Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Follow God (Επου θεω)

(DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to be an expert on anything. I'm merely giving my opinions and interpretations as I see them as being applicable. We are not an absolutist faith, nor do I personally regard this as "infallible"  hence why I see the need to update things to a modern equivalency)

Maxim: Επου θεω or "Follow God" alternate: "Follow what is godly"

My Modern Interpretation: Follow the Gods/Follow what is godly

That phrase seems quite intense at first, yet it forms the foundation of any variant of Hellenismos. We are following the Gods as best we can. We avoid hubris, impiety. We purify ourselves of miasma, we perform devotional rites and full celebrations. Every new moon many of us clean our houses and donate to charities, and the list of what many Hellenistai do can go on and on and on. We do all this, simply because we want to follow the Gods and strive towards Godly ideals. This is the soil from which all the other plants that make up the garden of Hellenismos must be planted. 

Now, what does it mean to "Follow God" or "Follow what is godly". It is a tough question that we must sit down and ask ourselves, but I suspect that the core of it has three components. The first is
ἀρετή (arete) or roughly "virtue". This is behaving ethically, virtuously, and responsibly.What
ἀρετή is exactly varies upon where you are at in your life, who you are in your community, and is something that can (and does) vary from person to person. I will get into it deeper later, but if you have εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia) then it is likely that you also have ἀρετή. The next is ξενία which is simply observing good guest/host relationships. Most of it is fairly common to us but you can read a Wikipedia article here if you are interested in learning more. The last is εὐσέβεια which roughly means "piety" which is also another subject in of itself, but a simple, short, and sweet version is treating the Gods as you ought to treat the Gods.

Now, I like to try to think of an exception for each maxim, but this is one of the ones which I cannot think of one. If you practice Hellenismos, follow what is godly. We all make mistakes, but it is something for us to strive for.

Source: http://library.saintpeters.edu/sp/subjects/guide.php?submitted_by=index&subject=CLASSICS

1 comment:

  1. well said, always strive to live a good. honest and pious life. nothing to excess

    ReplyDelete

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A young man living in North Texas. He is an actor, a Hellenistos, and a proud member of Hellenion.