ISSN 1877-7236, Volume 1, Number 2

ISSN 1877-7236, Volume 1, Number 2
This article was published in the above mentioned Springer issue.
The material, including all portions thereof, is protected by copyright;
all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science + Business Media.
The material is for personal use only;
commercial use is not permitted.
Unauthorized reproduction, transfer and/or use
may be a violation of criminal as well as civil law.
Water Hist (2009) 1:83–108
DOI 10.1007/s12685-009-0008-1
Author's personal copy
ORIGINAL PAPER
Water Sources and the Sacred in Modern and Ancient
Greece and Beyond
Evy Johanne Håland
Received: 16 June 2009 / Accepted: 22 October 2009 / Published online: 21 November 2009
Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009
Abstract The article presents contemporary Greek water-rituals and their relation to
ancient pre-Christian traditions and sites, manifested by springs in caves. Formerly springs
represented Water-Nymphs, and today springs are dedicated to the Panagia (i.e. the Virgin
Mary), under her attribute of Zōodochos Pēgē (i.e. the Life-giving Spring). People have
traditionally expressed their beliefs through rituals connected to purity and water by
fetching Holy water from the caves dedicated to these divinities. The water is thought to be
particularly healing and purifying during their festivals, such as the modern festival dedicated to the ‘‘Life-giving Spring’’, which is celebrated on the first Friday after Easter
Sunday. During this celebration Athenians come to Panagia’s chapel inside a circular
Spring House hewn in the rock on the Southern slope of the Acropolis to fetch Life-giving
water. The Sacred Spring is situated inside a cave over which is constructed a church. It is
also important to be baptised in water from one of Panagia’s sacred springs. The cult
dedicated to the personified sacred and healing spring-water, has traditionally been
important for political purposes as well. Based on fieldwork on contemporary religious
rituals, the author compares the modern evidence with ancient material, arguing for a
continuous association of water sources with the sacred in Greece, as observed in the
Athenian Acropolis Cave, a cult which is not very well-documented and therefore deserves
to be better known. The comparison will also exploit the cult of springs in other Greek
caves and similar cult found in parallel non-Greek contexts.
Keywords Modern and ancient Greece Springs Religious rituals Mediterranean
Introduction
Religious rituals and beliefs in connection with water are found cross-culturally all over the
world. Every aspect of human life and divine interferences on earth can be expressed
E. J. Håland (&)
Bergen, Norway
e-mail: [email protected]
123
84
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
through water-related symbols. In other words, rituals in connection with the religious
significance of water recur across several civilizations and religious groupings.
In Greece, springs in caves have traditionally shaped and featured prominently in
religious beliefs and practices. In ancient times, springs represented Water-Nymphs.
Today, springs are dedicated to the Panagia, i.e. the Virgin Mary, under her attribute of
Zōodochos Pēgē, i.e. the Life-giving Spring. Both ancient and modern believers have
expressed their beliefs in rituals connected to purity and water by fetching Holy water from
the caves dedicated to these female divinities. The water is thought to be particularly
healing and purifying during the festivals dedicated to the goddesses. This is reflected
today in the modern festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, which is celebrated on the
first Friday after the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. During this festival Athenians come to Panagia’s chapel inside a circular Spring House hewn in the rock on the
Southern slope of the Acropolis to fetch Life-giving water. The Sacred Spring is situated
inside a cave over which is constructed a church. Today, it is also important to be baptised
in water from one of the many sacred springs, which are dedicated to the Panagia. The cult
dedicated to the personified sacred and healing spring-water has also been important for
political purposes both in ancient and modern Greece (Fig. 1).
The significance of water is clearly demonstrated through the cult dedicated to the
Panagia under her attribute of the Life-giving Spring. Her Athenian chapel is situated in
the cave, which is dedicated to her. Throughout antiquity the cave and its spring was
dedicated to different deities, until it became part of a Byzantine Church-complex. The
wonder-working nature of the Sacred Spring continues, and the ancient Spring House is
now a chapel which normally is kept locked (Fig. 2).
This article will compare the importance of the spring in the modern religious rituals in
the Acropolis Cave with the ancient cult of the spring in the actual cave. The comparison
will also examine the cult of springs in other Greek caves. Connecting past and present
water rituals offers insight into the importance of water in Greek rituals and the longevity
of the sacredness of springs. The article will also briefly discuss similar cults in non-Greek
contexts. I begin by presenting the local ethnographic evidence. Afterwards, I turn to the
broader context and history. Although going from the particular to the general, or from
micro- to macro-history might seem unusual to some readers, this is a common methodological approach for historians who seek to clarify the ancient world by comparing the
sources with modern material. Thus, by bringing ancient and modern worlds into mutual
illumination, including comparisons with other examples from the wider Mediterranean
Fig. 1 The church dedicated to
the Life-giving Spring at Athens:
behind the low wall is the Holy
Spring, 1992 (author’s
photograph)
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
85
Fig. 2 The entrance to the
Sacred Spring, the Acropolis
Cave at Athens, 2006 (author’s
photograph)
area, this article shows that the issues addressed are relevant beyond the Greek context
both in time and space.1
Cleaning the Acropolis caves
Saturday 4 April 1992, Eirinē Melas carries out the monthly cleaning of the Acropolis
caves (Fig. 3). At nine o’clock in the morning, I arrive together with my visiting mother
and Eirinē’s daughter, Maria, to the cave, which is also called Zōodochos Pēgē, the
1
The article is mainly based upon an extended fieldwork, which was carried out in Greece in 1991–1992,
cf. Håland (forthcoming a, see also 2007a). The problems and fruitfulness of working with anthropological
comparative approaches (such as using material from Modern Greek civilization as models) to Ancient
Society are also discussed in my PhD dissertation; cf. further Winkler (1990). The material from the
beginning of the 1990s is highly relevant, as has also been demonstrated through my return visits to the cave.
Draft versions of the article were presented at the 4th International Water History Association Conference,
Paris, 2005 and the 35th World Congress of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, Paris, 2006. The original paper-version is found on the CD-Rom from the IWHA-conference,
distributed by the secretariat ([email protected].). A shortened version, ‘‘From Water in Greek Religion, Ancient and Modern, to the Wider Mediterranean and Beyond’’, is published in Comparative Civilizations Review 56, Spring 2007: 56–75. Parts of the following also appeared in Proteus: A Journal of
Ideas, Spring 2009, Shippensburg PA 17257-2299. 2009 by Shippensburg University, and is included
with permission.
123
86
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
Fig. 3 Eirinē Melas carries out
the monthly cleaning of the
Acropolis caves: starting in the
Church dedicated to the Lifegiving Spring, 1992 (author’s
photograph)
Life-giving Spring, due to the Sacred Spring.2 Eirinē tells that it is dedicated to Agioi
(cf. Agios, i.e. Saint) Anargyroi, the patron saints of healing (see also Loukatos 1982,
p. 153; cf. Håland 2003, 2005, 2007a).3 As usual, Eirinē is the only person who is cleaning,
a task she has carried out since her deceased husband worked at the Acropolis.4 On this
day, two other women also arrive. In addition, a young man, Panagiotis, is present. As
Eirinē, he is particularly religious, and during our stay, he presents several newspaper
cuttings about the ‘‘cave-churches’’.5 It should be mentioned that I always have regarded
the two caves as caves, but my informants always refer to them as churches. Despite
Panagiotis’ participation, the main performers of the rituals in the caves are women. They
assert that since childhood they have been brought to the Life-giving Spring to fetch Holy
water along with their mothers: ‘‘It has always been like this’’. This declaration is a clear
instance of how Greek children, girls and boys, are socialised.6 It is also worth mentioning
that the comment about ‘‘how it always has been’’ is a general remark that most informants
give when a researcher asks how old a custom is. This may very often be a problem when
conversing with Greek informants who do not necessarily always think, or ‘‘see’’, in a
‘‘European historical linear’’ way, but have their own, very often, local history.7
It was necessary to obtain special permission from the ‘‘Acropolis authorities’’, i.e. the
representatives of the Ministry of Culture, 1st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical
Antiquities, represented by the Curator of Antiquities (i.e. Ephoros archaiotētōn) of the
2
I have not attempted to disguise the location of my field research, although I have used pseudonyms to
protect the identities of the individuals. The dialogue between myself and my informants is a condition of
fieldwork. I had several conversations with Maria Melas particularly in 1991–1992, and I would like to
thank her, as well as my other informants for their openness. This Saturday-visit to the caves was, I think,
made particularly easy since my mother also was participating, and I would like to thank her as well.
3
It may be noted that Saint in Greek is Agios (m.) or Agia (f.), Agioi (pl.). The short form is Ag.
4
He worked at the Acropolis for 31 years.
5
I am particularly grateful for this, because I would probably not have been able to track them down
without his help. I learned this when talking with several other people, who found the ritual quite uninteresting compared to the other materials found in the Acropolis area. Certainly, the two other women may
also have been present because of curiosity.
6
Until puberty, Greek boys are still reared in an exclusively female environment. They are moulded and
socialized by their mothers, wet-nurses or grandmothers, who exercise influence upon them in ancient, and
modern society, Håland (2007a, Chap. 6). For an English (short) version, see Håland (2009a, p. 113).
7
For the problem with different histories, see Håland (2007a, Chap. 2 f., 6), cf. Hastrup (1992).
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
87
Acropolis area to do research in the two caves situated on the Southern slope of the
Acropolis, a task which was not very easy. Even if the representatives for the Acropolis
authorities were very helpful, it took some time before they understood my request. Several
within the management found it quite incomprehensible that I was not interested in only
talking with the archaeologists who work at the site, but also with the rather poor woman
who regularly cleans the caves, and people who have fetched water there their whole lives.
The fact that I was as interested in establishing contact with living people practising their
religion in the same caves where the Water-Nymphs once were worshipped, as in the
archaeological ruins around, which are, nevertheless, quite mute compared to the traditional cult practised in the cave with Life-giving water, was quite incomprehensible. One
may add that while archaeologists do unearth the Ancient Greatness, understanding people’s performance of their traditional religious rituals is fundamental.8 In other words, we
need other approaches to learn about people’s practical religious life. We cannot learn that
from archaeological sources alone.9
According to Eirinē she is quite late today, because she has already been visiting a
church in Monastiraki. While she lights candles and fetches water in the cave, we chat
about the annual festival, which normally takes place in the cave in approximately a
month’s time. However, it is not yet decided whether the festival will be celebrated this
year or not, due to two practical problems, one of them being the actual date of the festival
in 1992.10 Another problem is the relationship between the new parish priest and the
celebrants. According to Maria, the old priest in the Byzantine Church of Agios Nikolaos
on Plaka always officiated during the festival, but now he is very old, and his young
successor resists participating at the festival, claiming that it represents a pagan custom.
During the conversation, I learn that last year (1991) he stated that he was ill, suffering
from a heart disease. ‘‘But, we don’t believe that’’, according to Maria. Even if there is a
very close relationship between the official Orthodox religion and popular religion, this
problematic situation still is a general problem we also see during other Greek festivals.11
8
Here, we meet an evidence of Said’s (1979) ‘‘orientalism’’, which does not understand the point in
examining rituals that may not be important for the ‘‘Great History’’, but only connected with the daily tasks
of women. Although folklorist studies and archaeology enjoy great prestige within the Greek nation state, it
may lead to misunderstandings when a foreign female researcher wants to compare modern and ancient
popular religious rituals, because it is uncommon. ‘‘Only ‘survivalists’ do that, and this is a research-area
which is despised by foreign researchers.’’ On another level, one may also observe the conduct, which is
demonstrated when the guards at the Acropolis area emphasize to tourists, ‘‘this is our culture it is the other
culture that we share with you’’. Based on the background to this view, it may be regarded as an answer to
Western orientalism. Cf. Håland (2007a, Chap. 2) for the two Greek ideologies, the ‘‘Romeic’’ and the
‘‘Hellenic’’. See also (Chaps. 3 and 6). Cf. Herzfeld (1992). Additional sources on women’s ritual observance and the links to antiquity are attested in Alexiou (2002); Håland (2007a, Chap. 6).
9
Cf. n.1 above. However, the modern ethnoarchaeology gives very interesting results. One definition of
ethnoarchaeology is that it is ‘‘neither a theory nor a method, but a research strategy embodying a range of
approaches to understanding the relationships of material culture to culture as a whole, both in a living
context and as it enters the archaeological record exploiting such understandings in order to inform
archaeological concepts and to improve interpretation [… it is] the ethnographic study of living cultures
from archaeological perspectives’’, Nicholas and Kramer (2001, p. 2). I would like to thank Dr. Terje
Østigård for providing me with this reference.
10
For several months, I was in conversations with the Acropolis authorities to find out whether the festival
was going to be celebrated. In 1992, it was a great problem for them, because 1st May or Workers Day,
coincided with the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, which is a very important celebration for
Athenians in the actual area.
11
Such as the Anastenaria, cf. Håland (2007a, Chap. 3 f., 6) for discussions of the practical problems that
may arise from the (sometimes) difficult relations between the official Orthodox Church and popular
religion. In practical life, we meet another reality than the official one given by Alexiou (1974).
123
Author's personal copy
88
E. J. Håland
In 1991, the festival finally was successfully celebrated because Eirinē’s son invited a
priest from the University of Piraeus to officiate at the ceremony. However, they still do
not know what will happen this year.
The cave is situated within the archaeological quarter of the Sanctuary of Asklepios,
the ancient healer of sickness, and today the entrance is locked up with bars and several
padlocks. When they reach the cave this morning, everyone washes in the spring and
drinks the water. The two women assert that the water is miracle-working and healing.
They have been here regularly with their mothers since childhood. Furthermore, they
explain that among the many icons in the cave, the most holy represents the Panagia and
the Child. In front of the icon, one of the women arranges a bunch of flowers (nasturtium). Therefore, even if we have just learned that the cave is still dedicated to Agioi
Anargyroi, in reality the Panagia is the one who gets the gifts. Further, it is interesting to
note that the tamata (i.e. metal plaques depicting a vow or request, votive offerings) are
mainly dedicated to the icons of the Panagia, even if the icon of Ag. Anargyroi still is in
the cave. The most common offering is a silver- or gold-plated ex-voto representing the
person who has been miraculously cured by the icon in combination with the water, or the
cured limb itself or the person or limb wanting to be cured. Before she leaves the cave,
the woman arranging the flowers also fills a bottle with Holy water, as taught to her by
her mother since she was 5 years old. The other woman also brings with her a bunch of
flowers. She only ‘‘gives half of it to the icon in this cave, because the other half is going
to be offered to the icon of the Panagia in the other cave, where we will go when we have
finished here.’’12 She says that ‘‘this is the oldest church in Greece, and Paul was
preaching here.’’ She lights candles in front of the icon and they light the many olive-oil
lamps. All the devotees fill bottles with water, saying that ‘‘even if it is not raining, there
will always be water in the cave.’’
After awhile, Eirinē fills Holy water into a bucket, and along with a broom, soap, other
cleaning supplies and a candelabra for votive-candles, we carry it further up the rock,
climbing up to the other cave-church, which opens above the theatre of the ancient god,
Dionysos. This is the cave dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, or Chapel of Our
Lady of the Golden Cavern (Fig. 4).13 Within the cave, Eirinē or another person lights a
lamp every evening.
The cave was also important for the ancients. On the walls of the church are faded
Byzantine paintings. The two churches are from the fifth or the sixth century. In both
churches, we see a newspaper article framed and glazed. Panagiotis tells that he put it
there. He does not remember exactly when and where the article was published, only that
he ‘‘found it some years ago’’, ‘‘the year I was on Tinos during the Panagia’’ (i.e.
15.08.1989).14 The article describes the legend behind the cult dedicated to the Panagia
Crysospēliōtissa in this particular cave. Eirinē and Panagiotis recount the article in their
own way: ‘‘In the beginning of Christianity there was a miraculous icon in this cave. It was
painted by Agios (the Evangelist) Luke during Mary’s lifetime. Roxane, the daughter of a
pagan medical doctor, dreamt Panagia who asked her ‘to set her free’. She was
12
She leaves the rest of the flowers in the other cave and departs soon afterwards.
13
Eirinē always finishes her cleaning of the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring before she goes up
to the Crysospēliōtissa. Cf. the ritual on Aegina, where they fetch the icon of the Panagia to get rain, Håland
(2005).
14
When asking Panagiotis when and where the article was published, because as a researcher I have to
produce documents in support of the information I give, the discouraging answer he gives is that ‘‘he does
not remember where he found it, only that it is some years old.’’
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
89
Fig. 4 The cave dedicated to the
Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, or
Chapel of Our Lady of the
Cavern at Athens, 1992 (author’s
photograph).
imprisoned.’’ In other words, the icon was buried here.15 After three dreams, she asked the
other Christians to go along with her; they dug and found the icon. Then, the Panagia
appeared to her in a vision. She promised to help Roxane to liberate Athens. When the
Visigothic leader Alaric came, leading his people from Lower Moesia in 395 A.D., he
wanted to destroy the city. However a light appeared before them,16 Alaric saw the
Panagia on the city-wall, and Alaric departed. According to the article, he left because he
was a Christian and believed in the Panagia. The article also explains that many of the
pagan Athenians interpreted the miracle in their own way, and they thought that the
protecting city goddess on the Acropolis, Athena, had appeared on the city-wall. The
miracle happened in August 395 A.D. and, therefore, 15 August is celebrated in commemoration of the miracle.17 In addition to the problematic dating of the article, the
conversation highlights my informants’ particular interpretations of the historic episode,
namely that they emphasize the relationship between pagans and Christians as well as the
magical power of the icon. Accordingly, they also say that the icon was brought to the cave
when people who did not believe in Christianity were present. The article does not mention
15
Cf. Håland (2003, 2007a) for the Tinos-legend, etc., see also below. Cf. also Kephallēniadē (1990 and
1991).
16
Cf. Hdt. 8.65, 8.84; Xen. Hell. 2.4,14 f.; Diod. 14.32,2 f. and Clem. Al. Strom. 1.24,163,1–3 for other preChristian parallels.
17
So, in this instance another (local) meaning is added to the celebration of the 15 August, the Dormition of
the Panagia.
123
90
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
this, but instead recounts how the icon helped the Athenians to save the city against the
assault of the Goths.18
My informants say that earlier they used to be in both churches during the festival
dedicated to the Life-giving Spring. They always started in the Life-giving Spring, and
sometimes they continued the celebration in the Crysospēliōtissa. In the cave dedicated to
Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, they perform the memorial service called ‘‘Nine days after the
Dormition’’ on 23 August.19
In former days, there were two storeys separated by a wooden floor in the chapel
dedicated to Panagia Crysospēliōtissa. The upper floor was situated where the ladder
leading up to the icon of the ‘‘Sleeping Panagia’’ (her Epitaphios) stops (cf. Fig. 4). While
Eirinē is cleaning, she arranges the candelabra that she brought from the cave dedicated to
the Life-giving Spring on a certain place, claiming that this is where the ‘‘Holy table’’ used
to be, and ‘‘there was a church above’’ on the second floor.20 She continues explaining that
this actual ‘‘Upper’’ church ‘‘is named after the death or ‘Dormition’ of the Panagia,
because the icon from 1894 depicts her death’’. They decorate the icon with olive-oil lamps
and flowers. They also decorate the rest of the cave, but they leave all the lamps in front of
the icon of the Panagia and the Child. When Eirinē is asked if this is on purpose, she says
‘no’. One of the most important icons is a copy of an icon taken to Moscow. Many votive
offerings have been dedicated to this copy in the cave. They also tell that the painter was
from Konstantinople (Istanbul).21
The first time I visited the cave, 19 August 1990, I also saw icons dedicated to the
Panagia Athiniotissa and Agios Attikos.22 The cave contains many icons of different saints
(cf. Fig. 4), including Agios Konstantinos and Agios Gregorios. Several icons hang over
older Byzantine frescos, which are not restored (i.e. in 1992). We also see a picture of the
Holy Ephraim. He suffered martyrdom by the Turkish, who burned him, because he was a
Christian priest refusing to deny Christ.23 ‘‘Since the eleventh century his remains have
18
They also say that today the icon is to be found in the church dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa,
in the neighbourhood of Omonia square. They also call it Eirinē (i.e. Peace) or the ‘‘Sleep’’, i.e. the
‘‘Death’’.
19
In 1992, the ritual was not performed. Some days before the festival Eirinē and Panagiotis were cleaning
and tidying up both churches, but Eirinē goes to the church in Monastiraki on the festival day. She does not
tell why, but it might be that they have difficulties when trying to find a priest. Early in the morning, a
woman reaches the entrance to the theatre of Dionysos, asking whether the ceremony is going to be
performed. But, she gets a negative answer.
20
Over the table is a Byzantine wall-painting representing Agios Athanasios from the sixteenth century.
Several dates are also scratched on the rock.
21
Traditionally, there has been very much communication between Russia and Greece, both being
Orthodox, cf., for example, the importance of Mount Athos for both countries. We have many stories about
icons being brought from Greece to Russia, for example, if someone within the family of the Tsar was ill,
see for example, Hatzifotis (1995). That an icon-painter was from Konstantinople, was (and still is for most
Greeks) of course, particularly prestigious, cf. Håland (2007a, Chap. 2).
22
Therefore one may suggest that even if the cult dedicated to Athena on the top of the Acropolis was
prohibited in the fifth century, when Athena’s Parthenon was transformed into a church dedicated to the
Panagia after the termination of the Panathenaia in 410 A.D., it has continued in one of the cave-churches
on the slope of the same rock.
23
According to the official Greek Orthodox account, the (not dated or authored) article in Road to Emmaus
about the New Martyr Ephraim of Nea Makri (pp. 33 f.), he was taken captive and tortured by Islamic
pirates on his birthday in 1425, his captors insisting that he deny Christ. He refused and his torment lasted
for 8 months. On 5 May, he was taken out into the courtyard and hung upside down in a mulberry tree. Nails
were driven into his hands and feet, and he was pierced through the centre of his body with a sharpened pole
that had been fired until it was red-hot. We also learn that he lived from 1384 to 1426, i.e. not the same dates
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
91
been in a Monastery in the neighbourhood of Nea Makri and’’, my informants continue
asserting that, ‘‘many miracles have occurred here: Panagiotis’ cousin Sophia was barren,
but after a visit to the Monastery she became pregnant’’.24 It is worth noting that the
religious symbols, legends and miracles are extremely important to the believers, and in the
very straightforward way they relate everything: it is self-evident. Hence, during my visit
Panagiotis supplies me with several small pictures of different saints and other gifts, for
instance, a medallion of Agios Pandeleimon, the ‘‘Healer’’, the patron-saint of invalids and
cripples. I also get a picture representing a tree, which had a cross inside when it was cut.25
During the cleaning, they also tell that a miracle probably has occurred in the church at
Kypseli dedicated to Agios Ephtimidios. Last week, they found blood on the icon of Jesus
Christ. They summoned experts, but they still do not know the source of the blood. I also
learn that some years ago, Eirinē found all the icons broken when she arrived to the cavechurch, and the perpetrator had left behind a certain number scratched in the cave. This is
why both the churches are locked up with bars and secured with chains and padlocks. By
way of helpful people, Eirinē managed to repair some of the broken icons, and she received
several new ones. Panagiotis lit the incense burner, and emphasises that the incense is from
Athos and is called desert-flower. Eirinē tells him to polish all the framed and glazed icons
with Ajax and wash-leather.26 Meantime, Eirinē sweeps and dusts all the icons. In both
churches, she scrubs the candelabras for votive-candles with steel wool and olive oil. When
she has finished sweeping what remains in this cave, she sprinkles water from the Lifegiving Spring all over. When the cleaning is completed, we return downhill to the first
church. However, before we leave, we see to it that all the lamps are lit.
Down again in the first cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, they show me a hole in
the ground close to the entrance sill. This is where priests used to be beheaded, they
explain. The priests used to hide behind the wall, i.e. in the water, on the right side of the
icon. According to Eirinē and Panagiotis, who are very pleased to be able to relate as much
as possible about the caves, the earlier table, which served as the ‘‘Holy table’’, the ancient
column (see Fig. 1) situated in the middle of the ground floor, has relics from saints
inside.27 Panagiotis emphasises that formerly this church had a ‘‘greater church above’’ and
that the emperor Konstantinos built it. Accordingly, the church dedicated to the Life-giving
Spring was part of the large Byzantine Church-complex covering an extended area. He
shows another picture of Ephraim, the monk who was burned on 5 May 1426. Therefore, 5
May is an annual holiday, celebrating the saint in the Monastery, which is dedicated to
him. ‘‘There, he lays in a silver-coffin and over his relics is the Byzantine banner decorated
Footnote 23 continued
(and identical story) that I was told by my informants, see the following. In 1998, Ag. Ephraim was officially
declared a saint by the Synod of the Orthodox Church in Greece, pending approval by the Patriarch of
Konstantinople, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_of_Nea_Makri; http://www.roadtoemmaus.net/
back_issue_articles/RTE_04/Ephraim_of_Nea_Makri.pdf. I would like to thank Kiriaki Papadopoulou
Samuelsen for giving me these links.
24
I observe a cross, which looks like a phallus, and they tell that it is sewn.
25
Cf. the story behind the ‘‘split column’’, Economides (1986, pp. 22–24).
26
It is worth mentioning that after a while, the leader of the guards working at the Acropolis area comes
around. He got a copy of my permission letter to do research in the caves, and one may wonder whether it
still seems strange that I am as interested in talking with the people performing their religious rituals as with
the archaeologists.
27
Cf. ancient Greek death-cult and the belief that the power of the dead was most strongly experienced in
the neighbourhood of the grave, cf. Håland (2004); Garland (1985, p. 4 and Fig. 1) for a parallel to the bones
of the saints in the cave.
123
Author's personal copy
92
E. J. Håland
with the two eagles,’’ according to my informants.28 In the cave are many icons (cf.
Figs. 1, 9) as well as many votive offerings. While talking about icons, they relate, as many
other Greeks have done, that the Holy icon on Tinos is the work of the Evangelist Luke.
They tell that the king’s family bestowed all the gold and precious stones that cover the
icon, when King Paul became ill. The icon in the cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring
was made in 1917, and shows ‘‘how the water was turned on formerly, when there was a
fountain here’’, according to Panagiotis.29
Before leaving the cave, we discuss the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring,
which will fall on 1st May or Labour Day. They plan to talk with the priest from Piraeus
this year as well due to the problems they have with the new priest in the Church of Agios
Nikolaos on Plaka. Eirinē plans to be here during the afternoon on 1st May, but the service/
mass will be in the morning, starting approximately at 8:30. When we are leaving Eirinē
and Panagiotis, she wishes us ‘‘Happy Easter’’ and adds, as most faithful Greeks do, and
‘‘Kalē Anastasē’’, ‘‘Happy Resurrection’’.
‘‘New’’ Friday in the ‘‘White Week’’: the celebration of the Life-giving Spring
The Easter celebrations in Greece last throughout the week that follows Easter Sunday. The
first week after Easter is known as the ‘‘White Week’’ or the ‘‘Bright Week’’ (Lamprē,
bright, another word for Easter). On ‘‘New’’ Friday in the ‘‘White Week’’ the Greeks
celebrate the Virgin Mary under her attribute of Zōodochos Pēgē, the Life-giving Spring.
The festival is a part of the spring festivals, which are also celebrated during the first week
after Easter. In several places, on this day there are special services and processions,
followed by folk dances (see also Tsotakou-Karbelē 1991, p. 98 f.; Megas 1992, pp. 194–
187). In the village of Diaphani30 on the island of Karpathos in Southern Greece, they have
a special celebration. Both in Diaphani and in the main village on the same island Pēgadia,
i.e. pēgadi, ‘‘spring’’, the festival starts already Thursday evening.
In Athens, the festival is celebrated in another way, since the church dedicated to the
Life-giving Spring is situated inside the archaeological site of the Athenian Acropolis. In
1992, the Friday after Easter coincided with 1st May or Labour Day.31 This is a general
holiday also for the guards working at the Acropolis area. This is quite important, as the
cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring is situated inside the Acropolis area. On 28 March
1992, I was at the site inquiring about the celebration of the festival dedicated to the Lifegiving Spring. According to the guards I spoke with, the whole Acropolis area would be
closed to visitors on 1st May. It seemed that the Curator of Antiquities of the Acropolis
area found it quite difficult to decide whether the area should be kept open for the pilgrims
on this feast day or not. Before I left for Karphatos, where I visited the Orthodox Easter
season celebrations in the village of Olympos, the authorities had not yet decided whether
the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring would be celebrated. It was unclear whether
people would be allowed to come into the area and fetch Holy water.
The circumstances, around the 1992 festival, show tensions in the religious practices in
modern Greece. For some time, it was unclear whether or not the festival would be
celebrated. In this particular instance, one might therefore ask, whether the ideology
28
See also Fig. page 38 in the pamphlet mentioned in n.23 above.
29
Cf. Fig. 9. Panagiotis also tells that the best candles are made of honey.
30
I.e. the port of the village of Olympos, see below.
31
May Day is also celebrated with other particular customs, i.e. people gather spring flowers. With these,
they make wreaths and hang them on their front door.
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
93
related to the ‘‘holiday of the workers’’, as it is adapted to the Modern Greek nation state,
would submit to the popular religiosity, connected to deep-seated meanings. Would these
lasting mentalities related to the traditional customs of the common people ‘‘win’’, or
would the new ideology related to Western Europe be the ‘‘winner’’.32 Both festivals
represent ‘‘the people’’, but one is related to a nationalist ideology that conforms with a
Western ideology, or alternatively, an ideology which in many instances is shared with
the West, while the other represents the ‘‘Greek Romeic thesis’’ (Herzfeld 1986, 1992), i.e.
the inward-facing identity, the ‘‘Romeic’’ image of Greece, an identity that ‘‘echoes’’ the
Byzantine Empire and, hence, the Orthodox Christian tradition to which the overwhelming
majority of Greeks still adhere.
Finally, the Acropolis authorities decided to keep the area open for some hours, and the
popular religiosity of the Greeks triumphed. The festival was celebrated from 8:30 until
11:00. The guards working at the Acropolis were on duty at the two entrances to the
Acropolis area. Here, Greeks from the neighbourhood are ‘‘filtered out’’. They are separated from the rest of the people outside the gates, and only these Greeks are admitted into
the area. To the many frustrated tourists, waiting outside the gates, the message given is
quite clear: ‘‘only Greeks are admitted, since it is their festival’’.33 The ‘‘Romeic’’ or
‘‘inside’’ tradition gains the victory over the ‘‘Hellenic’’. As in other instances, the Romeic
tradition is protected against the Europeans and other Western visitors. The inward-facing
identity is not placed at foreigners’ disposal, as the Greeks do with the ‘‘common Ancient
heritage’’, which is ‘‘outward-directed’’.34 Consequently, in this particular instance, one
may claim that the actual ‘‘ideology of the workers’’ became ‘‘subjugated’’ by the traditional religious custom, which is connected with deep-seated values, the lasting mentalities: people’s need to fetch water from the source after the Resurrection of Christ.35
However, the faithful did not only have to compete with the political ideology, but also the
religious, since the parish priest denied officiating, claiming that the ritual is pagan.
Accordingly, he had to be replaced by another.36
32
Cf. Håland (2007a, particularly Chap. 2), also for the following, (see also 2005) for traditional Greek
customs.
33
I was actually late, and the guards would not let me enter. They take me for a tourist, even though most of
them know why I am here. They say that, ‘‘the festival is only celebrated for the Greeks.’’ Finally, they
admit me into the area because I am able to present the letter I got from the Acropolis authorities, giving me
permission to visit the caves in connection with my researches. Younger officers seem to be particularly
eager to manifest their power in front of a female researcher who, according to them, is not present to do
research on religious celebrations. Another example of the same power demonstration is when an old
woman is not permitted to go under the icon during the procession on 15 August on the island of Tinos in
Greece. The attitude of police officers to women worshippers in contemporary Greece might be compared
with similar attitudes attested in the ancient sources, see, for example, Håland (2007a, Chap. 6) for
discussion.
34
Cf. Herzfeld (1992) for the term ‘‘disemia’’, a two-way-facing system of meanings that can be part of a
public discourse, cf. also Dubisch (1995, Chap. 9) for the distinction between insider and outsider, dikoi (our
own) and xenoi (strangers or foreigners). Cf. Håland (2007a, Chap. 2 f., 6), see also forthcoming b.
35
This is not to deny that during the celebration, I also note that there are frictions between the Acropolisguards and the religiosity of the devotees, first and foremost represented by Eirinē who is a very proud
woman.
36
Cf. also n.37 below concerning the participating priest. This situation is also present in other festivals.
For the contest-theme, see n.11 above concerning the Anastenaria, also discussed in Håland (2007b). See
also my (forthcoming c) for the Charalampos-festival where the local priest denies sacrificing the compulsory bull, and has to be replaced by another, also discussed in Håland (2007a). See also n.8 above for the
relationship between the official representatives and me/my informants, i.e. the gender-dimension in the
contest-theme.
123
Author's personal copy
94
E. J. Håland
Fig. 5 The priest packs up his
briefcase, which is situated in the
middle of the altar in the church
dedicated to the Life-giving
Spring at Athens, 1992 (author’s
photograph)
During the particular ceremony, which takes place at this festival in the cave, Athenians
fetch Life-giving Holy water, and during the celebration many people are present, young and
old, men, women and children. The service lasts 2 h, and the officiating priest is the same as
the year before.37 Outside the entrance to the cave-church several tables are set up. They are
laid with a variety of special breads38 brought by the participants to offer, particularly the
round Holy bread, prosphoro, which always is offered to the church and blessed by the priest.
In addition, we also find sweet bread or a kind of cake sprinkled with icing sugar, which often
are baked and offered at annual festivals dedicated to saints. Inside the church, several
candles are lit in the candelabras. The censer of the priest, supplied with little bells, is
suspended on one of the candelabras near the altar (cf. Fig. 7). At the altar, in front of the wall
behind which is the spring, the priest is officiating. When he concludes the mass, he starts to
assemble the rests of the Holy bread, which he has blessed and distributed to the participants.
He also packs up his briefcase which is situated in the middle of the altar (Fig. 5).
People continue to enter the cave-church to fetch water, although as soon as the service
is finished, most of the participants walk downhill from the cave carrying small bottles
with Holy water, Holy breads and pieces of cakes sprinkled with icing sugar. An old priest
leaves, carrying with him a bottle with Holy water for the following year. People are not
only fetching Holy water. They also wash in the spring and drink from the water.
The water scoop is often used in the cave dedicated to the Panagia during the festival. A
man walking on crutches sits next to the spring and draws water (Fig. 6. See also Håland
2003, Fig. 3 and 2005, Fig. 8). Supplied with the water scoop, he continually receives
empty bottles, which he fills and returns to people who are queuing up. Other people drink
from the spring, sprinkle their heads, or fill small bottles they have brought for just this
purpose by putting the bottles directly into the spring. In the middle of the ground floor, a
basket filled with pieces of bread is placed on the ancient column (cf. Fig. 7) containing the
37
Cf. above. When talking with him after the service, it appears that he belongs to the great group of
Olympians (i.e. from the village of Olympos) from Karpathos living in the Piraeus’ area. When he learns
that I just arrived from Olympos, having celebrated Easter in his own church of childhood, he welcomes me
enthusiastically. He takes me by the hands and wishes ‘‘Many Years’’ (i.e. ‘‘Chronia Polla’’), and he
supplies me with a whole Holy bread, prosphoro. The priest is in his late forties/beginning of his fifties.
From childhood he has been used to celebrate ‘‘water-festivals’’, since the festival dedicated to the Lifegiving Spring is celebrated several places on Karpathos, cf. above. In addition, the icon of the Panagia is
immersed in the water during the procession on ‘‘White’’ Tuesday in Olympos, cf. Håland (2005).
38
In Greek they use the word psomi for everyday bread, and artos, pl. artoi for the special ritual breads.
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
95
Fig. 6 A man walking on
crutches sits next to the spring
and is occupied with drawing
water, in the church dedicated to
the Life-giving Spring at Athens,
1992 (author’s photograph)
saints’ bones. When the last slice of bread is taken, a faithful seizes the basket and pours
the rest of the crumbs over himself. While people are occupied with their own waterfetching rituals, the Acropolis-guards become more and more impatient. They are shouting,
arguing that we have to get out (Fig. 7).
However, the people are not bothered, and they continue to fetch water and bread; they
drink, eat, kiss the various icons and make the sign of the cross. Eirinē becomes very angry
and argues ardently with the head of the guards. At 11 o’clock, we are more or less thrown
out. The evening-service is cancelled; however, the Acropolis authorities were forced to
open the church, let people in, and keep several guards on duty for more than the planned
3 h on 1st May 1992.
The cults in the Acropolis caves at Athens: continuity and change
By presenting this detailed or ‘‘thick’’ description of a contemporary Greek popular ritual, I
hope I have managed to give some indications of the importance of water in Greek
religion, seen from below or ‘‘from the grassroots’’.39 Perhaps, it may help enlighten
similar ancient popular rituals, since our ancient source material is very scattered.
In ancient Greece, in most of the grottos, a cave or cavern full of water, or several droplets
was thought to be manifestations of the divinity. Later, most of the caves were transformed
39
Cf. also the real meanings of the terms ‘‘micro-society’’ as opposed to ‘‘macro-society’’, the ‘‘domestic’’
versus the ‘‘public spheres’’ in Greece, discussed in Håland (2007a).
123
Author's personal copy
96
E. J. Håland
Fig. 7 One of the impatient
guards working at the Acropolis
at Athens within the church
dedicated to the Life-giving
Spring, 1992 (author’s
photograph).
into churches, as in Athens, where we find the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring.
Here, the Panagia has taken over the healing power of the ancient Water-Nymphs. As
parallels to ancient votive reliefs and votive offerings (anathēmata) dedicated to the WaterNymphs, today, we find many icons with ex-votos attached to them or to the many embroideries placed under the icons (cf. Fig. 7). In other words, the Athenian chapel dedicated to the
Panagia under her attribute of the Life-giving Spring, is situated on a site already sacred to
water divinities in antiquity. Behind the low wall is the Holy Spring (cf. Figs. 1, 3, 9).
The spring and its surroundings were initially sacred to the Water-Nymphs. The Spring
House built over it originally dates to the late sixth century B.C. That the area was sacred
to the nymphs is shown by an abundance of votive reliefs with nymphs and other offerings
found in this area.40 Pan was also worshipped there from the fifth century B.C. onwards,41
and probably also Hermes, Aphrodite and the Egyptian goddess Isis, judging from the fact
that near the Spring House, there is a large altar or altar-table of Hymettian marble bearing
the names of these gods who were jointly worshipped and to whom the altar was dedicated.42 Sometime before the middle of the first century, a modest shrine for Isis was
40
See also Håland (2003, Fig. 4); Travlos (1971, pp. 127, 138, Fig. 178, cf. Figs. 192 f. Fig. 192). The
latter (i.e. Fig. 192) is also dedicated to Pan, cf. the following. For the Athenian Acropolis, see for example
Hurwit (2004).
41
Hdt. 6.105, cf. Ar. Lys. 720–723; Eur. Ion. 492–502, see also Men. Dysk. 432–434.
42
IG II2 4994.
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
97
Fig. 8 Horos krenes (‘‘boundary
of the spring’’) the Acropolis
area, Athens, 2006 (author’s
photograph)
established on the south slope just south of the Archaic Spring House, beside an even
smaller Temple of the goddess Themis.
The original cult of the spring, followed by the Archaic round Spring House, later
situated within the Asklepieion, or sanctuary of Asklepios in the City (cf. Fig. 2) are much
older than the shrine of Asklepios, which was dedicated in 419/418 B.C. by Telemakhos of
Acharnai, a devout private donor (Travlos 1971, p. 127).43 The sacred territory of the
spring was not officially marked off, until this last quarter of the fifth century B.C., the era
of Telemakhos’s beneficence, when a marble boundary stone inscribed with the words
horos krenes (‘‘boundary of the spring’’) was set up (Fig. 8), thus establishing the limits of
the Spring House terrace. Its construction, in fact, led to a clearer definition of the
boundaries of the Spring House when the Asklepieion was founded.
Asklepios owes his status and popularity to the healing of sickness. His daughter,
simply named Hygieia, Health, also illustrates the healing aspect. News of the miracle
cures drew hordes of visitors to Epidauros, the ‘‘home’’ or original cult centre of Asklepios,44 and gave rise to a regular health business.
The worship of Asklepios was introduced into Athens on the occasion of the plague of
429 B.C. At the time of this ‘‘great plague’’, the god went from Epidauros to Athens. The
43
The ancient Athenian calendar year began in the summer of one of our years and ended in the summer of
the next; accordingly, ancient dates are often expressed in slashed terms.
44
Cf. Paus. 2.26,8.
123
Author's personal copy
98
E. J. Håland
‘‘cure’’ followed a ritual, during which patients washed in the Sacred Spring, offered at an
altar, and then retired to the stoa, a porch or portico not attached to a larger building, where the
mysterious process of incubation (egkoime¯sis) was assisted by incense from the altars.45 This
and religious excitement produced dreams, through the medium of which Asklepios was
supposed to effect his cure. Many ex-voto tablets to Asklepios and Hygieia have been found
showing the portion of the anatomy treated. These were fixed to a wall or inlaid in the
columns; larger votive stelai, some showing the god visiting sick patients in their sleep, were
fixed to the stoa steps. The traveller and writer Pausanias, living in the second century A.D.,
describes votive offerings he saw when he was visiting the Acropolis cave.46 He specifies: ‘‘In
(side) it there is a spring, by which they say that Poseidon’s son Halirrhothios (‘‘Seafoam’’)
deflowered Alkippe the daughter of Ares (…).’’47
In the fifth century or in the beginning of the sixth century A.D., all the buildings were
demolished and on the foundations, a large three-aisled Christian basilica was built to the
memory of Ag. Anargyroi, the doctor saints or the patron saints of healing (Travlos 1939/
41, pp. 35–68, cf. 1971, p. 128). Since an early Christian Church was built in the remains
of the Asklepieion, the sanctuary dedicated to the ancient god of healing became transformed into a Byzantine Church. Here, under the patronage of Ag. Kosmas and Ag.
Damianos, the process of incubation assisted by incense along with the miracle-working
nature of the Sacred Spring continued under Christian aegis.
When the area around the Asklepieion was excavated in 1876, the cave with Holy water
became dedicated to the Panagia as well (Travlos 1939/41, p. 68). Therefore, the cult in
the cave dedicated to a female divinity (or Holy Person) and the cure in the spring, is not
necessarily representing ‘‘cult-continuity’’, but perhaps rather ‘‘revival’’ of cult. According
to the Greek scholar, D. Loukatos (1982, p. 153), who examines the cult-continuity from
Asklepios to Ag. Anargyroi, the cave is still dedicated to the doctor saints. On the other
hand, as already specified, today, the tamata (ex-votos) are mainly dedicated to the
Panagia, even though the icon of Ag. Anargyroi still is in the cave. Accordingly, it may be
problematical if we only emphasize the cult dedicated to male divinities simultaneously, as
the practical cult clearly demonstrates the importance of female divinities.48 Thus,
according to some, the cave is still dedicated to Ag. Anargyroi, but to most people, at least
through their practical rituals, the most important saint worshipped in the cave seems to be
the Panagia.
In antiquity, the cave, which is dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa today, was
dedicated to Artemis and Apollo as well as Dionysos. Pausanias mentions the cave: ‘‘At the
top of the theatre is a cave in the rocks under the Acropolis. This also has a tripod over it,
wherein are Apollo and Artemis slaying the children of Niobe.’’49 Until Turkish gunfire
destroyed it in 1827, the entrance to the cave was masked by the Choregic Monument of
Thrasyllos, erected in 320/319 B.C., by Thrasyllos, who dedicated the cavern to Dionysos
(Welter 1938, p. 33, cf. 47 f.). From a drawing, we learn that around 1750 A.D., a visitor on
his way up to the cave might meet people awaiting the arrival of the priest, attended by a
boy who carries a wax-candle, followed by a man and a woman leading a child, who, with
those already mentioned, made his whole congregation. Higher up on the rock, next to the
45
Cf. Paus. 2.27,1 f.
46
Paus. 1.21,4–7.
47
Paus. 1.21,4.
48
Cf. also above. Håland (2007a, Chap. 6) discusses the problems we encounter when only emphasizing
male gods/saints. Cf. also Tsotakou-Karbelē (1991, p. 99); Megas (1992, p. 187).
49
Paus. 1.21,3.
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
99
Monument, and just outside of the cave, some people are sitting down to await the coming
of the priest (Revett and Stuart 1762–1816, p. 33 and pl. 1; Travlos 1971, 565, Fig. 707).
The scene is very similar to the modern cult.
Thus, we have ancient pre-Christian documentation, the Christian legend from 395
A.D., in addition to the drawing illustrating the account given by Western travellers to
Athens around the middle of the eighteenth century (Revett and Stuart 1762–1816).50 This
suggests that the cult in the cave must have been very important for people in the
neighbourhood. We also learn this, when visiting the Christian Holy cave, reading the
penciled graffiti on the gate ‘‘for the health of Markos’’, ‘‘for Antonios who has gone to be
a soldier’’. This has hardly changed for centuries: in fact, the cave now has recovered
something genuine which in Pausanias’s time was smothered under art.
In antiquity, the two Acropolis caves were dedicated to the Water-Nymphs and Artemis51, respectively, and later they became churches where the Panagia was worshipped. In
the two caves, there have been cults dedicated to female fertility bestowing and healing
divinities in ancient and modern times, even if the names of the divinities have changed.
The male elements in the Classical (Asklepios and Dionysos, respectively, Asklepios,
nevertheless, together with Hygieia) and the Byzantine periods were intermezzos.52 Even if
a social or ideological meaning changes, in the ideological transition from paganism to
Christianity, exemplified by Christian saints taking over the fields of responsibilities of the
ancient gods, it seems that another unconscious or implied meaning is the same and
continues across different ideologies, such as the ritual fetching of Holy water in the cave
dedicated to the Life-giving Spring.
As previously stated, I did my original fieldwork in the caves in 1991/1992, but was
back on shorter return trips until 1998. For some years, I did not have the possibility to visit
Athens, and hence, the Acropolis caves. When I returned to Athens in 2004, I learned that
restoration work was being carried out in both caves. When I asked what had happened to
the churches, I was told they are still open on particular days during the year. According to
local people, the material from the upper cave was packed in bags and stored. I also learned
that Eirinē is still cleaning the churches, and the same information was given in 2006. The
traditional rituals continue (cf. Fig. 9).
From the Life-giving Spring at Athens to other cults of the Life-giving Spring
The Acropolis caves are reminiscent of the history of the Aegean island of Tinos, the
greatest shrine of Greek Orthodoxy. Here, we meet a similar account to the one told in the
cave dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa.
In 1823, after several mystical visions of the pious nun named Pelagia, the Miraculous
Icon of the Annunciation (Euangelistrias) of the Panagia (Megalochari, i.e. the Blessed
Virgin), was found. According to the tradition, the nun Pelagia saw repeatedly in her
visions the Panagia, who ordered her to inform the elders to start excavations to find
her icon, buried for many years in an uncultivated field, and to build her ‘‘house’’ (i.e. her
50
Cf. with the newspaper cutting hanging in the cave. Cf. further the comment of Levi (1984: Vol. 1,
p. 59n.120), also for the following.
51
For Artemis’ connection with springs, see Håland (2003). In the Acropolis cave, she is worshipped with
her brother Apollo.
52
Cf. the cult dedicated to Agia Marina beneath the Hill of the Nymphs at Athens were people fetch Holy
water from the spring connected to the church sacred to Agia Marina, particularly during her festival on 17
July, Håland (2005, 2007a).
123
100
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
Fig. 9 The church dedicated to
the Life-giving Spring at Athens:
behind the low wall is the Holy
Spring, and in front of the altar is
the icon depicting the Life-giving
Spring, 2006 (author’s
photograph).
church) on that place. On 30 January 1823, the icon was unearthed in the field where it had
remained for about 850 years, since the church built on the ruins of the pagan temple of
Dionysos was destroyed and burned down by the Saracenes in the tenth century A.D. Two
years before the icon was found, the great Greek War of Liberation (1821) broke out. The
finding of the icon, the construction of the church of Panagia, Euangelistrias, the enormous crowds of pilgrims and all the miracles contributed to the act that in 1971, the island
was declared a sacred island by governmental decree. Pelagia also became sanctified.
Today, in addition to the thousands of pilgrims coming to Tinos on their own, several
pilgrimages are organised by representatives of the Orthodox Church such as in Athens or
Larissa, particularly in connection with the most important festival on 15 August.
The sanctuary on Tinos also has a chapel dedicated to the Life-giving Spring and rituals
connected with water are important as in all Greek churches. The first excavations on Tinos
brought to light the ruins of the foundations of the Byzantine Church, first and foremost a
deep but dry well. Some months later, in 1823, the corner stone of the church of the Lifegiving Spring was laid. Later, the icon was found approximately 2 m from the well. After
the finding of the icon, it was decided to build a big church above the church dedicated to
the Life-giving Spring. The chapel or church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, which is
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
101
Fig. 10 a and b Pilgrims fetch holy water from the Life-giving Spring on the Aegean island of Tinos, 1994
and 2009 (author’s photograph)
formed as a cave, is situated below the church of the Annunciation (see Håland 2003,
2007a, and forthcoming b for a more detailed account also for the following). As already
mentioned, the mouth of a well was found during the search for the icon, but the well was
completely dry and useless. On the day of the laying of the cornerstone of the Holy Church,
however, the formerly dry well became filled to the brim with water. The source is seen as
a miracle, and according to the tradition it is one of the most important miracles of the
Panagia of Tinos.53 Since the discovery of water in this well, pilgrims regard it as sacred
water. Accordingly, small or bigger bottles of this precious water are taken home by
pilgrims from all over the world, and they keep it at home as a talisman.
As soon as the pilgrims have performed the set of devotions a pilgrim does upon
entering the church of the Annunciation, particularly the devotions in front of the miraculous icon, they search the chapel of Holy water below the church. Here, they queue up to
obtain Holy water in small bottles, or they drink directly from the tap (Fig. 10a and b;
Håland 2003, Fig. 1 and 2005, Fig. 9).
Baptisms are not performed in the church itself but in the baptistry, which is located off
the chapel of the Life-giving Spring. Particularly during the Dormition of the Panagia, on
15 August, many children are baptised in the chapel in Holy water, from the Life-giving
Spring (Fig. 11; Håland 2003, Fig. 2).
To Western views of causality and of human nature, it may not be so remarkable that an
icon should be buried in the ruins of a church, nor that a dry well, once excavated, might be
unblocked and begin to flow again. Nor is it odd that in the difficult early days of the Greek
53
Foskolos (1996) presents the most important miracles of the Megalochari of Tinos.
123
102
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
Fig. 11 A child is baptised in
the baptistry, which is located
next to the chapel of the Lifegiving Spring, Tinos, 1994
(author’s photograph)
War of Independence, both priests and populace would be looking for reassurance and hope.
On the contrary, this is not the view accounted when talking with people on Tinos, who
believe in this as well as the other miracles in connection with the finding of the icon and the
subsequent history of the sanctuary. This has to do with Greece’s particular and ambiguous
position as both ‘‘us’’ and ‘‘them’’, or their ‘‘Romeic’’ and ‘‘Hellenic’’ traditions, as discussed above (cf. Herzfeld 1992; Dubisch 1995; Håland 2007a, forthcoming b).
However, at other places in Greece, the story about the finding of the icon may be
related in another way. The nun becomes a girl, and the need for water is not in connection
with the laying of the cornerstone of the church, but the point about the miracle is the
same: The girl directed them to the right place, ‘‘and there they dug. Soon they found a
small ikon of the Panagia. Where they had dug, water began to pour forth. It is a rich
fountain now, and the water that comes from it is holy water. The reason the water came
out was that when they unearthed the ikon it was covered with dirt, since they had no water
to wash it with the Panagia worked a miracle, sending water so that she could be washed’’
(Blum and Blum 1970, p. 59).
Holy water, agiasma, is found in most modern Greek sanctuaries, but some sanctuaries
offer particularly miracle-working water with its own legend attached to it, and several
caves with springs dedicated to ancient gods and goddesses, particularly Water-Nymphs,
are now transformed to chapels dedicated to the Panagia. One may argue for a continuous
association of water sources with the sacred in the area. Rituals connected with water are
very important, both in modern and ancient Greece, such as exemplified by the festival
dedicated to the Panagia, under her attribute of the Life-giving Spring. In this connection,
it is important to mention the establishment of the festival dedicated to the Life-giving
Spring in Konstantinople by the Patriarch in 1833 (Loukatos 1985, p. 165). Through the
important blessing of the agiasma, we meet Holy water or a very old purification symbol,
which, on one level, is ‘‘reinvented’’ in the service of the national ideology in 1833, during
the same year that the Greek struggle for independence came to a successful conclusion
and the Kingdom was established. This may be regarded as an example of ideological
reuse of old popular symbols in the service of the Greek nation state. At intervals, this way
of utilisation has occurred throughout Greek history (cf. the aforementioned happening in
395 A.D.). Simultaneously, on another level, people have carried out their own rituals in
connection with the life-cycle passages of death, birth, baptism and weddings, as well as
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
103
other rituals in connection with the cycle of nature.54 We have seen how the same spring
with Holy water has been dedicated to ancient Water-Nymphs and the Christian Panagia in
the same Acropolis cave despite religious and political changes. People have always
fetched miracle-working water and have probably not been very affected by what has been
introduced from ‘‘above’’ by official authorities. One may suggest that even if the official
Orthodox Church or the nation state, the two institutions traditionally having a very close
connection in Greece,55 sometimes tries to dictate to the people, the latter carry out their
own rituals as they have always done, despite changes within the ‘‘Great History’’, thus
illustrating an instance of the braudelian longue dure´e (cf. Håland 2005). Hence, the two,
sometimes, contradictory views, the official and the popular, are both complementary and
interdependent.
From the Greek context to other Mediterranean springs
The accounts from the Acropolis caves and Tinos represent similarities to a history, which
is probably more famous, at least in the Western world, and certainly within the Catholic
Church. This is the account of the cave with wonder-working water in Lourdes, France,
visited by enormous crowds of pilgrims, and its story about how the water began to flow.
Starting in February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous (1844–1879) had several mystical
visions. Altogether, 18 times she saw the Virgin Mary appear to her in a cave. During the
ninth vision, in front of several spectators, Bernadette started to scratch the earth with her
fingers, and a thin jet of water began to pour forth. In 1862, the bishop decided to build a
sanctuary in connection with the cave. Later, Bernadette became a nun and, in 1933, the
Roman Catholic Church sanctified her. This religious centre has been characterised as the
greatest pilgrimage centre in the world. In addition to all the pilgrims coming on their own,
from 1873 ‘‘National Pilgrimages’’ were also organised by the ‘‘Assumption priests’’ in
Paris. In 1963, the first organised pilgrimage for the poliomyelitis took place; later other
seriously handicapped persons in wheeled chairs also participated, thus, paralleling the
circumstances on modern Tinos.
Today, the pilgrims also fetch Holy water from the cave in small bottles in a similar way
to the pilgrims on Tinos. In addition, the church sends small bottles of water all over the
world upon the request of people who cannot travel to Lourdes. The main church built over
the miraculous cave, where Bernadette had the visions, is dedicated to the ‘‘immaculate
Conception’’. In the cave, a marble Holy Virgin indicates the spot. This particular cave and
the Holy Virgin appearing to the kneeling young Bernadette in a vision is copied or
reproduced in other places within the Catholic world, such as on the backside of the
church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin under her attribute of Saver of the port (Maria S.S. di
Portosalvo) in the little South-Italian village of Villammare (Håland 1990, Chap. 2). Next
to the cave with the marble Holy Virgin in Lourdes are the fountains and the pools where
the pilgrims take their baths.
One may suggest that the health business in modern Tinos (Håland 2007a, Chap. 4,
forthcoming b; Dubisch 1995) and in Lourdes is probably not very different to the situation
in ancient Epidauros, which as the other shrines of Asklepios also served as a sort of
54
For the similarities between life-cycle passages and the rituals performed in connection with important
passages during the cycle of nature, see Håland (2006, 2007a). Graf and Johnston (2007) illustrate the
importance of springs and water in connection with death and the afterlife in antiquity, cf. Håland (2003).
55
In a patriotic sense, and this is probably also why the official and popular religion have a close relationship, despite some problematical incidents.
123
104
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
hospital. The baths were important in the shrines of Asklepios, since the ancient Greeks
believed that Asklepios would not accept patients who had not been washed, and for this
reason would not come into personal contact with them. Accordingly, sacred springs are
mentioned in all the 320 documented Asklepieia (Kasas and Struckmann 1990). The clear
bubbling water of a spring, rising out of the earth by a power, habitually regarded as a
Water-Nymph, was, in the imagination of the ancient Greeks, a gift of the water deities, the
goddesses by which all life on earth was fed.56Accordingly, it is quite understandable that
even pure water was considered to have therapeutic properties. Ancient medicine
employed water treatments in various ways for a great variety of complaints: e.g. exzema,
rheumatism, gout, and psychosomatic disorders. The physician Galen (approximately A.D.
129–199) gave detailed instructions for particular water treatments, which took place in
Pergamon in Asia Minor.
The ancient Asklepian demand for ritual purity also has its parallel in Islamic rituals,
since prayer is valid only when performed in a state of ritual purity, and, therefore, has to
be preceded by ablution, wudu^’. The Koran ordains: ‘‘(…) wash your faces and your hands
up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet up to the ankles; (…).’’57Paralleling
ancient requests, the duty of ablution accounts for the presence of fountains in the mosque
courts.
Further, paralleling the pools in modern Lourdes, one may mention the six water
reservoirs in the Asklepieion of ancient Corinth.58 Their dimensions suggest that they were
used to store water in summer when the springs ran low, and that the water was recycled
for repeated use. It is also possible that water from the thermal springs at Thermà
(Loutraki, cf. loutro i.e. bath) was transported to the Asklepieion in Corinth. Thus, the
Asklepieion at Thermà (Loutraki) could have been a branch of the Corinthian Asklepieion.
Six thermal springs bubble from the ground at Loutraki, and even in ancient times, they
were considered to be something special. Balneological59 analysis has shown that their
water has a very high mineral content and is slightly radioactive. Rainwater was collected
in one of the cisterns. The total capacity of the water basins and reservoirs was about
341,406 m3. In ancient times the water of the Fountain of Lerna was considered particularly wholesome and good, and its quality is comparable to that of the water from the
Peirene Fountain.60
Other places in the Mediterranean and Roman Catholic world also have Holy Springs,
even if they are not so famous as those already mentioned, for example, the Holy Spring
flowing out from the mountain beneath the church dedicated to the Holy stone, Il Santuario
Pietrasanta, in the village of San Giovanni a Piro, situated in the mountains over the Bay
of Policastro in Southern Italy. The most important statue in the church represents the
Madonna and the Child, and the spring in San Giovanni a Piro is also thought to be
particularly healing and purifying (Håland 1990, Chaps. 2 and 7). Springs are often connected to healing and purification both in the ancient Greek and Graeco-Roman worlds and
the modern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
56
Cf. Håland (2003, 2005), for the importance of the Water-Nymphs.
57
Koran 5:8–9 is quoted from von Grunebaum (1981, p. 10).
58
The following is mainly based on Kasas and Struckmann (1990).
59
Latin: balneum, ‘‘bath’’, cf. balneology, the science of baths or bathing, especially the study of the
therapeutic use of thermal baths (medicine/complementary medicine): the branch of medical science concerned with the therapeutic value of baths, especially those taken with natural mineral waters; balneotherapy, the treatment of disease by bathing.
60
Ath. 4.156e.
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
105
In ancient Greek written sources as in the modern Greek world, water is regarded and
mentioned with great frequency in connection with exceptional powers. All kinds of waters
are inhabited by nymphs, such as the Naiads. Most of the nymphs are benevolent to
mankind, and nymphs are usually nice, young and fair, but they might also be dangerous
and the naiad of a spring may, for example, snatch a young and attractive man and drag
him into her water. Water-Nymphs punish unresponsive lovers. They take mortals who
they love with them, and a man who sees nymphs becomes ‘‘possessed by nymphs’’. They
may be dangerous for boys entering their majority, and a parallel to the relation between
rivers and maidens (Håland 2003). Water, then, might also be dangerous, and it is around
sources that the Nereids may gather (cf. Blum and Blum 1970; Håland 1990, 2003, 2005
for ancient material). A Neraida is the modern equivalent of a Water-Nymph, thought to
dwell in a well or fountain, i.e. the personification of a spring, and as some of the ancient
Water-Nymphs, she might also be dangerous.
The Greek ritual carried out on ‘‘New’’ Friday is a part of the spring festivals, and may
also be regarded as a purification ritual before the new season, which starts with the
Resurrection. Water has fertility-enhancing, healing, purifying and protecting powers; in
the form of Holy water, it is central to many rituals designed to ward off evil and to ensure
blessings. It is also used in conjunction with different magical remedies. In an account
from modern Greece, it is said that the spring at the Church of Christ at Spata lends power
to stones gathered there. When added to holy water and passion flowers, these stones make
a charm which protects a house from illness (Blum and Blum 1970). A spring may be a
place to which one is directed by a dream for illness cure.61
Today, people from all over the world, come to Lourdes and Tinos, famous for their
healing capacities because of their holy healing and purifying waters which the pilgrims
bring home. The modern sanctuaries are often situated at places where ancient preChristian people also made pilgrimages to holy springs.
Through investigation of similarities in different periods, and analysis of modern Greek
rituals to understand the past, and vice versa, we learn that the two periods can enlighten
each other. As this article has demonstrated, peoples’ worldviews of themselves and their
gods are a product of the relationship between nature, society and water. The religious and
cultural uses of water to express essential truths of humanity and the relation between
humans and gods certainly differ within civilizations and religions. Still, concerning
religious rituals and beliefs in connection with water, it is important to see how many
parallels there are between the various cultures, despite many differences, both in time and
space.
Thus, my fieldwork experiences from Greece and the short outline of the wider Mediterranean world might suggest a way to do similar analysis in other regions and cultures,
by giving some indicators of how particular water landscapes have shaped religious beliefs
and practices, how ancient and modern religions have described and perceived water, and
how people have expressed their beliefs in rituals connected to purity and water.
References and Abbreviations
Alexiou M (1974) The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Alexiou M (2002) After antiquity: Greek language, myth, and metaphor. Cornell University Press, Ithaca,
NY
61
See Hp. Insomn. 90, see also Aër. 7–10; Blum and Blum (1970, p. 137); Håland (2003).
123
106
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
Ar.=Aristophanes, tr. Rogers BB (1946 [1924]) Vol. 3: The Lysistrata (=Lys.), The Thesmophoriazusae, The
Ecclesiazusae, The Plutus. The Loeb Classical Library, London
Ath.=Athenaeus, tr. Gulick CB (1928) The Deipnosophists. Vol. 2. The Loeb Classical Library, London
Blum R, Blum E (1970) The Dangerous Hour. The Lore of Crisis and Mystery in Rural Greece. Chatto and
Windus, London
Clem. Al. Strom.=Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, tr. Gaster M, Mondésert C (1951) Vol. 1. Sources
Chrétiennes. Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris
Diod.=Diodorus of Sicily, tr. Oldfather CH (1954) Vol. 6. The Loeb Classical Library, London
Dubisch J (1995) In a Different Place. Pilgrimage, Gender, and Politics at a Greek Island Shrine. Princeton
University Press, Princeton
Economides I (1986) Differences between the orthodox church and roman catholicism. 2nd edn. Athens
Eur.=Euripides, tr. Way AS (1946 [1912]) Vol. 4: Ion, Hippolytus, Medea, Alcestis. The Loeb Classical
Library, London
Foskolos EA (1993, 1996 [1968]) Perigraphē tēs Eureseōs tēs Thaumatourgou Agias Eikonas tēs Euangelistrias stēn Tēno kata to etos 1823. Skopoi kai drastēriotētes tou Ierou Idrymatos. (English version
from 1991, tr. Meihanetsidis C). Panellēniou Ierou Idrymatos Euangelistrias Tēnou, Tinos (Pamphlet
distributed by the Church of the Annunciation of Tinos)
Garland R (1985) The Greek Way of Death. Duckwort, London
Graf F, Johnston SI (2007) Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic gold tablets. Routledge,
London
Hastrup K (ed) (1992) Other histories. Routledge, London
Hatzifotis IM (1995) Ē kathēmerinē zōē sto Agio Oros. Papadima, Athens
Hdt.=Herodotus, tr. Godley AD (1946, 1950 [1922, 1925]) Vols. 3–4. The Loeb Classical Library, London
Herzfeld M (1986) Ours Once More. Folklore, Ideology, and the making of Modern Greece. Pella, New
York
Herzfeld M (1992 [1987]) Anthropology through the looking-glass. Critical ethnography in the margins of
Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Hp.=Hippocrates, tr. Jones WHS (1948, 1953 [1923, 1931]) Vol. 1: Airs, Waters, Places (=Aër.), Vol. 4:
Dreams (=Insomn.). The Loeb Classical Library, London
Hurwit JM (2004) The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (A longer
version, The Athenian Acropolis. History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the
Present, was published in 1999)
Håland EJ (1990) Ideologies and Mentalities: a journey from Ancient Greece to Modern Mediterranean
Society. M. A. dissertation, University of Bergen (in Norwegian, unpublished)
Håland EJ (2003) Take Skamandros, my virginity: ‘‘The Ideas of Water’’ in connection with rituals linked to
life-cycle passages in Greece, modern and ancient. Paper presented at The third International Water
History Association (IWHA) conference, Alexandria, Egypt, December 2003. The paper is found on
the CD-Rom from the conference, distributed by the IWHA secretariat ([email protected].) A
later and somewhat different version is in The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and
Hygiene from Antiquity through the Renaissance. ‘‘Technology and Change in History’’ 11, edited by
Kosso C and Scott A, Brill Publishers, Leiden, 2009, pp. 109–148
Håland EJ (2004) En historisk analyse av sammenhengen mellom gresk dødekult i dag og i antikken (An
historical analysis of the relationship between Greek Death-Cult, today and in the ancient world).
Historisk Tidsskrift (‘‘Historical Review’’) 83(4), pp. 559–591 (in Norwegian with English summary)
Håland EJ (2005) Rituals of Magical Rain-Making in Modern and Ancient Greece: A Comparative
Approach. Cosmos: The Journal of the Traditional Cosmology Society 17(2), pp. 197–251. The article
is based on a paper presented at the IWHA 2nd conference Bergen, 2001. A similar paper was
presented at the PECSRL Conference (Permanent European Committee for the Study of the Rural
Landscape), ‘‘One Region, Many Stories: Mediterranean Landscapes in a Changing Europe’’, Limnos
and Lesvos, 2004, and is published in European Landscapes and Lifestyles: The Mediterranean and
Beyond, edited by Roca Z, Spek T, Terkeli T, Plieninger T, Höchtl F, Edições Universitárias
Lusófonas, Lisboa, 2007, pp. 285–304
Håland EJ (2006) The ritual year as a woman’s life: the festivals of the agricultural cycle, life-cycle passages of
Mother Goddesses and fertility-cult. In: ‘‘Proceedings’’ from the First International Conference of the
SIEF working group on The Ritual Year, in association with the Department of Maltese University of
Malta, Junior College, Msida, Malta, 2005, edited by Mifsud-Chircop G, PEG Ltd, Malta, pp. 303–326
Håland EJ (2007a) Greek Festivals, Modern and Ancient: A Comparison of Female and Male Values (in
Norwegian). PhD dissertation, University of Bergen, 2004. Norwegian Academic Press, Kristiansand
Håland EJ (2007b) From the Ritual Year of the Modern Anastenaria to the Ancient Adōnia. In: The Ritual
Year and Ritual Diversity—Proceedings. Second International Conference of the SIEF Working Group
123
Author's personal copy
Water Sources and the Sacred in Greece
107
on The Ritual Year. Gothenburg, 7–11 June 2006, edited by Midholm L, Nordström A, Institutet för
språk och folkminnen; Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg, Göteborg, pp. 222–239
Håland EJ (2009) Greek women and religion, modern and ancient: Festivals and cults connected with the
female sphere, a comparison. Medelhavsmuseet. Focus on the Mediterranean 4, pp. 101–120
Håland EJ (forthcoming a) Competing Ideologies in Greek Religion, Ancient and Modern (in Norwegian).
Under review: Astrom Editions, Stockholm, 2009
Håland EJ (forthcoming b) 15 August, the Dormition of Panagia, the Virgin Mary, on the Aegean island of
Tinos. Paper presented at the 1st International Congress on Greek Civilization. The Public Festival: A
Diachronic glimpse at its Socio-Economic and Political Role, the Hellenic Open University and
Democritus Univ. of Thrace, Soufli, 2005. The paper (approx. 20 pages) is forthcoming in Acts of the
1st International Congress on Greek Civilization, The Public Festival: A Diachronic Glimpse at Its
Socio-Economic and Political Role, edited by Melas M
Håland EJ (forthcoming c) Festival of the Bull: Ox-offering, Summer- and Saint-feast on Mytilini/Lesbos:
Agia Paraskeuē around the summer solstice 1992. Cosmos: The Journal of the Traditional Cosmology
Society 26
IG=Inscriptiones Graecae (1927–1977) Consilio et auctoritate. Academiae litterarum Borussicae editae.
Inscriptiones Atticae Euclidis anno posteriores. Walteri de Gruyter et Soc., Berolini
Kasas S, Struckmann R (1990) Important medical centres in the antiquity. Epidaurus and Corinth. When the
Medicine was still divine. Edition Kasas, Athens (Separate reprint from ‘‘Materia Medica Nordmark
30, 1978’’)
Kephallēniadē NA (1990, 1991) Ē latreia tēs Panagias sta ellēnika nēsia. Vols. A–B. Laographia—Paradosē
11 and 12. Ekd. Philippotē, Athens
Loukatos DS (1982) Ta Phthinopōrina. Laographia—Paradosē 4. Ekd. Philippotē, Athens
Loukatos DS (1985) Symplērōmatika tou Cheimōna kai tēs Anoixēs. Laographia—Paradosē 5. Ekd. Philippotē, Athens
Megas GA (1992 [1956/1957]) Ellēnikes Giortes kai Ethima tēs Laı̈kēs Latreias. Odysseas, Athens (English
edition: Greek Calendar Customs. Athens 1982)
Men.=Menander, tr. Arnott WG (1979) Vol. 1: Dyskolos (=Dysk.). The Loeb Classical Library, London
Nicholas D, Kramer C (2001) Ethnoarchaeology in Action. Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
Paus.=Pausanias, tr. Jones WHS (1954 [1918]) Description of Greece. Vol. 1. The Loeb Classical Library,
London
Pausanias, tr. Levi P (1984 [1971]) Guide to Greece. Vol. 1: Central Greece. Penguin, London
Revett N, Stuart J (1762–1816) On the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllus. In: The Antiquities of Athens,
Measured and delineated by J. Stuart and Nicholas Revett, by Revett N, Stuart J. Vol. 2. Johan
Haberkorn, London, pp. 29–36
(n.d.) New Martyr Ephraim of Nea Makri: A Greek Saint for Troubled Youth. Road to Emmaus: A Journal
of Orthodox Faith and Culture 2.1(4), pp. 31–40
Said EW (1979 [1978]) Orientalism. Vintage Books, New York
Travlos J (1939/1941) Ē palaiochristianikē basilikē tou Asklēpieiou tōn Athēnōn. Archaiologike¯ Ephe¯meris,
Athens, pp. 35–68
Travlos J (1971) Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens. Thames and Hudson, London
Tsotakou-Karbelē A (1991 [1985]) Laographiko Ēmerologio: Oi dōdeka mēnes kai ta ethima tous. Patak,
Athens
von Grunebaum GE (1981 [1951, 1976]) Muhammadan Festivals. Curzon Press, London
Welter G (1938) Das Choregische Denkmal des Thrasyllos. Archäologischer Anzeiger (Jahrbuch des
Deutsches archäologischen Instituts mit dem Beiblatt Archäologischer Anzeiger). Walter de Gruyter
& Co., Berlin, pp. 33–68
Winkler JJ (1990) The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece.
Routledge, New York and London
Xen. Hell.=Xenophon, Hellenica, tr. Brownson CL (1947 [1918]) Vol. 1. The Loeb Classical Library,
London
Author Biography
Evy Johanne Håland has studied History, French Language and Literature, Ancient Greek Culture and
Practical Pedagogics at the University of Bergen. She received her Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of
Bergen, Department of History, where she had also taught history and culture, mainly ancient Greek/Roman
(1990–2004). Later, she has been affiliated with Unifob Global, University of Bergen (2008) and Centre for
123
108
Author's personal copy
E. J. Håland
Women and Gender Research, University of Bergen (2006). In 2006, she also received a Project grant from
the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association (NFFO). Håland is currently a free lance
researcher and since 1983, she has had several periods of fieldwork in the Mediterranean, mainly in Italy and
Greece, also conducting research on religious festivals and life-cycle passages since 1987. During the 1990s
Håland also worked a period as researcher and Executive Officer at the Faculty of Arts, University of
Bergen. For 3 years she was employed by the Norwegian Research Council (NRC) as research fellow. For a
period she was also responsible for leading research seminars for doctoral students at the Department of
History, and had other administrative responsibilities and honorary functions. During the early 1990s, she
also worked as University lecturer in Ancient History at the Department of History, Agder University
College, and as University lecturer in Ancient History at the Department of Classics, University of Bergen.
She has also lectured at the Norwegian Institute at Athens, where she has been affiliated as researcher as well
as at the Norwegian Institute in Rome. In both cases she was supported by grants from the NRC and State
scholarships. While holding the Greek State scholarship, she was affiliated with the Academy of Athens
Research Centre for Greek Folklore. She speaks six languages, has received several grants from different
Norwegian and international funds, and is a member of several international professional organisations.
123

Download Report

ISSN 1877-7236, Volume 1, Number 2

Paperzz.com

Your Paperzz