Hi Pscott!
Once a year the Ancient Greeks celebrated the Kronia. This celebration
included rituals such as role reversal where masters and slaves ate
together; and in some cases masters even served their slaves. In
ancient Rome this festival was called Saturnalia. The ancient Persians
and Babylonians celebrated a similar festival which they called the
Sacaea. Part of that celebration included the exchanging of places
within the community...slaves would become masters and the original
masters were obliged to obey the former slaves' commands.
Below you will find links to information about the Kronia festival
with short excerpts from each article; however, I highly recommend
that you read each article in its entirety.
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Kronia
“The Kronia is a festival in honor of Kronos as a god of the grain
harvest, who is depicted with a reaping hook; on this day a harvest
supper celebrates the final end of the harvest. More broadly it is
(like the Saturnalia) a celebration of the Golden Age ruled by Kronos
and Rhea, when there was no labor or oppression. Since this
was before Zeus brought order to the world, the Kronia is a chaotic
festival. In ancient times, slaves were allowed to run riot in the
streets, and were invited to sumptuous banquets by their masters.
During the Kronia we are allowed a temporary return to the Golden Age,
to equality, luxury, ease and unconstrained freedom.” [BGR 231-2; PFA
29-30]
The University of Tennessee
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/SF/MidSummer.txt
------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Science & Spirit Magazine:
“Perhaps most significantly, the Greek rituals dedicated to Chronos
were practiced on a seasonal basis. Kronia rituals were associated
with the harvest. The Athenian Kronia in particular took place in the
first months of the year, and seems to have been a sort of New Year
celebration. The rituals involved carnivalesque feasts of exultation,
abundance and role reversal: their special feature was that masters
and slaves ate together; and in some cases masters even served their
slaves.”
(..)
“In Rome, the god most explicitly identified with Chronos was Saturn,
and the Saturnalia was recognised as a festival almost identical to
the Kronia of Classical Athens. The Saturnalia formed the heart of a
set of winter rituals that were celebrated across the winter solstice
and into the New Year. The Saturnalia itself began on December 17, and
lasted for a week.”
Science & Spirit
http://www.science-spirit.org/articles/Articledetail.cfm?article_ID=171
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacaea - Ancient Persians and Babylonians
“Ancient Babylonians had a festival called Sacaea, which Persians also
celebrated. During this time masters and slaves exchanged places. In
each household one slave was picked to be the master. In the palace, a
mock king ruled in place of the true king.”
Kronia – Ancient Greece
“Around 2,000 BC. Greeks were settling into the Balkan peninsula. They
learned to grow grains, grapes and olives here. They learned about the
god of the harvest… Cronus. These ancient Greeks adopted other
culture's gods and goddesses. The name Cronus was similar to the Greek
word chronos which means time. So the harvest god and the god of time
became one, Father Time. His festival, the Kronia, was celebrated in
mid-summer after the wheat was harvested. The Kronia took on the
customs of the Sacaea.”
Saturnalia – Ancient Rome
“Around 1,000 BC. a wandering tribe called Latins settled into the
Italian peninsula. Rome grew and expanded. Early Romans were a stern
people. Saturn was their god of agriculture. His festival, Saturnalia,
was on December 17th. Saturn became identified with Cronus, and
Saturnalia began to resemble Kronia. During Satur-nalia slaves and
masters exchanged places. Satur-nalia went from 1 to 3 to 7 days of
celebration. Only the first day was religious, the other days were
party days. Gifts were exchanged. As Saturnalia became longer it came
closer to another Roman holiday, the Kalends, or New Year.”
American Spirit Newspaper
http://www.americanspiritnews.com/DcJn98_99/XmasDays.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
Kronia
“In Athens, on the twelfth day of every month (Hekatombaion), a
festival called Kronia was held in honor of Cronus, a god of
agriculture, and to celebrate the harvest.”
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronia
------------------------------------------------------------------
Solstice Celebrations from A to Z
by J. T. McAlister
“Sacaea Babylonian and Persian 12 day solstice celebration during
which masters and slaves exchanged places. In each household, one
slave was picked to be the master. In the palace, a mock king ruled in
place of the true king.”
“The Greeks also celebrated Sacaea, but added their own unique twist.
The failing light of winter gave rise to the legend of the
Kallikantzaroi, the monsters of chaos who, during most of the year,
were forced to live underground. During the 12 days of the solstice
celebration, however, they were free to roam the earth, perpetrating
malicious practical jokes. To scare them away, the Greeks burnt the
equivalent of the Yule log. They also burned old shoes, in the belief
that the smell would keep the Kallikantzaroi away”.
EchoedVoices
http://www.echoedvoices.org/Dec2001/DecSolstice.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
“The Kronia was a holiday especially for slaves on which state
business was suspended, and slaves dined together with their masters
in a raucous and unrestrained atmosphere. They drank wine and ate
newly harvested fruits and grains, in recollection perhaps of the
golden age of Kronos (Zeus' father), when the earth produced her
fruits spontaneously and there was no need for labour.”
Chapter 5 in The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece, ed.
Paul Cartledge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp.
100-138.
http://mkatz.web.wesleyan.edu/cciv243/cciv243.CIHAGChapter.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
“The ancient Greeks held ceremonies similar to those of the Zagmuk and
Sacaea festivals. The purpose of this feast was to assist their god
Kronos, who would battle against the god Zeus and his army of Titans.”
http://www.novareinna.com/festive/xmas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
“The Kronia is celebrated in a "betwixt and between" period of the
year in Athens, perhaps when grain-production activities enter a state
of suspended animation, certainly in Hekatombaion, formerly Kronion
just before the start of the new calendar year. Roles are reversed,
hierarchy inverted, conflicts momentarily emphasized but by rituals
that "channel and neutralise any excessive inclinations."
Bryn Mawr Classical Review
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1993/04.06.10.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Cronus also spelled CRONOS, OR KRONOS, in ancient Greek religion,
male deity who was worshiped by the pre-Hellenic population of Greece
but probably was not widely worshiped by the Greeks themselves; he was
later identified with the Roman god Saturn. Cronus' functions were
connected with agriculture; in Attica his festival, the Kronia,
celebrated the harvest and resembled the Saturnalia.
http://www.piney.com/DocHesTheog.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
Festivals and Games
“Kronos is probably a pre-Greek deity, perhaps of significance in
agriculture, who was little worshipped in the classical times. Kronia,
the harvest festival dedicated to Kronos was celebrated in only a
handful of locations. During the festival, the slaves were granted the
freedom to feast at the same banquet table with the masters.”
Mythology
http://www.cs.vu.nl/~a3aan/Roeien/MyRowing/mythology.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
Encyclopędia Britannica Article
“Cronus' functions were connected with agriculture; in Attica his
festival, the Kronia, celebrated the harvest and resembled the
Saturnalia.”
You may sign up for a FREE trial in order to read the full article.
Encyclopędia Britannica
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=28426
------------------------------------------------------------------
“In Athens on the 12th day of the month Hekatombaion a festival was
held in honour of Cronus, which was known as the "Kronia." It was a
celebration of the harvest. In art, Cronus was depicted carrying a
sickle used to gather the harvest, but this was also the weapon he
used to castrate his father.”
History Walker
http://www.historywalker.com/userdata/Epistate/data/eleusis1.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
“Cronus was celebrated at the Greek harvest festival of kronia, which
equaled the Roman saturnalia. During Hellenic times Cronus was the
supreme god of Byblos (Syria). He was depicted on the coinage of
Antiochus IV (175-164 BC) nude, leaning on a scepter, with three pairs
of wings, two spread and one folded.”
The Mystica
http://www.themystica.com/mythical-folk/articles/cronus.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
An article about Cronus
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cronus.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
Star Sign of Sun Beams by Marilyn Cameron
http://www.folklegend.com/article1040.html
-------------------------------------------------
Additional information that may interest you
-------------------------------------------------
The Saturnalia was the most popular holiday of the Roman year.
Catullus describes it as "the best of days," and Seneca complains that
the "whole mob has let itself go in pleasures."
(..)
“Slaves were treated as equals, allowed to wear their masters'
clothing, and be waited on at meal time in remembrance of an earlier
golden age thought to have been ushered in by the god.”
Encyclopedia Romana
http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html
ROMAN SATURNALIA
“In each Roman home, the Master might wait on his own servants and one
of the slaves was commonly chosen as Saturnalicius Princeps (Master of
the Saturnalia), who could order others around in a complete reversal
of roles.”
Ancient Worlds
http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Article/70005
------------------------------------------------------------------
Search Criteria:
Ancient Greece slaves masters changes places
Kronia
Saturnalia
Sacaea
Kronia festival
Kronia celebration
Kronia Ancient Greece
I hope you find this helpful! If anything is unclear with my answer,
please ask for clarification.
Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga |
,
0 Comments
)