The Ancient Greek Celebration of Peace -- by Phoebe Lyra
In ancient Greece, the people who were devotees of Apollo celebrated a peace festival known as Metageitnia. What has been of interest to us is the timing of it, as well as its theme and meaning, and how it might have encouraged peace in the ancient world and how it can inspire peace in the present one.
The Metageitnia festival for the ancient Greeks was celebrated on the 7th day of their lunar month of Metageitnion, which corresponded to our month of August. The exact day has not been precisely determined, but today's Hellenic Pagans may choose to celebrate it on the 7th of August, since 7 is a number that is sacred to Apollo. Others may attempt to translate the lunar calendar to our solar one, and place the date somewhere between the 9th and the 17th. The important thing for us is that we have a celebration and not get too hung up on the timing of it.
This festival has been described as an obscure, minor festival, which suggests that not many people celebrated it or considered it all that important. Doesn't that seem a little like saying that peace was considered a minor issue and wasn't that important? Or, considering that the Greek city-states were at war more often than they were at peace, could it be that celebrating Metageitnia may have seemed a little hypocritical? In any case, the fact that it is obscure means that we've been left with very little information about how the ancient Greeks celebrated this festival. Nevertheless, peace is a very important issue to us today, and since we have Hiroshima Day falling into the same time frame as Metageitnia, I think it's urgent that peace not be allowed to be an obscure issue for Apollonian Hellenic Pagans and others who are interested.
The name "Metageitnia" in Greek means "changing neighbors". One of Apollo's areas of interests is in helping people move house, settle into a new home, and get to know the new neighbors so that they will become friends. It's a two-way street, which means that those who are staying put are encouraged to welcome newcomers and help them feel at-home. Xenophobia can be one of causes of hostility and violence, as most of us know, and these are the things that Apollo is interested in helping us to avoid.
So, this festival is mainly to honor Apollo in his ability to bring harmony, peace, and good relations between neighbors. Whenever someone moves to a new neighborhood or welcomes a newcomer, Apollo is said to be present.
Were there ever situations where Apollo's presence was strongly felt for the ancient Greeks so that peace would always be present? There certainly was, and it was at Delphi, inside the temenos, or sacred ground that surrounded the Temple of Apollo. It was here that people could feel safe. There were contests and competitions in music and sports, and there was even competition between the different nation-states to see who could erect the most ornate shrines and statues. But on this sacred ground, there was no violence between those who came there to honor Apollo. The Apollonian maxims "Know thyself" and "Nothing in excess", when taken seriously, tend to make violence unnecessary, because when love fails, and liking is out the window, sometimes the only thing that can save the day is one's commitment to reasonableness, along with the intention to go inside onesself and try to find out where the anger is coming from. This makes it possible to do some effective problem-solving.
The problem may have been that the Greeks were unable to take Apollo's peace principles into the outside world and apply them to as much of their life in the wider world community as would have been optimal. And it seems that today, we haven't done much better, but it is important that we don't give up hope.
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