Oceanus in Mythology and History

The myths of ancient Greece have provided the world with one of the richest sources of stories and legends in the world; they provided not only a recording of how they believed the world came to be, but provided a moral guide to live one’s life against as well as being a form of entertainment.

In Greek mythology the Olympian gods were widely worshipped, but they were not the first gods to come into existence. The first primal deities, the Protogenoi, gave birth to several deities who came to be known as the Titans. These Titans then fought in the war against the Olympians which saw, for most of them, their eventual imprisonment in the bowls of the earth.

One of these Titans was Oceanus, whose name can be translated as ‘River Ocean’. There are two versions of his parentage; Hesiod states that Gaia and Ouranos were his parents but the later Roman author, Hyginus, states that they were Aither (also spelt Aether) and Gaia.

Oceanus was believed to have been the great river that encircled his mother, the earth. He, like many of the gods in Greek mythology, married his sister Tethys, and together they produced many children. These included the elegant Oceanids, nymphs of the sea and the many river-gods of the earth (called the Potoami). Like Zeus and Poseidon, he had many affairs which resulted in the birth of the Aurae (nymphs of the breezes), the monkey-thieves Cercopes by the goddess Theia as well as the semi-divine Triptolemos by Gaia. In addition to this, he also raised Hera, the future queen of the gods, from birth until her marriage to Zeus.

Oceanus and Tethys were, as stated earlier, an incestuous couple, a theme which reoccurs in Greek mythology. Due to this, their relationship was used by the Roman poet Catullus. In one of his poems, Gellius is accused of incest with his mother, sister, and aunt and not even Oceanus and Tethys can wash away his crimes. This notion that large bodies of water are unable to wash away the stain of crime is of course a ‘topos’ going back to Greek tragedy but the “individual naming of the two sea-deities seems to make a point-a literary point which is relevant to the invective of the poem. Not even the mythologically incestuous couple Oceanus and Tethys can wash out Gellius' incest, though they are guilty of the offence themselves and might be thought likely to connive at it”.

Although the children that the Titans gave birth to were more influential in Greek and Roman society than that of their parents, the Titans’ myths still had a great significance on ancient society. Their tales were usually seen as explanations of the nature of the world or the origins of the dominant gods. In spite of this, the Titans are interesting characters of ancient Greek mythology.

Bibliography:

Harrison, S. J. (1996) Mythological Incest: Catullus 88, The Classical Quarterly, Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Classical Association.

Lesser Known Deities Starting With the Letter A

Throughout history, the world has seen the birth of many new religions and the worship of strange, beautiful and mysterious deities. Some of these gods (such as Zeus, Athena, Odin, Loki, Jupiter, Venus, etc) have still stayed with us in these modern times. However, there are thousands of lesser known deities from world mythology who are only really known to scholars.

There is a list of lesser known deities starting with the letter A:

1. Acrasia – the Greek personification of intemperance.

2. Ada-Ea - the Mesopotamian ferryman in the Babylonian underworld.

3. Adda-Nari – the Egyptian goddess of religion and truth.

4. Adhimukticarya – a Buddhist goddess and one of the 12 bhumis.

5. Afi – a storm god from the Caucasus.

6. Afrikete – an African sea goddess of the Fon people who was regarded as a trickster and a gossip.

7. Agas Xenas Xena – the deity of the evening star according to the Chinook of North America.

8. Agwatana – the god of the sun and the Nigerian supreme deity.

9. Aha – a river god of the Yakut people of Siberia.

10. Ah Peku – a Mayan thunder god.

11. Ah Uuc Ticab – a Mayan fertility god.

12. Ahi – the Egyptian goddess of the dawn.

13. Ai Apaec – the supreme god of the Mochica tribe in Central America.

14. Aion – the Greek male personification of time.

15. Akakanet – a vegetation god of the Araucanian tribe in South America. He is said to live in the Pleiades and provides flowers and fruit for the tribe.

16. Akano Jewel – a Japanese god of famine.

17. Ake – a Polynesian water god.

18. Akkruva –a fish-goddess in Finland.

19. Akongo – a creator god of the Ngombe people in Africa, who was said to have found the people so noisy that he left to live in the sky.

20. Akshobhya – one of the five Buddhist Dhyanibuddhas and one of the five Dhyanibodhisattvas.

21. Akua – a creator god of Hawaii.

22. Ala – a goddess of the earth and fertility of the Ibo people in Africa.

23. Alako – the god of the gypsies, according to Norwegian mythology. After teaching the gypsies his secret lore, he returned home in the heavens.

24. Alannus – a Celtic messenger god in Gaul who was worshipped by the Romans as well.

25. Alatanagana – the creator god of the Kono people in Africa.

26. Albunea – a Roman water nymph that had the gift of prophecy. Some of her revelations were recorded in the Sibylline Books.

27. Alcyone – a daughter of the Greek Titan Atlas, she was the leader of the Pleiades and the mother of Aethusa by Poseidon.

28. Algea – the Greek female personification of pain. She was an attendant of the goddess of strife, Eris.

29. Alilat – an ancient Arabian mother-goddess, she was worshipped by the Nabataeans in the form of a four-sided stone idol.

30. Allat – a Babylonian underworld goddess.

31. Almaqah – an Arabian sky god of the Saba tribe.

32. Alo’alo – a weather god in Tonga.

33. Alpan – an underworld deity of the Etruscans in ancient Italy.

34. Alrune-wife – a household goddess from Germany.

35. Aluberi – a distant and supreme god of the Arawak American Indians.

36. Ama – from ancient Mesopotamia, a Sumerian virgin mother-goddess.

37. Ama-no-ho – a divine messenger god in Japanese mythology.

38. Amaethon – a Welsh god of agriculture and the son of Beli and Don.

39. Amana – a creator goddess of the Calina tribe in South America. She lived in the Milky Way and was attended to by sea creatures.

40. Amarok – an Inuit deity in the form of a wolf-like monster.

41. Ar-tojon – a supreme god of the Yakut people in Siberia.

42. Aralo –a Georgian agricultural god.

43. Aramati – the Hindu female personification of devotion.

44. Aranyani – a woodland goddess in Hindu belief.

45. Aranzakh – a river god and the personification of the river Tigris in ancient Persian belief.

46. Areop-Enap – a creator deity in Nauru Island who made men from stones and had them support the sky.

47. Argimpasa – the Scythian goddess of love.

48. Asto-vidhotu –a demon in ancient Persia who was then later promoted to a god of death.

49. Astrild – a Norse god of love.

50. Azacca – an agricultural deity in Haiti.

The Role of Remote Sensing in Ethnohistorical Research

In the last few decades archaeology has seen new technique and methods, especially in ethnohistorical research. Remote sensing techniques can offer a great deal in constructing new research methods and as such played an important part in the transition.

Remote sensing in can be defined as the detection, recognition or evaluation of distant objects through the use of recording devices. The turn ‘remote sensing’ refers to the use of both photographic and non-photographic imagery produced from an aerial vantage point. As such, cameras, thermal infrared scanners, radar and multi-spectral systems are just a few of the many instruments that can be used to record and utilise natural and man-made features from aircraft, satellites and spacecraft.

There are some ethnohistorians who may find replacements somewhat difficult to use in their studies. However, remote sensing offers a wealth of information that can be crucial in ethnohistorical research.

Both historians and archaeologists would define ethnohistorical will research as “… the use of historical and ethnological methods and materials to gain knowledge of the nature and causes of change in a culture”. There are scholars who believe that ethnohistorians rely primarily on the written record, whereas archaeologist and anthropologist utilise different techniques to gather information, such as maps, photos, ecological surveys and site exploration.

For ethnohistorians, remote sensing can offer vital information. “For example, remote sensing offers an improved vantage point, one that can assist in the evaluation and measuring of known patterns and structures not easily visible from the ground. This includes residence and settlement patterns, trade routes, and demographic information. Aerial photos and imagery achieve levels of sensitivity beyond the capacity of the human eye, aiding in the search for undiscovered historical features and assisting in site exploration”.

There are many different types of remote sensing. One of these includes black and white photography – “the film has an emulsion of silver salts that becomes black metallic silver when activated by light energy. The light that is recorded on the film is the selective reflection of sunlight from the various phenomena photographed through the lens. The quantity of energy reflected from an object is a function of the incoming energy as well as absorption and reflective characteristics of the object. Therefore, if one is not utilizing pre-existing or archival photography, the planning of new photography for ethnohistorical research requires that light intensity, altitude (hence scale and resolution considerations), and the angle and direction of the photography be properly specified”.

In the last few years, archaeologists and cultural geographers have experimented with a vast range of different sensors, data-processing techniques and new strategies in order to find the greatest advantage when studying ancient cultures. Using remote sensing, ethnohistorians will find that they gain a lot more when incorporating this new technique.

Bibliography:

Kruckman, Laurence (1987) The Role of Remote Sensing in Ethnohistorical Research, Journal of Field Archaeology, Boston University.

The Cult of Mithras in Roman Britain

The religion of Mithras was spread all throughout the Roman Empire, and he became popular not only with slaves, but with the Roman soldiers. It is my intention to look at the cult of Mithras in Roman Britain using the information left by the archaeological record.

First, let us define who Mithras was. Mithras was the Persian deity of the sun, truth and light, although it must be stressed that it is difficult to establish when the ancient Persians connected Mithras with the sun, since ancient Iran had a different solar deity (Edwards, p.2). Once Persia was under Rome’s authority, the religion of Mithras rapidly spread across the Roman Empire.

The military background to Mithraism in Britain is well known to academics and its reputation among the military seems to indicate the cult was most active amongst the veterans stationed near temples and mithraea, small basilical buildings resembling caves where ceremonies were performed.

Due to the deliberate water-logging of the mithraea at Carrawburgh near Hadrian’s Wall in the late Roman period, this mithraea is very well-preserved and can offer us great insight into the significance of the cult of Mithras. The temple itself was built in the early 3^rd century CE, and indicates that the fire that destroyed it could have been deliberate (King, p.354). We have evidence that animal sacrifice was practiced in early to mid 3^rd century CE, as the floor of the narthex was covered in the bones of sheep, goat, pig and ox. Bones of chickens were found amongst a large amount of heather. This has been “interpreted as ritual offerings, either as general sacrifices to Mithras or as part of an initiation ceremony and subsequent ritual meal” (King, p.355). This evidence indicates that these sacrifices were carried out with deliberation, and were clearly significant to the participants involved. It should be noted, however, that due to the complex and secret theology of Mithraism, offerings to the deity are likely to have been undertaken only within the mithraea itself (Stocker, p.360).

Among the different minor animals that have been portrayed on known Mithraic representations, the bull, dog, scorpion and the serpent have all played an important role in the Mithraic myth. However, until recently, no known text recorded the role these animals played, so that “interpretation of the artistic representations and the various group scenes on the art-monuments remains an open field for scholarship” (Oikonomides, p.88).

The significance for Mithraism in Britain is highly important, not only the religion’s own internal history, but also for the religious identity and history of Rome. Instead of the stereotyping view that Rome forced its religious identity onto its conquered people, the study of Mithraism allows us to see clearly that Rome’s stand on religion was more fluid than fixed. The archaeological remains relating to the cult of Mithras indicates that the religion shared a universal identity across not only land and people, but also across time.

Bibliography:

Edwards, M. J. (1990) Herodotus and Mithras: Histories I. 131, The American Journal of Philology, The Johns Hopkins University Press.

King, Anthony (2005) Animal Remains from Temples in Roman Britain, Britannia, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Oikonomides, Al. N. (1977) A New Mithraic Tauroctony in the J. Paul Getty Museum, The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, J. Paul Getty Trust.

Stocker, David (1998) A Hitherto Unidentified Image of the Mithraic God Arimanius at Lincoln? Britannia, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.