by Mary Harrsch © 2025
This marble votive relief, dedicated to the Thracian goddess Artemis Bendis, depicts a procession British curators think is a group of torch-bearing athletes participating in a torch relay race held during the Bendidia festival in the Athenian port of Piraeus in the 4th century BCE.
 |
| Marble relief depicting the Thracian goddess Bendis with a procession of nude athletes, possibly torch bearers from a traditional relay race held during the festival of Bendidia dated from 400-350 BCE and found in the Athenian port of Piraeus. Photographed at the British Museum by Mary Harrsch. |
According to Plato's Republic (Book 1), this event featured mounted horse riders or runners carrying torches, reflecting a fusion of Athenian athletic traditions with Thracian worship practices. The athletes in the torch race likely played a ceremonial role, combining physical prowess with religious devotion.
ChatGPT suggested the clothed and armed figure of Bendis stands in stark contrast to the nude athletes, reinforcing her foreign and divine identity. This visual distinction may highlight the interaction between the local Athenian participants and the adopted Thracian deity.
ChatGPT explains:
"Bendis, the Thracian goddess, was integrated into Greek religious celebrations during the 5th century BCE, specifically around 429 BCE. This was a period of cultural exchange and interaction between Athens and Thrace, driven by both religious and political factors.
Historical Context of Integration:
"The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE): Athens relied on Thrace for strategic resources, including timber for shipbuilding and access to Thracian mercenaries. Strengthening diplomatic and cultural ties with Thrace was politically advantageous for Athens during this tumultuous time.
"Introduction of the Bendis Cult: Thracian residents in Piraeus, the port of Athens, were allowed to establish a sanctuary and introduce their worship of Bendis. Over time, this worship became integrated into the broader Athenian religious framework.
"In 429 BCE, the Athenians officially recognized the cult of Bendis, allowing it to be practiced alongside traditional Greek cults. This marked one of the earliest formal adoptions of a foreign deity into Athenian religion.
The Bendidia Festival: The festival in honor of Bendis, known as the Bendidia, was celebrated for the first time shortly after the goddess’s formal recognition. The festival included:
"Torch relay races, which were a distinctive feature of Athenian religious festivals, adapted here to honor the Thracian deity.
"Processions involving both Thracians and Athenians, signifying the cultural and religious collaboration between the two groups.
"Rituals and sacrifices performed in her sanctuary, which likely mirrored elements of Thracian worship practices.
Significance of the Integration: Religious Inclusivity: The inclusion of Bendis into Athenian religious life reflects the city’s openness to incorporating foreign deities, particularly those associated with important allies or trading partners.
Cultural Exchange: The Bendidia symbolized the fusion of Greek and Thracian traditions. While Bendis retained her Thracian identity, her worship adopted Athenian elements, including the torch race, which was a hallmark of Greek athletic festivals.
Diplomatic Strategy: Recognizing Bendis also served Athens’ political agenda, as it reinforced ties with Thrace during a critical period of the Peloponnesian War.
"By the late 5th century BCE, the cult of Bendis had become a well-established part of Athenian religious life, celebrated not only by the Thracian community but also by Athenians, making her one of the few foreign deities to achieve significant prominence in classical Athens."
Greek professor of classical archaeology, Despoina Tsiafakis, in his work, "The allure and repulsion of Thracians in the art of Classical Athens," points out, though, that this alliance of necessity did not prevent Greek historians of the fifth century BCE presenting these people as wild, savage, and illiterate-obviously different from Athenians.
Since Thracians were viewed as "others", I asked ChatGPT how the religious practices of the Thracians differed from those of the Greeks during the 4th century BCE.
ChatGPT observed: "The religious practices of the Thracians in the 4th century BCE differed significantly from those of the Greeks in their structure, rituals, and beliefs, reflecting the distinct cultural and societal frameworks of these two peoples. While Thracians shared some similarities with Greek religion, particularly through interactions and cultural exchanges, their religious practices maintained a unique character.
Key Differences Between Thracian and Greek Religious Practices
1. Organization of Worship
Thracians: Thracian religion was tribal and often centered around local deities and natural landmarks, such as mountains, rivers, and forests, rather than formalized city-state cults like in Greece.
Religious leadership often intertwined with political or warrior elites. Kings and chieftains played significant roles as intermediaries between the gods and the people.
Shrines were simpler and often located in natural settings (caves, hilltops, or sacred groves), rather than monumental temples.
Greeks:
Greek religion was highly urbanized and organized around city-states (poleis), with state-sponsored cults and grand festivals.
Worship occurred in elaborate temples dedicated to specific gods, such as the Parthenon for Athena in Athens.
Priests and priestesses were appointed to oversee rituals, and their roles were often distinct from political or military leaders.
2. Nature of Deities
Thracians:
Thracian deities were often associated with nature, fertility, war, and mystery cults, reflecting their agrarian and warrior society. For example:
Bendis: A moon goddess associated with hunting and fertility.
Zalmoxis: A deity or semi-divine figure linked to the afterlife and spiritual wisdom.
Sabazios: A sky god connected with horsemen and fertility.
Thracian gods were often shamanic and mystical, emphasizing personal transformation, healing, and the afterlife.
Greeks:
Greek deities were anthropomorphic (human-like in form and personality) and represented a wide range of human traits and domains (e.g., Zeus for kingship, Athena for wisdom, Demeter for agriculture).
The pantheon was structured and hierarchical, with the Olympian gods at its core.
While the Greeks also believed in the afterlife, their focus was more on civic rituals and offerings to maintain the favor of the gods for earthly prosperity.
3. Ritual Practices
Thracians:
Thracian rituals often had a shamanistic or ecstatic nature, involving dancing, music, and trance-like states.
Thracians practiced animal sacrifices but may have also engaged in human sacrifices in some contexts, as suggested by Herodotus and other ancient sources.
Burial practices were highly elaborate, reflecting a strong focus on the afterlife. Thracians built monumental tumulus tombs and included grave goods for the deceased, suggesting a belief in life beyond death.
Greeks:
Greek rituals were more formalized and communal, focusing on sacrifices, processions, and festivals dedicated to specific gods.
Animal sacrifices and libations were common, but human sacrifices were largely abandoned by the classical period and considered barbaric.
Burial practices were simpler, focusing on ensuring the soul reached the underworld (Hades) rather than extravagant tomb construction.
4. View of the Afterlife
Thracians:
Thracians had a strong emphasis on the afterlife, particularly among the Getae, a Thracian tribe. They believed in immortality and viewed death as a transition to a better existence.
The worship of Zalmoxis exemplifies this focus, as he was believed to promise eternal life to his followers.
Greeks:
Greeks believed in a somewhat somber and neutral afterlife in Hades, where souls were judged and sent to places like the Elysian Fields (for the virtuous) or Tartarus (for the wicked).
While Greek religion also included mystery cults like those of Dionysus or Demeter (Eleusinian Mysteries) that offered hope of a blessed afterlife, these were not as central to mainstream practices.
5. Festivals and Public Worship
Thracians:
Thracian religious celebrations were more tribal and communal, often involving war dances, feasting, and rituals tied to seasonal cycles like harvests or hunting.
The Bendidia (when practiced in Thrace) would have been a much more localized and mystical affair than its later Athenian counterpart.
Greeks:
Greek festivals were grand and state-sponsored, such as the Olympic Games or the Panathenaia, involving athletic competitions, artistic performances, and public sacrifices.
Public worship was often a display of civic pride and unity.
6. Mysticism and Mystery Cults
Thracians:
Thracians were deeply mystical, with religion often tied to secret knowledge and rites of initiation.
Figures like Zalmoxis and gods like Sabazios were central to mystery cults that promised spiritual enlightenment or transformation.
Greeks:
Greek mystery cults existed (e.g., the Eleusinian Mysteries), but these were specific subsets of a broader civic religion. They were not as dominant or central to Greek life as mysticism was to Thracian practices.
Conclusion
"The religious practices of the Thracians in the 4th century BCE were deeply rooted in nature, mysticism, and tribal customs, with a strong focus on the afterlife and ecstatic rituals. In contrast, the Greeks had a more structured, civic, and anthropomorphic approach to religion, emphasizing public festivals, temples, and the hierarchical Olympian pantheon. While both cultures influenced each other, their religious practices reflect the differing values and social structures of their societies."
Since Athens lost the Peloponnesian War, I asked ChatGPT if the worship of Bendis waned afterwards.
ChatGPT speculated: "Yes, the worship of Bendis and the celebration of the Bendidia likely waned after Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE), though it did not disappear entirely. Several factors contributed to this decline in prominence:
1. Decline of Athens' Political Influence: Athens' Loss of Power: After losing the war, Athens experienced a significant decline in its political, economic, and cultural influence. This diminished the city's ability to maintain and promote festivals associated with foreign diplomacy, including the Bendidia.
Shifting Alliances: Thrace, which had been an important ally and trading partner during the war, no longer held the same strategic importance for Athens. Without the political motivation to maintain close ties with Thracian culture, the need to actively celebrate Bendis waned.
2. Reduced Thracian Presence in Athens: The Thracian community in Athens, especially in Piraeus, likely diminished in size and influence after the war. Thracian mercenaries were no longer as critical to Athens' military efforts, and the collapse of Athens' empire reduced its ties with Thrace.
With fewer Thracians in Athens, the Bendis cult may have lost its primary adherents and advocates, leading to a natural decline in its celebration.
3. Restoration of Traditional Greek Cults: Post-War Conservatism: After the Peloponnesian War, Athens and other Greek cities often turned to more traditional and conservative religious practices to restore a sense of order and continuity. Foreign deities like Bendis, while once embraced for political or social reasons, may have been deprioritized in favor of more established Greek gods like Athena, Apollo, and Demeter.
Focus on Civic Deities: Athens' civic identity revolved around its patron goddess, Athena. In the post-war period, festivals like the Panathenaia, which celebrated Athena, became more central to Athenian religious life, overshadowing newer, foreign cults like that of Bendis.
4. Continued Presence in Thrace and Rural Areas: While the prominence of Bendis in Athens may have diminished, her worship likely persisted in Thrace and in rural areas where Thracian cultural traditions remained strong.
Some elements of her cult may have influenced other local deities or syncretic practices, blending with Greek religious traditions over time.
Did It Disappear Entirely?
"The worship of Bendis likely never disappeared completely, but her presence in Athens as a publicly celebrated deity became less significant. Elements of her cult may have been absorbed into other religious practices or persisted in small, localized contexts, especially in Thracian communities.
"The historical record after the 4th century BCE offers limited evidence of the Bendidia, suggesting that while the goddess retained some significance, her festival no longer held the prominent place it once did in Athenian religious and cultural life."
No comments:
Post a Comment