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Religion in the Balkans before Christianity
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Olympianism was the predominant religion in Macedonia prior to the introduction of Christianity in the 1st Century CE. There isn't actually an agreed upon name for this religion so if anyone has any alternative names that better describes it I'm all ears.I know of two tragic histories in the world- that of Ireland, and that of Macedonia. Both of them have been deprived and tormented.
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I'm not that well-versed with this topic so other members may be able to provide more accurate responses.
Originally posted by nushevski77okay, googling olympianism it seems like a Hellenistic religious practice, and there was a religious sanctuary of Aphrodite in Pella; would this mean that the Macedonians only worshiped Aphrodite?
Originally posted by nushevski77Did all Macedonians fallow Olympianism or was it just the noble family's that did?I know of two tragic histories in the world- that of Ireland, and that of Macedonia. Both of them have been deprived and tormented.
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Originally posted by nushevski77thanks, this is very interesting; I wonder if we will ever know, maybe a breakthrough in archaeology would lead us to a conclusion. But your guess with the lower vs upper Macedonia theory does seem plausible although where would you determine where the cutoff would be? If we were to use the modern borders to divide between upper and lower it would open a flaw in your theory with the city of Heraclea Lyncestis being in the upper Macedonia, I have very little knowledge of this city so its hard to say but wouldn't you agree that it would of had a factor of spreading Olympianism since it was founded by Phillip II?
Originally posted by nushevski77Also a fallow up question, why did the Ancient Macedonians adopt hellenistic practices into there culture as well as hellenism? Or was this always apart of the ancient Macedonians?I know of two tragic histories in the world- that of Ireland, and that of Macedonia. Both of them have been deprived and tormented.
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Those ‘in the north’ were nature worshippers. Water and the sun were divine elements. The moon also had mystical power. A key difference was they never reached the anthropomorphic stage (Olympian like LoM outlined above) in the same way the Greeks did until the Greek influence started to spread further north. This is important to note when considering if northerners such as Macedonians were ‘Greek’.
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Originally posted by sydney View PostThose ‘in the north’ were nature worshippers. Water and the sun were divine elements. The moon also had mystical power. A key difference was they never reached the anthropomorphic stage (Olympian like LoM outlined above) in the same way the Greeks did until the Greek influence started to spread further north. This is important to note when considering if northerners such as Macedonians were ‘Greek’.I know of two tragic histories in the world- that of Ireland, and that of Macedonia. Both of them have been deprived and tormented.
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Perhaps one of you has done the literature review and knows about this: Could it be that the Olympian religion is just the flavor of an ancestral (P.I.E.) and perhaps shared religion? The ancient Greeks just documented it first and then influenced their neighbors (and apparently old kin) towards the Greek version?
There are similarities among ancient Indo-European languages in their gods. Greek, Latin and Sanskrit are prime examples, they all have Zeus one way or another.Regards,
A Greek supporting self-determination of Macedonians!
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Originally posted by YuriB View PostPerhaps one of you has done the literature review and knows about this: Could it be that the Olympian religion is just the flavor of an ancestral (P.I.E.) and perhaps shared religion? The ancient Greeks just documented it first and then influenced their neighbors (and apparently old kin) towards the Greek version?
There are similarities among ancient Indo-European languages in their gods. Greek, Latin and Sanskrit are prime examples, they all have Zeus one way or another.I know of two tragic histories in the world- that of Ireland, and that of Macedonia. Both of them have been deprived and tormented.
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They were all some variants of polytheism that derive from the ancient Egyptians one way or another just with different names and faces. A lot of Macedonians in antiquity practiced religions similar to the Thracian's. This is a poorly documented are given hat very little is written about the common Macedonian. The Hellenic influence was certainly strong with some of the nobility, but it seems like that took root as time progressed.
If I had to guess I'd say the majority of common Macedonians didn't practice the Hellenic religion. If I am not mistaken I don't think the Spartans did either.
Maybe Vangelovski has some insight? This is his area of expertise.
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From wikipedia:
In his book The Mycenaean World, linguist and classicist John Chadwick argues that many chthonic deities may be remnants of the native Pre-Hellenic religion and that many of the Olympian deities may come from the Proto-Greeks who overran the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula in the late third millennium BC. He does, however, note that this may be somewhat of an overgeneralization and that the origins of chthonic and Olympian deities are probably much more complex. The German classicist Walter Burkert explicitly rejects the notion of chthonic deities as pre-Greek and the Olympian deities as Indo-European in his book Greek Religion. He comments, "It is the chthonic chaoi which are related to Indo-European, whereas the Olympian sacrifice has connections with Semitic tradition."
An interesting book I found and purchased in a used bookstore a couple of years ago has a short article titled "Indo-European mythology in the Bronze Age". The book is called "Bronze Age Migrations in the Aegean, Archaeological and lingustic problems in Greek prehistory - Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on Aegean Prehistory....." published in 1974 (in U.S.A.) by Noyes Press. On page 259 there is a short paper by Ivan Pudic, titled "Indo-European mythology in the Bronze Age" which is less than 3 pages in total. His short article starts as follows: "The greatest god of Greeks, Illyrians, Macedonians, Romans, Germans and Indians was the same, a god of the light: Zeus, Deipatyros, Ziu, Diespater, Tyr, Dyaus..."
From Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia & Southern Serbia - URL to the book:
Last edited by Carlin; 02-14-2019, 12:20 AM.
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Originally posted by YuriB View PostPerhaps one of you has done the literature review and knows about this: Could it be that the Olympian religion is just the flavor of an ancestral (P.I.E.) and perhaps shared religion? The ancient Greeks just documented it first and then influenced their neighbors (and apparently old kin) towards the Greek version?
There are similarities among ancient Indo-European languages in their gods. Greek, Latin and Sanskrit are prime examples, they all have Zeus one way or another.
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