Artemis, Hellenic goddess of ecology
The ancient Greeks during their nine centuries of grand splendor (IX-BC) divided the geographic areas into five levels according to each area of productivity: The coast for maritime trade and fishing, the plains for the cultivation of grains (wheat and barley), hilly terrain for cattle (some beef, but mostly goat and sheep), the valleys for gardens and fruit (predominantly vinyards), the great forests for water: no water, no sacred . In this respect the Greeks have always known the indissoluble link between vegetation and water: no water, no greenery, no forest without springs, rivers, and streams. Their forests were sacred, they restricted the cutting of folliage to the periphery and only to the extent necessary, they hunted only to obtain food for the family.
Their forests were under the protection of the powerful goddess Artemis with her procession of deities around her. Artemis, is a goddess of the Hellenic Pantheon, daughter of Zeus and Leto, daughter of the god Apollo. She is the patron goddess of vegetative powers. She has power over the trees, water - fountains, ponds, rivers -. no relation to the cities. A virgin goddess, whose attribute is to care for the forests and wild animals, clad only in a short dress and sandals she carried a golden bow with deadly arrows which punished the wicked who reviled the forest.
Her entourage was made up a chorus of nymphs of different origins: the Naiads of the waters, and hamadryads dryads, nymphs, tree spirits, nymphs oreiades of the mountain trees, nymphs melìades (of ash), she was also accompanied by a pack of dogs. Aside from watching over the care of the forests she also enjoyed singing and dancing in unison but only with the gods of her entourage, previously mentioned.
Callimachus, Greek poet of Alexandria (third century BC) begins his hymn to Artemis with these lines:
"Let us sing to Artemis
for to be without regret let’s not forget to whom we sing
Health mighty bow of placental gold
the hunting of hares,
coroen dance with a heart of the mountains,
and concludes:
Health, all-powerful Goddess
graciously welcome my poem. "
Diana, Roman goddess of the Latin flora and fauna
The Roman-Latin people during their three lengthy historical periods- politicians, kings, the Republic, the Empire (eighth century BC - third century AD) always considered the woods, jungles, forests, to be sacred precincts. It was only on the periphery of these giant vegetations that they allowed hunting to eat, logging for domestic needs - household utensils – water for drinking.
Their vigilant forest Goddess was named Diana: She was called silvarum Dea, Dea ferarum: Goddess protector of flora, fauna. Her worship was centered mainly in the Lazio region, but also in Estruria and Campania. (The center of the Italian peninsula). The most famous temple of Diana was at the heart of Monte Alban, Aricia, near Lake Neomi, amid a thick forest, that was called Nemareusis Diana (Diana of the woods).
Diana was born from the union of the gods Jupiter and Latvian. In Rome the worship of Diana was very important, there were several temples dedicated to the Goddess, but the most famous of these is Aventine Hill that was jointly built by the Romans and their allies to place under the protection of the ancient confederation of Diana the cities of Latium, which recognized Rome as its capital.
The immense importance of the worship of the goddess Diana gave birth to an extensive contemporary anthropological study written in Castilian (1944) The Golden Bough by historian and philosopher of Western religions, the Irishman Sir James George Fraser (1854 - 1941). Fraser demonstrates the essential relationship between the divinity of classical antiquity and the selvacidad, ie sacred religious worship of forests as the original source of life and generators of spiritual power. There, in the forests, lie the sacred forces of nature, guarantors of the existence of vegetation, animals, suffice it to say of life.
Before the scientific study of Fraser, the Roman poets, so they understood, copied the verse of the Ode XXXIV of the poet Catullus Carmenes book (SI BC)
"(...)
Because you were the owner of mountains
And green forests
And of remote forest
And Sonora rivers. "
(...)
Finally, these goddesses pointed to something momentous for human life on earth: there is nothing more unjust than to destroy the forests and wilderness, from which arise the waters, sources of life, but also the energy of all existence. Through this we know that the ecological concerns of our race, "most human" have existed for five thousand years.
By Lenin Cardozo / Lubio Cardozo / Edith Regier
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario