Adonic feasts, were ancient feasts instituted in honour
of Aphrodite and Adonis, and observed with great solemnity among
the Greeks, Egyptians, etc. It lasted two days, and was celebrated by
women exclusively. On the first day, they brought into the streets
statues of Adonis, which were laid out as corpses; and they observed
all the rites customary at funerals, beating themselves and uttering
lamentations, in imitation of the cries of Venus for the death of her
paramour.
Festivals
• The Thesmophoria was a festival held in Greek cities, in honor of the
goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The name derives
from thesmoi, or laws by which men must work the land. The
Thesmophoria were the most widespread festivals and the main
expression of the cult of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian
Mysteries.
Festivals
• The festival of the Skira or Skirophoria in the calendar of ancient
Athens, closely associated with the Thesmophoria, marked the
dissolution of the old year in May/June. At Athens, the last month of
the year was Skirophorion, after the festival. Its most prominent
feature was the procession that led out of Athens to a place
called Skiron near Eleusis, in which the priestess of Athena and the
priest of Poseidon took part, under a ceremonial canopy called
the skiron, which was held up by the Eteoboutadai.
Festivals
• The Hermaea were ancient Greek festivals held annually in honour
of Hermes, notably at Pheneos at the foot of Mt Cyllene in Arcadia.
Usually the Hermaea honoured Hermes as patron of sport and
gymnastics, often in conjunction with Heracles. They included athletic
contests of various kinds and were normally held
in gymnasia and palaestrae.
Sports
• The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every
four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Competition was
among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient
Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat sports such
as wrestling and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been
widely written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating
city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of
hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce. This idea is a modern
myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow
those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through
warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus.
Symbols
• The national colours of Greece are blue and white. The coat of arms
of Greece consists of a white cross on a blue escutcheon which is
surrounded by two laurel branches. The Flag of Greece is also blue
and white, as defined by Law 851/1978 Regarding the National Flag.
It specifies the color of "cyan", meaning "blue", so the shade of blue is
ambiguous.
Symbols
• The double-headed eagle is a charge associated with the concept
of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly
associated with its use by the Byzantine Empire, whose use of it
represented the Empire's dominion over the Near East and the West.
The symbol is much older, and its original meaning is debated among
scholars. The eagle has long been a symbol of power and dominion.
Symbols
• The Vergina Sun, also known as the Star of Vergina, Vergina
Star, Macedonian Star or Argead Star, is a rayed solar
symbol appearing in ancient Greek art of the period between the 6th
and 2nd centuries BC. The name "Vergina Sun" became widely used
after the archaeological excavations in and around the small town
of Vergina, in northern Greece, during the late 1970s. In older
references, the name "Argead Star" or "Star of the Argeadai" is used
for the Sun as the possible royal symbol of the Argead
dynasty of Macedon.