Language/Ancient-greek-to-1453/Culture/Amphidromia-Ceremony-birth-of-a-child
This lesson discusses the various known rites and superstitions associated with oikos. It begins with the home-centered rituals and continues with others that take place in the home. A discussion of the ancient Greek conception of ritual pollution, or miasma, which is often directly related to several domestic rites and Ilithyie (in ancient Greek Εἰλείθυια / Eileíthuia) the goddess of childbirth. She corresponds to Lucine in Roman mythology.
Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Timeline of ancient Greece, Gamos – Marriage, Gamos – Marriage & Ancient Greek Diplomacy.
The Sacred Hearth
Hestia, literally and figuratively stands at the center of domestic religion. It appears that her worship occupied an important place in domestic worship and manifested itself in rituals focused on the physical embodiment of Hestia, the home.
Three home-centered rituals are associated with the transitional stages of life: birth, marriage and death.
Amphidromia : ceremony in honor of the birth of a child
On the fifth or tenth day after birth (there is an "unfortunate tangle of contradictory and deficient lexicographic evidence" regarding the day the amphidroma occurred), the child was carried running around the family home. It is said that this exposed the child to the "beneficent radiance of Hestia" and emphasized the bond between the baby and the adults who were to be its parents. Also on this day, those involved in the birth performed ritual washing. The aim was to eradicate the pollution of births.
PODCAST - From Childbirth to Adolescence
In this episode we discuss what it was like in ancient Athens for a young girl or boy from birth through adolescence, looking at childbirth, childhood, the different rites of passage that they must go through to become adolescents, the paideia education system (old and new) and finally the training that young boys have undertaken in order to be accepted as a hoplite citizen warrior.
Sources
- https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=ucin1155647034&disposition=inline
Author
- Ευγενική χορηγία που στοχεύει να βοηθήσει μαθητές ή μη, απανταχού της Γης, που επιδίδονται στην εκμάθηση της ελληνικής γλώσσας!
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Other Lessons
- Greek Philosopher quotes
- Historical personalities
- Ancient Greek funeral and burial practices
- Ancient Greek first names for tattoos
- Timeline of ancient Greece
- Greek Temples Residences for the Ancient Greek Gods
- Pindar Poem
- Miasma : Religious Pollution in Greek antiquity
- The Ancient Greek Afterlife
- Thespis the father of dramatic art
- Ancient Greek Houses
- Linear B
- The Ancient Greek Calendar
- What did the Ancient Greeks eat and drink?
- Ancient Greece Timeline