Two articles in the great international newspapers..'Süddeutsche Zeitung', August 5, 2004, and 'Independent', May 8, 2004
Im Namen des Zeus
(SZ vom 5.8.2004)
Die Polytheisten fühlen sich von der Ein-Gott-Kirche schikaniert, sonst aber belächelt und nicht ernst genommen. Mit den
Olympischen Spielen, die in der nächsten Woche beginnen, sehen sie jedoch eine Chance, aus der Schmuddelecke herauszukommen.
Immerhin wurden die Spiele einst in Olympia, dem großen Zeus-Heiligtum auf der Peloponnes, ausgetragen.
Deshalb sind die Göttergläubigen nun vor ein weltliches Gericht gegangen. Sie haben gegen die Verwendung der offiziellen
olympischen Maskottchen geklagt. In den Plüschpuppen namens Phoebus und Athena sehen sie &'eine Beleidigung unserer Religion'.
Ärger mit den Puppen
Phoebus, 'der Reine, Glänzende', ist ein Beiname des Apoll, einer der zwölf Großen im Götterkreis. Athena ist die mythische
Beschützerin der Stadt. Das Olympische Organisationskomitee Athen 2004 ließ die Figuren in Feuerorange und Himmelblau nach
antiken Vorbildern formen.
Marinis forderte, dass sie aus dem kommerziellen Olympia-Kosmos verbannt werden. Vergeblich. Die Puppen seien keine Götter,
sondern nur Cartoons, entschied ein Gericht.
In der Solonos-Straße gibt es auch ein Bildnis des Apoll. Es hängt an der Wand, als neuzeitliches Foto einer goldglänzenden
Statue. Das Original steht in der Münchner Glyptothek. Marinis gefällt es, dass die Erinnerung an die alten Götter weltweit
präsent ist.
Von der Erbmasse des antiken Griechenland war einst auch der Franzose Pierre de Coubertin so begeistert, dass er 1896
die Spiele in Athen neu erschuf. Die Wiedergeburt antiker Ideale stand Pate - und die orthodoxe Kirche hielt Abstand.
Ganz anders ist es heute. Athens Erzbischof Christodoulos hat seiner Geistlichkeit für die Wiederkehr der Spiele vom 13.
bis 29. August eine Urlaubssperre verordnet. Die Kirchen Athens sollen offen bleiben.
Olympioniken aus Staaten mit orthodoxem und orientalischem Christentum machten immerhin fast ein Viertel aller Sportler
aus, zitiert die Athener Zeitung den griechischen Kirchenforscher Vlassion Pheidas. Athleten, die sich beim Start nach orthodoxer
Art von rechts nach links bekreuzigten, seien bei einem globalisierten Medienereignis ein nicht zu unterschätzender Werbeträger,
'ein Beispiel mit weltweiter Bedeutung für die Propagierung der Orthodoxie', resümiert das Athener Blatt.
Panjotis Marinis gefällt dies gar nicht. Schließlich gibt es nicht einmal mehr bei Olympia Platz für die Olympischen Götter.
Da bleibt nur der Berg. Bisweilen steigen die Göttergläubigen auch hinauf. Wer sie dort sieht, hält sie in der Regel für gewöhnliche
Wanderer - auf der Suche nach der Schönheit von Erde und Himmel.
Greek pagans battle government in fight for rites
By Daniel Howden in Athens
08 May 2004
In the distance, the Acropolis is bathed in the white light of the full moon as the chorus, with arms aloft, chants the
name of Zeus into the night. Not an unusual sight in Athens, you might think, only they are not actors, this is not a theatre
and there is no tragedy.
These are worshippers of the 12 Olympian gods, a hardy band of Hellenic pagans who have seen their main religious festival
- the Olympics - become a bloated commercial extravaganza, their sacred flame sponsored by Coke.
Now they face an uphill battle for religious recognition from the Greek state. But they are having trouble getting anyone
to take them seriously.
It is not hard to see why. As the moon reaches its eclipse, fully grown adults with coloured ribbons in their hair, screw
their eyes shut to commemorate gods, men and monsters. A mainly middle-aged crowd mill about and incense floats around a plastic
Apollo looking down from a blackened teak altar. On his right sits Athena, sporting a fetching, warlike helmet, and underneath,
a bare-breasted Aphrodite plays up to her role as the goddess of love.
Georgios, a distinguished lawyer with a turquoise ribbon in his hair to signify the circle of life, cannot see where the
credibility problem lies. "The ancient Greeks invented logic, science, medicine and philosophy and built the Parthenon,"
he says. "Are you telling me they didn't know what they were doing when it came to religion?"
Vasileos, a chemical engineer who preferred not give his surname, believes he and his fellow worshippers are the real
Greeks, and the 97 per cent of the population registered as Orthodox Christians are impostors. "Who were these early
Christians? They were the great unwashed, they had no athletics, no culture and they only had one book: the Bible."
Panayiotis Marinis, a sexologist and spiritual leader of the group, was born into polytheism on the holiday island of
Cephallonia and insists the tradition is still strong in many smaller communities. He says up to 100,000 followers have survived
and points to the huge crowds that have followed the Olympic torch since it was lit in a ceremony borrowed straight from their
religion.
But the group's emphasis is on survival in what they say is a long history of religious persecution, up to modern day
run-ins with the increasingly vociferous Orthodox Church of Greece who dismiss them as "New Agers". Dr Marinis says:
"We managed to survive despite persecution based on the Justinian Code which directed we be put to death by torture,
using metallic objects; and the unquenchable hatred of the Eastern Orthodox Church."
He claims the Hellenic religion is broadly similar to other primary polytheistic religions such as Hinduism and should
be allowed an official place of worship under 1981 human rights legislation. The Greek state is either taking a mythologically
long time to decide, or it simply does not agree. Two years have passed since a petition was lodged for recognition and there
has been no reply.
So the faithful keep a low profile fearing a return to the bad old days of arrests. Press reports have even accused them
of live sacrifices and satan worship. "Thanks to the ties between church and state, Greece does not have human rights
or freedom of religion," Mr Marinis says. These days, the pagans gather in the secular setting of a 21st-century Athens
penthouse. But, as Panayiotis Kakkavas confides, the real fun is clandestine visits to ancient temples where they get "properly
dressed up" in togas.
The followers of the 12 gods are not short of sacred places; the temples of their forefathers lie in various states of
ruin all over the country. But the culture ministry refuses to let them hold ceremonies there.
Their holiest of sites, the Parthenon on the Acropolis mount in central Athens, remains as a frustrating reminder, floating
above the modern city. Anyone who doubts the sanctity of Pericles' architectural jewel should look to our feathered friends,
Georgios says. "Have you never noticed that no birds fly over the Acropolis? Even they know it's a holy place."
He keeps his face perfectly straight.
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There is a five page article about the Greek Religion of Dodecatheon and Religious Freedom in Greece in ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE
(JAN-FEB, 2005)..
Letter From Greece: The Gods Return to Olympus
See abstract
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A FILM ABOUT US!
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