2. Project: using ICT, learning through drama and outdoor education create a project on the theme "Myths and Mithology"
Good practice example:
Mythical heroes hunting - "Where are you Myths?"
Se afișează postările cu eticheta 01. Myths and mythology. Afișați toate postările
Se afișează postările cu eticheta 01. Myths and mythology. Afișați toate postările
Evaluation session: "Create a script for..."
Follow the plan and create a script for a comedy, a drama and a tragedy.
... A COMEDY:
1. number of characters: 122. place: village near the Vistula River3. time: night4. types of character: sphinx, monsters, peasants, ghosts, grandmother – Stefcia5. legends used to write the script: Sphinx, “Dziady” by A. Mickiewicz6. extra ideas: grandmother kissed sphinx and she changed as a monster with a huge pink ears and green tounge.Grandmother is going to church. She is listening to her new MP3 player, which is playing Korn and Slipknot. While walking, she noticed Sphinx, who was eating and drinking. Grandmother decided to kiss it and surprisingly not her, but Sphinx changed its image. It became covered with pimples and spots. Suddely it started crying, which made old grandmother laughing. She was very excited and enthusiastic that she jumped to the Vistula River. The river was very deep so she drowned. Then sphinx called his friends (monsters and ghosts) to celebrate her death near the river. ......
...A TRAGEDY:
1. number of characters: 102. place: Italy3. time: 753 BC4. types of character: Dracula, devil, Americans, Waterlady, wolf5. legends used to write the script: Romelo and Remo, Dracula, Waterlady, Boruta Devil6. extra ideas: -Long time ago in Italy, there were Romelo and Remo, who were brothers. They were raised by a wolf. When they grew up, they built a town. Romelo built Remo. Romelo got married to a waterlady. Thye had two children: boruta and Yakinthos. Yakinthos was a very beautiful man. Boruta was very jealous of him so he tried to kill him. But waterlady protected him and changed him into waterlily. The brother of Yakinthos – Boruta chased him to take a revenge. But .....
...A DRAMA:
1. number of characters: 9 (Dracula, girl, servant, 5 citizens, prince)2. place: Dracula’s Castle3. time:1000 years ago4. types of character: Dracula, girl, servants, bats5. legends used to write the script: Dracula6. extra ideas: -1000 years ago, there was a strange big castle somewhere in Transilvania that everybody was afraid of. One day, someone wanted to see Dracula and after he had entered the castle, he never came back. After that, citizens started thinking that someone evil was in the castle and a very curious prince went there so that he could see Dracula. One day, he saw a very beautiful girl and he fell in love with her. Dracula had captured her into his castle because he was also in love with her. So the prince decided to go in the castle and rescue the girl. When he found her, Dracula appeared and bit the girl’s neck. The prince started fighting with him but he vanished. The girl was lying dead and the prince started crying over her dead body.....
The Zeugma Mosaics: Gaziantep's Crowning Glory
Turkey’s southeast province of Gaziantep was until recently best known for its highly developed industrial areas, pistachio nuts and baklava.Forty-five kilometers away from Gaziantep close to the town of Nizip on the Euphrates is the tiny village of Belkis, whose inhabitants carefully tender their groves of pistachio trees. The nuts are their sole source of income. Yet not all wealth can be measured in currency, and the villager real asset is the magnificent ruins of the ancient city of Zeugma, which has stayed buried beneath the pistachio groves for nearly two thousand years. Belkis/Zeugma is considered among the four most important settlement areas under the reign of the Kingdom of Commanage.
In the Hellenistic Era the city was called “Seleukeia of Euphrates”. The ancient city of Zeugma, originally, was founded by Selevkos Nikador, one of the generals of the Alexander the Great, in 300 B.C. At that time the city was named after the general and called “ Selevkaya Euphrates.” And the population in the city was approximately 80 000. In 64 B.C. Zeugma was conquered and ruled by Roman Empire and with this shift the name of the city was changed into Zeugma to mean “bridge-passage.”
During the roman rule, the city became one of the attractions in the region, due to its commercial potential originating from geostrategic location. Because, the Zeugma city was on the silkroad connecting Antiach to China with a quay on the river Euphrates. In 256 A.D.Zeugma city experienced an invasion and it was fully destroyed by the Sassanian King, Sapur I. The invasion was so dramatic that Zeugma city was not able to recover and thrive for a long time. To make the situation even worse, a violent earthquake hit the city and buried it beneath rubble. Indeed, the city never gained the prosperity once achieved during the Roman rule. In 4th Century A.D. Zeugma settlement became a Late Roman territory. During the 5th and 6th Centuries the city was ruled over by the Early Byzantine domination. As a result of the ongoing Arab raids the city was abandoned ance again. Later on, in the 10th and 12th centuries a small Abbassid residence settled in Zeugma. Finally a village called “Belkis” was founded in the 17th century. Later on Belkis/Zeugma became one of the four major attractions of the Kingdom of Commanage. During the Roman Era, troops called “Schythian Legion” consisting of Anatolian soldiers was positioned around Zeugma. For about two centuries the city was home to high ranking officials and officers of the Roman Empire, who transferred their cultural understanding and sophisticated life style into the region.
Thus the military formation acquired a Roman character and gave rise to an artistic trend of necropolis sculpture. In this respect, samples of beautiful art appeared in the form of steles, rock relieves, statues and altars. This unique trend in sculpture and art made the newly emerging Zeugma art well recognized in whole region. Zeugma became considerably rich, owing to the liveliness created by Legion formation. At that time, there was a wooden bridge connecting Zeugma to the city of Apemia on the other side of Euphrates, and current excavations revealed that there was a big customs and a considerable amount of border trade in the city.
The proof for this assumption came from the findings in the excavations carried out in “Iskele üstü.” In this site 65 000 seal imprints (in clay) called “Bulla”, were found in a place which is believed to serve as the archives for the customs of ancient Zeugma. The seal imprints used in sealing papyrus, parchment, moneybags and customs bales are good indication of volume of the trade and the density of transportation and communication network once established in the region.
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Until 2005 most people viewed Gaziantep as a mere transit point en route to supposedly more interesting places in Southeastern Turkey -- such as the colossal statues atop Mt. Nemrut or Urfa’s pools of Abraham.
All that changed with the completion and opening in June of that year of the massive new wing of the city’s archaeological museum. Built to house the magnificent finds from the nearby Hellenistic/ Roman city of Zeugma, Gaziantep and its museum now boast one of the premier collections of Roman mosaics anywhere in the world.
Not only is the quality of workmanship of the mosaics superb, so is the way in which they are exhibited. Central to the museum is a partial recreation, using original materials, of a room from a Roman villa at Zeugma. The intricate mosaic floor is surrounded by its original colonnade, and sections of amazingly well-preserved fresco complete the scene. In total there are over 800 square meters of mosaic on display at the museum, all imaginatively lit and well explained with information boards in Turkish and English.
What makes the museum even more remarkable is the fact that everything you see could so easily have been lost forever. In 1995 two French archaeologists had been given a six-week permit to dig the site of Zeugma, some 20 kilometers east of Gaziantep, on the west bank of the mighty Euphrates. With only five days remaining and little to show for their efforts, they uncovered a mosaic floor. Permission was granted to extend the excavations, and a race against the clock began to salvage as much of possible of what was clearly a major archaeological site before it was submerged under the waters of the Birecik dam. A frenzied effort by a massive international team in 2000 ensured that many of the mosaics were, indeed, rescued.
Zeugma (“bridge” or “link” in Greek) was founded in 300 B.C. by a successor of Alexander the Great, Seleucus Nicator. A principle crossing point of the Euphrates, it lay on a major trade route between India and the Mediterranean. In the Roman era it became a frontier town -- both a barrier and a conduit between the Roman Empire and Parthian Persia. Zeugma was, naturally enough given its frontline position; a garrison town. However it also developed as a major trading center, bringing it immense wealth.
All that changed with the completion and opening in June of that year of the massive new wing of the city’s archaeological museum. Built to house the magnificent finds from the nearby Hellenistic/ Roman city of Zeugma, Gaziantep and its museum now boast one of the premier collections of Roman mosaics anywhere in the world.
Not only is the quality of workmanship of the mosaics superb, so is the way in which they are exhibited. Central to the museum is a partial recreation, using original materials, of a room from a Roman villa at Zeugma. The intricate mosaic floor is surrounded by its original colonnade, and sections of amazingly well-preserved fresco complete the scene. In total there are over 800 square meters of mosaic on display at the museum, all imaginatively lit and well explained with information boards in Turkish and English.
What makes the museum even more remarkable is the fact that everything you see could so easily have been lost forever. In 1995 two French archaeologists had been given a six-week permit to dig the site of Zeugma, some 20 kilometers east of Gaziantep, on the west bank of the mighty Euphrates. With only five days remaining and little to show for their efforts, they uncovered a mosaic floor. Permission was granted to extend the excavations, and a race against the clock began to salvage as much of possible of what was clearly a major archaeological site before it was submerged under the waters of the Birecik dam. A frenzied effort by a massive international team in 2000 ensured that many of the mosaics were, indeed, rescued.
Zeugma (“bridge” or “link” in Greek) was founded in 300 B.C. by a successor of Alexander the Great, Seleucus Nicator. A principle crossing point of the Euphrates, it lay on a major trade route between India and the Mediterranean. In the Roman era it became a frontier town -- both a barrier and a conduit between the Roman Empire and Parthian Persia. Zeugma was, naturally enough given its frontline position; a garrison town. However it also developed as a major trading center, bringing it immense wealth.
For the prosperous merchants of the first and second century A.D. in Zeugma, what better way to spend their money than on their homes? Just like their counterparts today, Zeugma’s rich showed off their wealth by having big, showy houses built in the best parts of town (in Zeugma the most expensive plots were those closest to the river on its west bank). These wealthy patrons got together with their architect to come up with a design to their taste -- and when it came to the interior an integral part of most rooms was a mosaic floor.
Euphrat River
It is these mosaic floor panels that you can see exhibited so wonderfully in the museum today. Choosing a mosaic floor was a little like choosing a carpet today -- you made your decision based on style and price. Master craftsmen, complete with their pattern books, were attracted from Antioch (modern Antakya) which had a famous mosaic “school.” Once patron, architect and mosaic master had agreed on the design, the craftsmen could get to work.
The first stage was to lay the floor. This comprised of four layers -- large crushed boulders at the base, then a bed of finer boulders topped with a layer of cement. Next came a lime mortar screed, which could be kept damp and “workable” for four days. The top and final layer was made up, of course, of the tiny pieces of stone known as tessarae, which formed the mosaic itself. Fourteen different types of local stone were used in the mosaics at Zeugma, supplemented by terracotta fired at varying temperatures to give different tones. Different colored glass tessarae were occasionally employed for different effects.
When you look at some of the scenes depicted in the mosaics at the museum, it is hard to believe that they are made up of tiny stone tablets, so fine is the workmanship. Many different craftsmen worked on the large mosaic floors at Zeugma. The least skilled and inexperienced were given the job of doing the plain borders and geometric work. Better craftsmen worked on plant and animal scenes. Next up the skill ladder were architectural scenes. Human figures were the preserve of the most skilled and experienced, but even here the work was ranked by degree of difficulty. The less talented worked on hands and arms, leaving the master craftsmen to do the faces. Just take a look at the fragment of mosaic which has rapidly become the symbol, not only of the museum, but of Gaziantep itself -- the so-called “gypsy girl.” Her eyes are expressiveness incarnate and appear to follow you as you walk across the room in front of her.
Most of the mosaics feature beautifully wrought scenes from Greek mythology and legend. Ariadne (the beautiful daughter of King Minos of Crete, treacherously dumped on the island of Naxos by the arrogant Theseus, whom she had helped kill the man-eating Minotaur) is depicted at her wedding with her savior -- Dionysus, god of wine. Achilles, dressed as a woman by his protective mother, Thetis, to prevent him being sent to fight at Troy, is found out when he can’t resist reaching out for weapons proffered to him by the wily Odysseus. Given Zeugma’s riverside location, its wealthy inhabitants were particularly fond of scenes depicting water deities. Most impressive of these is a panel showing Poseidon, second only to Zeus in the Greek pantheon of gods, emerging from the water above Oceanus and Tethys, who were believed to have had 3,000 daughters and 3,000 sons.
There is a wealth of other interesting exhibits in the museum. Perhaps the most spectacular is the large and incredibly well-preserved bronze statue of the Roman god of war, Mars - also from Zeugma. The audio-visual display, which gives an entertaining 15-minute account of the history, rediscovery and rescue excavations at Zeugma, makes an ideal way to start your tour of this wonderful museum.
The first stage was to lay the floor. This comprised of four layers -- large crushed boulders at the base, then a bed of finer boulders topped with a layer of cement. Next came a lime mortar screed, which could be kept damp and “workable” for four days. The top and final layer was made up, of course, of the tiny pieces of stone known as tessarae, which formed the mosaic itself. Fourteen different types of local stone were used in the mosaics at Zeugma, supplemented by terracotta fired at varying temperatures to give different tones. Different colored glass tessarae were occasionally employed for different effects.
When you look at some of the scenes depicted in the mosaics at the museum, it is hard to believe that they are made up of tiny stone tablets, so fine is the workmanship. Many different craftsmen worked on the large mosaic floors at Zeugma. The least skilled and inexperienced were given the job of doing the plain borders and geometric work. Better craftsmen worked on plant and animal scenes. Next up the skill ladder were architectural scenes. Human figures were the preserve of the most skilled and experienced, but even here the work was ranked by degree of difficulty. The less talented worked on hands and arms, leaving the master craftsmen to do the faces. Just take a look at the fragment of mosaic which has rapidly become the symbol, not only of the museum, but of Gaziantep itself -- the so-called “gypsy girl.” Her eyes are expressiveness incarnate and appear to follow you as you walk across the room in front of her.
Most of the mosaics feature beautifully wrought scenes from Greek mythology and legend. Ariadne (the beautiful daughter of King Minos of Crete, treacherously dumped on the island of Naxos by the arrogant Theseus, whom she had helped kill the man-eating Minotaur) is depicted at her wedding with her savior -- Dionysus, god of wine. Achilles, dressed as a woman by his protective mother, Thetis, to prevent him being sent to fight at Troy, is found out when he can’t resist reaching out for weapons proffered to him by the wily Odysseus. Given Zeugma’s riverside location, its wealthy inhabitants were particularly fond of scenes depicting water deities. Most impressive of these is a panel showing Poseidon, second only to Zeus in the Greek pantheon of gods, emerging from the water above Oceanus and Tethys, who were believed to have had 3,000 daughters and 3,000 sons.
There is a wealth of other interesting exhibits in the museum. Perhaps the most spectacular is the large and incredibly well-preserved bronze statue of the Roman god of war, Mars - also from Zeugma. The audio-visual display, which gives an entertaining 15-minute account of the history, rediscovery and rescue excavations at Zeugma, makes an ideal way to start your tour of this wonderful museum.
Excavation
It is possible to visit the site of Zeugma (or at least the upper part, as the rest is underwater) but there is little of interest unless you are an expert. This may well change, as excavations continue and there are even plans to turn the site into an archaeological park. In the meantime, however, it’s a pleasant spot --with the waters of the dam lapping at your feet and birds singing in the olive trees. With the memories of the wonderful collection of mosaics from Zeugma you have just seen in Gaziantep archaeological museum, it’s easy enough to conjure up the ghosts of this once rich and powerful city on the Euphrates frontier.
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GALATEIA
Etymologically there are two characters who are associated with milk white color. First one is one of Zeus’s daughters and a mermaid goddess who takes part in some of the Sicilian legends. The Sicilian Kyklops Polyphemos who head an appearance of a beast was madly in love with Galateia the milk skinned beauty who lived in still seas. But the girl never returned his feelings she was in love with Akis who was the son of a Nympha and God Pan. One day when Galateia was resting on her lovers chest Polyphemos saw them. Although Akis tried to run to escape but Kyklopos threw a big store which hit and killed him. Galateia gave Akis his mothers identity and turned him in to a river with clear water. Some tales say that three heroes were born of Galateia and Polyphemos’s love Galas, Keltos and Illyrius who later gave names to Galats, Kelts and Illyrians. In this case they both must have loved each other but no evidence of such a case has reached us to confirm additional information.
The other Galateia is from Crete and is the daughter of a person called Eurytios. This Galateia, although she lived in Phaistos city and came from a good family was married to a poor Lampros. When Lamproslearned that Galateia was pregnnnant, told her that he only wanted a son and if she had a daughter she was to disown the baby. When Lampos was up in the mountains herding sheep, Galateia had a baby girl. She could not leave the baby and with oracles advice she dressed the babay as a boy, and named him Lukippos and kept all this secret from Lampos. Bus as time went bye Leukippos grew to be very beatiful and it became very hard to keep this secret Galateia fell in to a fear and went to Leto’s tample to ask the Goddess to change her daughter’s sex. Leto could not resisting Galateia’s beggings accepted her wish and turned her daughter in to a young man.
DYONISOS, BAKKA AND NIKE (GOD OF VICTORY)
In this mosaic, Dionysos and nature god of Anatolian origin and Nike god of victory are pictured together. Dionysos can be seen in a cart pulled by two panthers controlled by Nike. A Bakkha can be seen dancing and leading in front of the cart. Dionysos is also the name of a religion. Those who belonged to this faith would launch a mysterious journey by drinking wine. Those who participated in these ceremonies were named Saritus (men) and Bakkha (women).
PARTHENOPE OF PHRYGIA
It is one of the Sirens. Her grave was said to be in Napoli. She jumped into the sea and she swam with her sisters; the waves threw her corpse to the shore and a monument was built on Napoli 's shore in her name. In another version of the myth Parthenope was a young girl originally from Phrygia she fell in love with Metiokhos but she just couldn’t bring herself to take an action against her oath Parthenope punished herself and cut her hair and voluntarily went to compania as an exile.She there devoted herself to Dyonysos and Aphrodita who got very angry with her turned Parthenope in to a demon called Siren with a birds body and woman’s head.
TRITON
After Posedion and Amphitit’s magnificent wedding under the sea,they had a child.this child looked both from waist down where he was covered see weed laid like a fish .This child,named Triton,started serving his mother ( Amphitrite) an his father ( Posedion) and passed on their message by the sea shell. His strong blow would make sounds of huge waves of the angry seas. Before long Posedion and Amphitites precious son Triton had many babies from many mermaids. All babies had a human beings facial features but looked like a fish from waist below. Posedion who is the god of all rivers and seas would come out of his magnificent palace in the depths of the seas.When he did that all tritons would beat their drams and blow their horns and calm down the anger of the waves and would swim along the cart of their god.
AKHILLEUS (TROJAN WAR)
AKHILLEUS’s going to WAR OF TROY Akhilleus’s parents who doesn’t want him to join the war of Troy send him to King Lykomedes’s palace on Skyros island. There Akhilleus joins the daughter of Lykomedes in women’s clothes.But when the predictions spread around that Troy could never be concurred unless Akhilleus joined the war, Odysseus starts looking for Akhilleus. Odysseus knowing his warrior personality goes to king Lykomedess place with a wise plan. He goes in to place with colorful fabrics, jewelery and a few pieces of weapons. Where all the other girls tend to the fabrics and jewelery Akhilleus can not resist it and takes the sword and the shield and start playing with them. Odysseus’s plan has worked and Akhilleus’s real identity was revealed this mosaics pictures that moment.
ACHELOOS MOSAIC
The abundance of Euphrates has been used in another composition in Zeugma mosaic. Acheloos the king of Euphrates is shown with the horn of abundance on his head seattering around fruit and nuts. Acheloos has a mustache in the shape of wings. He has flowers in his hair and has two horns of abundance on the upper part of his forehead. Fruits and plums and seeds of sun flowers are shown in this mosaic all surrounded by branches and the horn of abundance. Acheloos was the oldest of 3 thousand sons of Okeanos and Tethys who are considered the oldest couple in Helen Teogony. There are different myths about Acheloos. According to one of these myths Akheloos, who is the neighbour of the King Oineus in Kalydon Aitolia ask the Kings daughter Deineria to merry him. Acheloos had the ability for metamorphosis as the king of river and could turn into different things. He could sometimes be a bull, sometimes a dragon. This talent scared Deineria. When Herakles came to Oineus’s palace and made a proposal for marriage for his daughter, Deineria accepted it at once. But Herakles had a very hard time taking away his bride because of Acheloos who could a big fight tool place between the two rivals. Acheloos used all his talents and Herakles used all his power. During the fight Acheloos turned into a bull. But Herakles broke one of his horns. Then Acheloos considered himself defeated and he surrendered. He left the right of marriage with Deineria to Herakles but asked for his broken horn to be returned to him. Herakles in return presented him with, one of flower and fruit making horns of goat Amaltheia the wet nurse of Zeus. Some authors claim that this wonderful horn actually belonged to Acheloos himself. Today the Acheloos river is called Astropotama and flows into the Greek sea at Patlas Bay.
PERSEUS SAVES ANDROMEDE
And so Perseus sought out Medusa's lair, surrounded as it was by the petrified remains of previous visitors, and he found the Gorgon sleeping; Yes, even though he had the good old magic arsenal, Perseus was not so foolhardy as to wake Medusa. And even though her gaze could hardly be expected to turn anyone to stone while her eyes were closed, he used the device provided by Athena to avoid looking at Medusa directly. (This suggests that you could be turned to stone just by gazing at Medusa, though most versions of the myth have it that it was the power of her gaze that counted .
GYPSY GIRL GAIA (GODDESS OF EARTH)
This mosaic which was found during the zeugma excavations in 1992, long before Zeugma became a current issue, became the symbol of Zeugma because of the mysterious look she had in her eyes. When it could not be identified it got named “Gypsy” because of the women’s resemblance with gypsies. But some sources draw attention to the wide in the mosaic and claim that it is GAIA the Goddess of the Earth.
In Mythology it is considered that GAIA is the first element all god’s ancestors have derived from. Although GAIA has a major role in Hesiodos’s Theogonia,it is never seen in Homeros’s poems. According to Heiodos GAIA without a male element gave birth to the sky (Ouranos) and the mountains and also Pantos the personalized element of the sea. After the birth of the sky GAIA coupled with him and therefore all her children became real Gods and were not just simple elements of power first six titans Okeanos, Koios Krios. Hyperion, Iapetus and Kronos and six titans: Theia, Reia, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoibe, Tehys were born. All of these are feminine Godlike creatures. The youngest one of this generation is Kronos. It was followed by Kyklops. These were godlike creatures that ruled the thunder, lightning, thunderbolt. Their names were: Arges, Steropes and Brontes. And at last from Ouranos’s loves gigantic Hekatogkheirs were born. They were much for violence and had hundred arms.
BIRTH OF APHRODITE
THE GOD OF EUPRATHES(GOD OF FIRAT RIVER)
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ANTIOPE AND SATYROS
Antiope is a very beautiful woman Zeus the God of Gods fell in love with Antrope after seeing her beauty. And Approaches Antiope in shape of a Satyros (men participating in a Diyonisos ceremony by drinking wire) Zeus who steals Antiope’s heart has two children from her. But when Zeus leaves her she finds herself with noon to depend on Antiopes who was very much afraid of her father leaves home and marries Siklon the king of Epopeus.
BIRTH OF APHRODITE
The goddess of love and the one identified with the Roman love Goddess Venus. There are two different takes about her birth. Sometimes, she is considered the daughter of Zeus and Dione and sometimes she is said to be the daughter of Ouranos. According to this tale, Ouranos sex organs which was cut separate from his body had fallen in to the sea and Ouranus had a daughter from the seas and she was called the woman born from the waves or woman born from the seeds of the gods.
THE GOD OF EUPRATHES(GOD OF FIRAT RIVER)
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The god of Euphrates was found pictured on an octagonal pool floor in this mosaic Euphrates can be seen half laying on a couch. River Euphrates pictured flowing out of a jug under his elbow and the land that has met with the water is covered with green plants. Euphrates holds a branch from a tree. It is torso is naked, and there is a tree at his foot. This mosaic was found during the Belkis/Zeugma Necropol digs in 2000 in a Roman villa pool hallway with the Euphrates River Gods. There are two shellow polls in this hallway.According to the Myth Euphrates who the river is named after, had a son called Aksurtas. One day this young man was sleeping alongside his mother and Euphrates who thought that it was a stranger killed his own son. Euphrates later realizes his big mistake and jumps in to River Medos and suicides. After that day the river Medos was called Euphrates.
YOUNG RIVER GOD OF EUPRATHES
The young river God, his torso naked is half leaning on a platform on grass. On the upper left corner there is a building Lorth a triangle front and two courtyard walls. This must be representing a creek (Merzimen) providing water for the Euphrates. This mosaic is on the pool hallway floor.
ACRATOS
It was found during the excavations carried out by the Museum of Gaziantep at Zeugma/Belkýs Kelekagzi region. Acratos and Euphrosyne ares shown seated at kline on Acratos is filling Euphrosyne’s cup out of a liquor jug shaped like a deer’s head. On the left the large liqour container crater takes place. Euphrosyne means joy and good spirits, she is one of the beauties called brightness sparkle and beauty and symbolises anything that is nice for sight. She is the daughter of Zeus and Eurynome. Acratos is a God that symbolises men who are weak against women .
POSEIDON, OKEANOS AND TETHYS
This mosaic which is estimated to be floor of a pool or a dining room.The most important gods of the sea are pictured.At the top Possedion can be seen riding a creature called Hippocam which has the head and front legs of a horse and is a fish at the back. Possedion holds a pitchfork. In the lower part of the mosaic another sea god Oceanos and Tethys which symbolizes Femaleness in the seas are pictured.The rest of the mosaic is decorated by various sea animals .
WATER FAIRY OF EUPRATHES
It is pictured in a rectangle frame to the left of Euphrates to the right of Euphrates a water fairy is pictured laying on grass leaning on her elbow. There is a spring flowing from under her elbow. This represent the springs providing water to for the creeks that flow in to Euphrates
OCEANOS AND TETHYS
Oceanos, the archaic era (except for Mediterranean) Lives with Tethys who symbolizes the feminine component in the sea.It is believed that all rivers and stream came into existence from Oceanos and Tethys.In this mosaic that was found in excavations in Zeugma which is estimated to be the floor of a pool pictures Oceanos and Tethys surrounded by sea creatures.Also Eros figures riding dolphins can be seen in the mosaic.
METIOKHOS
A young man Originally from Phrygia. Metiokhos was in love with a girl called Parthenope who had vowed to remain a virgin. She was in love with him too but she is also wanted to keep her vow. She cut her hair and became an exile. She went to Campania and devoted herself to the God of wine Dyonysos. Napoli in Italy is named Parthenope in Greek because of this myth. But those who refused physical love was never forgiven by Aphrodite. For this reason she turned her in to the demon Siren with a woman’s head and a birds body .
The two figures of the mosaic which were smuggled out of Turkey 36 years ago from Zeugma by Euphrates part which will be buried under the Birecik Dam waters, is brought back to Gaziantep from the U.S.A. The two figures brought back from the USA on June 19 was assembled to the main port of the mosaic. The main port was found in Zeugma in 1993 and was brought to the Museum of Gaziantep. The missing port of the mosaic was indicated by a big question mark ( ? ) . It is now ready to be exhibited.
The mosaic which was smuggled out of country was received in Houston by Esra Akça, one of Archeologists working for the Turkish Ministry Of Culture Museums and Monument Division and brought to Turkey on June 19. The mosaics were brought to Turkey in two wooden boxes and reunited with the main part. The two characters of this love story Parthenope and Metiokhos finally came back home after so many years.
SILENOS
Silenos is the General name given to old Satyroses (the nature daemons that never leave Dionysos’s side) . It is also know that the legendary hero who raised Dionysos was also called Silenos. There is many different information on Silenos’s family tree. Silenos is sometimes considered Pan’s or Hermes’s son born from a Nympha, sometimes he is said to be born from the drops of blood Hermes had shed when his sex organ was cut from his body by Ouranus Kronos. This Silenos was a very wise man but he only showed his wisdom under pressure.
For example once King Midas had him brought to his place and Silenos had told him wise things. Vergilios imagines shepherds forcing Silenos to sing songs. It was claimed that Silenos was the father of Ken taunos Pholos and had him from an ash tree Nympha.Some other legends see him as the father of Apollo Nomius (Apollon of Arkhadia) Silenos was a very ugly man. He had the flat nose thick lips and had the look of a bull. He had a huge belly. He was usually pictured store drunk and can barely keep his balance on a donkey.
EROS AND PHYSKE (LOVE AND SPIRIT)
Eros brings joy and beauty to world just like his mother Aphrodithe, fills people’s heart with the passion and prepares them either for happines or for death. He had pair ofwings on his back. He would travel the world flying with those wings and spread beauty audors of flowers where he passed over. Hel always had arrows in his hand. He would shoot people at heart by his arrow and make them fall in love with another .
One day he himself fall in love with a beauty. Physke was one of the three daughters of a King. She was so beautiful that people wre sometimes confused her with Aphrodithe and worshipped her. Aphrodithe was very much disturbed by being confused with a mortal. For this reason she called her son Eros and told him make Physke fall in love with the ugliest man in the world. Eros took off to carry out his mother’s orders. When he found Physke Eros , was ready to make this arrogant girl, who brogged of not fall in a love with anyone, fall madly in love with the worstman in the world, but just when he pointed his arrow to shoot at her heart Physke’s beauty devastated him. He fall in love with Physke instead of making her fall in love with someone else.
Physke’s only wish was to see the face of this young man who has madly in love with her. But Eros never accepted this. He always met her after dark and left before dawn, he had prohibited any light in the palace no candles no fire. It was no use for Physke to bag he never gave in an an Physke loved Eros without seeing him or knowing whole was. One day Physke’s sisters told her that the men she loved wab the ugliest looking beast world. She could not resist her curiosity and hid a lamp under a vase and waited for Eros’s arrival that night. Eros with no suspicion came to the palace and spent the night with Physke.
When he fell a sleep Pyske got up quietly and took the lamp from under the vase and when she appmached the bed she was as tonished at what she saw. When she expected to see an ugly face she met with the most handsome young man onu could imagine. When she saw this handsome face beyond description she fell even more in love with him. When she learned forward to kiss him on the forehead one drop of hot oil from the lamp fell on to his bare shoulder. Eros wake up in pain. As he realized that his lover did not keep his orders, he opened his.Wings and flew away. As Eros left the palace he had built by his magic vanished also.
Physke was in anguish and did not know what to do. Whit the hope to find her loved one she travelled all arround the world but alas, could not even find a trace of Eros. Finally she came to the door step of Aphrodithe’s palace all axhouseled, but Aphrodithe let alone helping her, made her work as a slave... Poor Physke took all the suffering without complain and did all that was asked of her without a word of objection, with the hope that she would one day meet her loved one. Finally Eros’s shoulder healed and he went to Olympos to change the fate of his belored. Who was devoted to him from the bottom of her hearth. He bagged Zeus to resque, Physke and give her to him as his wife. Zeus accepted all his wishes and ordered Hermes to have Physke brought to Olympos. Physke was brought to the Gods Plane and got married to the man he loved more then aynthing in the world lived happily ever after.
WEDDING OF DIONYSOS (GOD OF WINE) AND ARIADNE
The 10 figures in the mosaic from left to rigt are,A men figure standing,drinking ligour out of a cup – A menad sitting holding a mesale – A dressed woman walking twords right with her arm up in the air holding something in her hands which can not be seen due to the damage in that part of the mosaic.A woman sitting on the throne is shown with most amount of clothes loosly coverg her body around her torso –A men’s figure shown with a halo around his head and next to throne a child figure two clothed women figure walking to the left.Which on the left is demaged at the head part and the one on the right holds a boy with things inside and the lid open.On the far right there is a woman holdung the flute next to a man with beard and naked torso.His hair is Ruffiled.The couple in the center,the eros next to them,the woman with a box of presents and another woman figure with her armas up giving the impression that she is either placing a ring of bay leaves or spinning yarn to weare the net of feith makes us think that this mosaic pictures DÝONYSOS’S wedding
DEMETER - THE GODDESS OF ABUNDANCE
The mosaic which the God of earth with the horn of furtility on her left shoulder is shown in a square shallow pool crowned with flowers and ears of wheat right to the west of Gods related to Euphrates.The mosaic artist has created an Equitation of production by first having the water go through the pool where the God of Euphrates are pictured and have it reach the pool where the Goddess of furtility Demeter is,and this way he describes the abundance and furtility. Euphrates presents t o his surroundings. In addition Demeter’s bust is placed in the middle of decoration that is seen in the following order, an octagonal band an two equilateral rotated 90* and placed inside each other and the eight axe description taking place on each of eight corners at the ornamentation. This composition with the geometric decorations of number eight is surrounded by a circular band placed inside a square, decorated with plants. The number eight must have something to do with Demeter’s daughter Persephone. Because Zeus had decided that she should spend 2/3 of year (8 months) at the time of blossoming and fruit harvest time with her mother Demeter and the other 1/3 the winter period with her husband Hades. In the Myth Demeter doesn’t part with Persephone. And this mother. Daughter is called the first Goddess. For this reason in Belkýs/Zeugma mosaics they are together and Persephone is repRented by geometric decorations with the number eight.
DAEDALOS AND IKAROS
The gods of Posseidon,presents the King of Crete Minos with a bull.The kings wife Pasiphae falls in love with this bull. She order the palace sculptor to make cow ma quette. A beast with with bull head and human body was born of this coupling the beast was named Minotaur.
King Minos would have 7 women 7 men sacrificies collected from all cities under his dominion,and feed them to minotaur who lived in a labyrint.People of Athens do not want to give more sacrificies to Minotaur representing the people of Athens Warior Theseus comes to crete and kills Minotaurs.
King Minos’s daughter Ariadne falls in love with the hero Theseu They get help from the architect of the labyrinth and escape from Crete with Theseus. Whom Minos the king of Crete learns about this treachery he locks Daidolos who has helped the fugitires and his son Ikanos labyrinth. Daidalos and Ikanos who were stuck in the labyrinth for a long time attach the wings they have made to their arms by beeswax and escape from Crete by flying.White flying in the sky Ikanos does not listen to his father’s warnings and get very close to metts and his arms and he falls from the sky on the ground and die.In this magnificient mosaics Daidalos (second from right) and his son Ikarus (on the right) is pictured working on the cow maquette Pasiphae(on the left sitting on the throne)had ordered to be made.
EUROPA
Europa was the daughter of Agenor, and was beloved by Zeus. Zeus took the form of a beautiful white bull and encountered Europa at the seashore. By appearing to be very tame, he coaxed her to climb onto his back and then swam off with her across the sea to Crete. In Crete, Europa had three sons by Zeus -- Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthys. Zeus also gave her three gifts: the bronze man, Talos, to act as her guardian; a dog, Laelaps, which never failed of its quarry; and a javelin which never missed its mark. Europa afterwards married Asterius, the king of Crete. Europa is also the name of a daughter of Tityus, and mother of Euphemus.
The Second Life
Romanian Mythology - part 05
Death
Time ago Death was an old ugly woman, thin like a rake, with big sunken eyes, teeth protruding like spades, and a face all puckered up like a fig or a prune. She had long, slim fingers and carried a scythe at her back.
A long time ago, Death could be seen by anybody and be recognized by all folks. who knew the day and the time when they were going to die. But that was no good since, being aware they were going to die at a certain hour, people worked no more, and indulged in doing nothing. Thus, they claimed: “So what if I don’t do anything as long as I am not to die now but at another date that I know .” Or they said: “Why work if I have only two more years to live and then I die?” This, along with all the misery and carelessness, disgusted God so much that he decided to take right away the knowledge of the time of death from the mind of people.
They say death sends its heralds: power wanes and dizziness goes to the head. One’s ears tingle, and pains and aches torment the bones. Teeth fall off, the hair grows gray, and eyes grow dim. Death takes man’s soul either if she touches the person with a wing, cuts the person with the scythe or throws an arrow. At other times she offers the dying person a death drink that is very bitter. Willy-nilly, the man must taste and then his soul gets detached from his body like a leaf from a bough, and goes out of the dead person’s mouth like a haze.
When Death cannot put down someone all alone, diseases are called. But then God ordained things so that Death could no longer be seen, the old hag started to do what she pleased and chopped off with her scythe every head she did not care for. The House of Death is very big with a lot of pegs in it from which skeins are hanging, some big, other smaller, other tiny.
“What are those?” a shepherd once asked Death.
“These are skeins containing the thread of every man’s life: when the thread comes to an end so does the life of the man, and I go pick his soul.”
Other story says that in the House of Death instead of skeins there are candles, thousands of lit candles, and when the oil in these candles runs out the life of their owners on earth comes to an end. Death does whatever God and fate tell command her to. So, she cannot do other than carry out the orders of others. That is why they say she is ruthless for she has often separated young people who loved each other, children from parents, often leaving old people or babies without any support.
Only once did Death allow herself to be moved by the lot of a woman who had eight small children and nobody to help her. Four stood on one side and four on the other crying to break one’s heart. Seeing the poverty in that house and the despondency of the children, Death took pity and went to God to tell him that she had not dared take the woman’s soul for what would the children do?
“You see that stone?”
Down on earth there was a stone. God struck it with his staff and thus broke it into smithereens. Out of these crawled tiny worms:
“See those worms? I take care of them, too. Now you go back to the woman and take her soul.”
Death went down and did exactly what God had ordered her, and the women’s children were taken care of by the rich folks of the village.
The Customs of the Air
When Archangel Gabriel decreed that all the rebel angels and Devils should stand still, many Devils remained on earth, others in waters, others in the air. Those in the air, after having come to themselves and understood what had happened to them, got together and started planning something to help their master, Old Scratch. They must have plotted a lot for in the end they came up with a trick: to make some sort of customs between the sky and the earth where they would exact a toll from the souls so that not a single sinful one should enter heaven, and all guilty souls be caught and sent to hell. This is exactly what they did. Between heaven and earth there are numberless unseen roads that the souls take on their way to heaven. The devils settled themselves at each crossroads, and stuck poles and a bar across the road to halt all passage and demand a toll. Nobody knows exactly how many checkpoints there are in heavens. Some say 7, other 12, most believe 24 or even 99.
Beyond the customs there is a rivulet which all soul must cross in order to cleanse itself of sin. This is how it goes on at the toll houses: When a soul gets there several devils meet it and stop it. Then comes the customs chief and from a big book with black pages written in white ink he reads the sins for which toll must be paid at that respective house. For every sin there is a special house. Thus, there is a toll house for thieves, one for killers, another for liars, another for greedy persons, another for wrong-doers, and many more. The toll devil reads from his book, and the guardian angel of the soul from his own white-paged manual written in black ink.
One devil holds a balance and weighs the sins. If the sins are too heavy the devils take the soul down to hell. But if the soul did not commit any sin for which toll is asked there, the soul goes on, crosses the water behind the house, cleanses itself and starts further, to pass through the other customs where the same process goes on. Even if the soul has passed through all the customs houses it still has one more test, perhaps the toughest: to cross heaven’s bridge. This is an extremely long bridge, narrow, thin as a nail and sharp as a knife blade. If the soul is sinful and yet has passed through the customs houses by who knows what indulgence or cunning here it comes to a dead end, and it falls down in a deep precipice, dark like a starless night. From the bottom come howls of beasts and dragons that live on the banks of a big tar pond which leads directly to hell. Not even a soul without sins can pass easily. Anyway, the narrow bridge or the pitch darkness underfoot or the cries of the animals are not so frightful if the soul is fearless and has faith in God. In the middle of the bridge a cat and a dog meet the soul. The cat dashes at it meaning to topple it from the bridge. The cat brings along all the earthly temptations to lure and tumble the soul into the pitch black hell. But there is also the faithful dog that prevents the cat from doing this. The two animals closest to the man’s heart start a terrible fight. If the man whose soul is on the bridge has a coin tied to his finger he gives it and gets away, crossing the bridge to the gate of heaven where Saint Peter receives him, and after having listened to his deeds, allows him in.
The End of the World
When the time draws near for the world to end there will be a mighty drought. The sky will be very clear and only from time to time a small white cloud will pass, so high though that no drop of water will fall. Rivers will dry up, big and small, and no water will come from the firmament. The sun will burn like a fire and everybody will think it is closer and bigger. The fields will be scorched, and the grasses dry. Everything that man sows will bear no fruit and will wither. Cattle will die of hunger and thirst. The famine will be so awful that babies will cry in their mothers’ wombs. There will be no food, no drink, and people will fight for a piece of bread.
At this time of need and destitution, Antichrist will emerge in a closed carriage bragging he has bread in it. But the coach will carry only rotten trees, and another cart with a tub, wet on the outside but dry and empty inside. With this he will try to deceive people, saying: “Come with me for I am better than God. He punishes you with starvation and thirst while I, see, give you bread and water provided you obey me.”
People will run about in confusion and will ask him in tears, on their knees, to help them. They will bow to him and obey him. And Antichrist will send them to take what they want and they will find only rot and emptiness and they will grow bitter and they will not even be able to cry. And they will bang their heads against walls and rocks lamenting at having been deceived.
The Last Judgment
Before the time comes for the dead to rise from their graves there will be foretelling sings which many will see but very few will understand. The big day will be on a Sunday, the first day of Easter. The Prince of the Skies, Archangel Michael with his silver trumpet will herald midnight and bodies will emerge from the ground like spiders: and he will trumpet again before the roosters sing and all members and body parts will come together as they once were on earth; and before dawn he will sound the trumpet again and the souls will enter the bodies they once departed from, and they will descend on earth in great joy, and children will recognize their
parents and relatives and friends, and they will all rejoice to have found each other, and the whole globe will glitter.
Everybody will be round thirty. They will all be of the same age: children will grow up and old people will become younger. Every soul and body will come alive. Nobody will be left in the ground and no soul will remain in heaven or in hell. They will all proceed to the judgment throne, and babies will mature on the way. God will send his angels on earth to fetch the church vessels and holy books, and all the righteous and faithful will follow him and will go meet Jesus Christ in the holy chamber. The evil spirits, those that have tormented the world, the cunning ones that have sung in deceitful churches and led the faithful astray, and every seed or soul dedicated to evil, east and west on earth, will stick to Antichrist. And this deceitful prophet, seeing such a numerous host will become conceited and will soar proudly to the sky and plunge into hell, announcing his kingdom.
And those who will follow him will again place golden calves on God’s shrines, and Antichrist himself in his haughtiness will catch Saints Elijah, Enoch, and John Mina of Sarvelnic, and sacrifice them on the new altars by cutting their heads.
Then the angels will descend on Earth and set it alight, and 400 acres deep will burn and all the hills and high mountains will crumble and all the beasts and all the gardens and birds will disappear, and there will be no living creature left on earth. After that four mighty winds will rise from the east and all the cinders and embers of foulness will be blown away and the earth will be cleansed and will remain neat and white like a sheet of paper. And the earth will gather voice and will shout for the entire world to pay attention: “Here I am before you, God, clean like a flower!” And replete with odor it will bow to God.
In great pump and ceremony the Holy Cross will be descended on earth and it will shine like the sun. Before it, hosts of numerous angels will march, standing guard. Then the sign of the coming of the Son of Man will appear. Jesus Christ, with a strength of angels, will come down from the clouds in heaven and sit on the judgment throne and will judge the dead and the living and will requite each after his deeds. The righteous will be placed on the right and the sinful on the left. After that the bright heaven will open up and the righteous will rejoice with the angels. The bigger the number of angels, the bigger also that of the righteous. Then God will make a new sky and earth and from judgment day on there will be no marriages, no care, no sigh, no envy, no
war, no thoughts, no language, no pain, no craving, no thirst for gold or silver, no love and no death, no change of years or of hours. For there will be a single day and a single herd and a shepherd and that will be the kingdom of eternal peace, love of people unto Christ, to be honored for ever. Then the big quarrel between God and the Devil will end for not a single devil will be able to rise to the kingdom of God which will be one and eternal.
war, no thoughts, no language, no pain, no craving, no thirst for gold or silver, no love and no death, no change of years or of hours. For there will be a single day and a single herd and a shepherd and that will be the kingdom of eternal peace, love of people unto Christ, to be honored for ever. Then the big quarrel between God and the Devil will end for not a single devil will be able to rise to the kingdom of God which will be one and eternal.
Saeculum I. O., Bucharest, 2003
http://www.plural-magazine.com/article-romanian-mythology-2.html
http://www.plural-magazine.com/article-romanian-mythology-2.html
The Life of Man
Romanian Mythology - part 04
Giving Birth
If a woman is heavy with child the first thing she has to do is put on a girdle. During the pregnancy the woman has to avoid certain chores, deemed harmful for the child and the birth. Thus, when she takes the garbage out she must say:
“Let me have my child as easily and quickly as I throw out this garbage.”
A pregnant woman should not eat twin fruit if she does not want to give birth to twins. The same she should not bake twin cakes, or eat peanuts with two cores. A pregnant woman should not forget her nightgown out drying on the fence overnight for an envious neighbor could cut out the shadow cast by the sleeves on the ground. Then the child to be born will have severed hands. The woman who picks sticks in her lap will have a child with spotted skin, and if the wood comes out of the plane the child will get curly hair. If someone overpasses a pregnant woman resting in the shade or spinning in the threshold her child will be born with the navel around its neck. If the pregnant woman takes off the shoes of her husband or of any of the folks in the
house or helps him out of his trousers she will not be able to give birth until she drinks water of the shoe or the boot of the man. She should not blow into the fire for her child will be dumb. She should not go under the loom for she will give birth to twins. Neither should she eat stringed beans for her child will be dull. The same she should not have unchopped meat for her child will lisp. She should not taste thick broth on a fasting day for her child will get red pimples.
Learning the Sex of the Child
If the woman wants to know the sex of her baby then when she finishes weaving she will send one of her children out with a cloth. The child must go out with his eyes closed and open them only on the road. Whatever he lays eyes on first, man or woman, rooster or hen, male or female animal that will be the sex of the child to come.
Cravings of the Pregnant Woman
It is common knowledge that a pregnant woman has cravings for food she sees or dreams about. It is a great sin to refuse to give a pregnant woman to sample the food she sees and craves. That is why if a pregnant woman comes visiting a house at meal time she must be invited to taste every dish and drink, lest she abort.
Body Marks
If a woman yearns for something and cannot have it then she must not put her hand on her face or body otherwise her child will be born with a mark representing what the pregnant woman wanted. The same if the craving prompts the woman to steal a fruit or other food, she should not touch her face or body with her hand lest her child will get fire-red birthmarks. If she accidentally stumbles upon a funeral she should not look at the dead person or if she unwillingly glanced at a dead relative or someone she used to know she must say right away:
“I see two not one” lest her child get a livid, deadly pale face.
She must not kick a dog with her foot lest her child gets a mean heart. Or beat a cat for then the child will have a hairy body. If someone lays an axe on the threshold where a pregnant woman has sat then her child will get a cleft lip. She must neither walk across a string for her child will come out with the navel round its neck. If, being tired she rests on a sack she will have a difficult birth. The same if she rests on the steps of a staircase. If she sits down on a washing basin to rest she will have a girl.
A pregnant woman should not sponsor a wedding for she will give birth to a stillborn child. The same will happen to the pregnant woman who is ashamed to say she is pregnant when asked. If the woman has an easy pregnancy she will have a girl, if a difficult one she will have a boy. If the woman wants to give birth easily she has to put under her pillow The Dream of the Virgin. She should not knot her tresses for her child will get to lisp. She should not wear a flower at her belt for her child will get birthmarks. She should not look long at ugly or deficient people (lame, blind, one-armed) for her child will get the same defect.
Removing Birthmarks
If the child is born with a mark the first Sunday (after new moon) while people are at church, about the middle of the liturgy she will sit with her child in the center of one room in her house, and breast-feed it. At the same time, she must think of the thing that most amazed her and she thinks responsible for the mark on her baby. After some three minutes she should get up and go to the fireplace and do the same: from there she must walk to the end of the corridor and pray to God:
“Dear, Almighty God who made man after your likeness, remove from my son (daughter) all the unusual, inhuman habits and qualities. Let him (her) remain clean and bright like solid gold, like the Holy Virgin, like field dew, like the star in the sky. Amen!” She then will repeat this three times on three Sundays.
Relegating Pain
If a woman is unwell before her time the folks at home first smoke her with a fox muzzle and if she still doesn’t feel good they call quick the midwife or a skilled woman who takes 8-9 seeds of cucumber or melon and two twigs of savory, and mixes them together. Then she pours a little glass of brandy over the mixture and gives it to the woman. After having drunk, the midwife puts some onion skins in a pot with live coal and smokes the pregnant woman with the spicy fumes. If necessary the drink and the smoke are repeated.
Aborting the Child
Not to have a miscarriage – for, besides the peril this represents for the mother, it is deemed a bad omen – you should pound some nut cores and melon seeds or burn wool tussles or peacock tail and then mix the lot with brandy. There are other remedies as well. Heat a brick, then pour brandy on it. The steam coming from
the brick will get to the woman and do her good. The icon with the Virgin can be washed and the wash be given to the woman to drink. Or one takes a scythe, opens a window and places the scythe so that its point is directed at the earth. One pours water over the blade of the scythe three times, so that the water drips into a pot placed at the point of the scythe. If the woman drinks this water the illness will pass. If she feels better she takes spinning hemp, spins it, wets it a little, and places it over her belly. She must keep it there 3 days.
The Time for Giving Birth Draws Near
When the time is near, the pregnant woman should go to church make her confession, and take the holy Eucharist. Then she goes home, pours water in a pot and casts it over the eaves, trying to catch it in another vessel under which she has placed a bowl. Meantime she says:
“As long as the water sits on the eaves that long shall the boy or the girl linger.”
She drinks water three times, crossing herself, then whets her belly. Furthermore, she takes an egg and places it in the fire, and when it blows up she repeats the mantra:
“As long as the egg…” Then she goes to a bridge with a string upstream and says: “As long as the water dwells under the bridge that long should the boy or girl linger.”
Difficult Birthing
If the woman has a difficult birthing then she will rest on her knees and pray to God for help. When the woman is in pain and the parturition appears to be difficult, she will be made to drink water poured over the icon of the Virgin, her man will shoot a rifle over the house, while the midwife will kick the door three times. Thus evil spirits that prowl around the house and prevent the woman from giving birth are relegated. For the same reason, two axes are thrust into the house pillars, all things are turned upside down, incense from Easter, Christmas or Epiphany is lit, and the whole house is thus smoked, while the woman prays to the Holy Virgin.
Swaddling. The Things Needed
…The child, if male, is wrapped in a shirt of his father or of his mother, if female, to get dry. Then the child is swaddled. The things necessary are one wrap, a girdle, several strips, clothes, a little blanket, and a cap. Among the swaddling clothes, actually in a woolen or cotton girdle, there should be sewn three twigs of garlic, three berries of pepper, 3 grains of spring wheat, 4 of autumn wheat, 3 grains of incense, 3 of salt, 3 crumbs of bread and 3 splinters from the child’s house, all in all 9 kinds, so that the child should not get the evil eye (9 is deemed a magic number, with beneficial influence, just like 7).
Against the Evil Eye
Not to be jinxed, the baby should get a red bow and a red wool bracelet on its right hand. Against the evil eye a sign can be made on the forehead. The midwife lifts her right foot with the heel backwards and with her thumb she takes some dust, kneads it with spittle, and then puts a mark on the child’s forehead: “Don’t get jinxed!” and spits three times.
Dimples
She also puts a finger on the child’s chin and cheeks for the child to get dimples.
Influence of the Future
…the midwife does some things to influence the child’s future. She sweeps, sews or spins or cuts wood with an axe, writes, hammers, according to the sex of the child.
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Death. The Signs of Death
Death is no longer visible to people and dying men no longer are aware of their time like once; still, there exist certain premonitory signs that show one the moment has come to embark upon the journey with no return. Not everybody knows these signs, and they may not focus on a certain person, so that a lot of people do not believe in them even if they hear or see them. Yet, in a homestead where there is an ailing person and these signs become visible it becomes certain that the sick person will soon pass away. Mind the following:
1) When wooden objects in the house: table, chair, wardrobe, chests, etc. crackle unexpectedly.
2) When bottles, demijohns, clay pots break from themselves or fall down without being touched.
3) When an icon falls off from a peg.
4) When a hen crows like a rooster, especially if the hen is black.
5) When a dog howls long at night. If in the homestead of the sick person there is no dog then those of the neighbors will howl.
6) If someone bats an eye from time to time this means someone close will die.
7) When an oxen drawing a wedding carriage kneels it is an omen of death. The same if the bride drops the fir tree. Or if the yoke on the bride’s carriage breaks.
8) Someone will die in the house on which an owl hoots.
9) If a mole makes a mound under a house wall someone will die in that house.
10) In a house where someone lies in bed, if cats brawl and bite the sick person will die.
11) If dogs dig pits close to the house then one of the folks in that home will die.
12) If the cattle are stomping their feet then their master will die.
13) An oxen that bellows while drawing the carriage of the bride to the bridegroom’s house is a death sign.
14) When the cuckoo sings close to a house where there is a sick person it is a premonitory sign.
15) When cats meow and relieve themselves indoors it is a sign of death.
16) If a swallow makes a nest at a house eave someone in that homestead will die.
17) It is a bad omen if hen chickens, only a few days old, start clacking.
18) If a man or a woman has the impression someone is calling from behind it is a sign he/she are close to their end.
19) If someone loses a ring from a finger it means someone in the family will die.
20) When you have the impression church bells are peeling someone will die.
21) When a candle that burns in the altar goes out from itself the priest will die.
22) When only one coal is left in the hearth one of the spouses will die.
23) If you get black marks on your nails you will die.
24) When you get black spots on your hand you will have a death in your family.
25) When the beams of the house crackle it is a sign someone in the house will die.
26) A rusty ring on someone’s finger heralds the death of the husband, the wife or the lover.
27) When a mirror drops from the wall and breaks it is a deathly sign.
28) If an icon or other church object cracks up one of the priests in the church will die.
29) If by accident there are 13 guests at a table one of them will die within a year.
30) If you dream of a dead relative, one of your folks will die.
31) If you dream of having fallen into a precipice you will soon die.
32) If you dream of a broken home then someone in that house will die.
33) If you dream of someone in new clothing that someone will die.
34) If you dream of planting rows of flowers someone in the house will die.
35) If you dream of cows your time has come and you will die.
Superstitions about Death
If a person gets the creeps death will have looked into his eyes. Let nobody bathe at a watershed for it is a deadly omen. Do not put out the light on Christmas night for one of your relatives will die. If one pees in a pool or in a running water his mother will die. One should not slaughter any animal on Saturday for someone in his homestead will die. If a bear gets in your way it is a deadly sign. If you kill a frog or you walk backwards one of your parents will die. When you eat nuts, plums or any other fruit and someone asks you for one you should give that person two for otherwise your pair will die. Who buries nuts in the ground to have trees will die. To prevent that, he should put the nuts in a circle of tub wood or bury a tub in the ground for then he will die only when the nut tree will become as thick as the tub. When one of your fingers gets yellow and you notice it indoors someone in your house will die; if you notice it outside, a stranger will die.
When two spouses join hands in front of the altar who has the coldest hand will die before the other. When the groom fails to shave for the wedding it is a death omen. When a groom finds another groom in the church he should tie something over his eyes not to see him for otherwise one of them will die. When two engaged girls meet they should exchange a pin, a ring or even flowers so that there be no death on either side; likewise when two wedding processions meet. If a boy or a girl from the same household marry the same year one of them will die. The groom should not go to the woods or the mill for it is a bad sign. If the bride makes faces at her motherin-law the latter will die. Do not burn three candles at the same time. It is a death sign. Do not say the name of a child the day of his/her baptism for he/she will not live long. The child who in his first years grows a lot will die. Let not someone sleep with his face up and hands on his chest for he will die. A pregnant woman should not bathe or do any other thing connected to a dead person for she may die in childbirth. Women should not go around with their hair let down for their husbands will die. If a married woman washes her hair on Friday it is believed her husband will die. The spouse of a dead person should not comb herself/himself a week after the death of the other spouse for it means death. If a person in the house of a dead person sneezes he/she should tear a little of his/her shirt or coat lest he/she may die. On Saturday and Tuesday one should not cut shirt openings for it is a deadly sign. A shoe mender should not accept only one shoe to mend for his wife will die. It is not allowed to shake hands across a threshold or slantwise for one of the two will die. Do not walk with one foot bare for someone in your home will die. Do not walk over someone’s foot for your mother will die. You should not throw a broken needle but thrust it somewhere lest one child of yours should die. Some women do not cry, do not let their hair down and do not go after the first dead child, or do not burn incense for 40 days lest other of their children die. When a lass or a lad die you should not cover yourself for 40 days not to have another one die. The house where there is a dead person should not be swept until the funeral since the house is haunted by a death spirit that may touch anybody else. The dead should never be buried on a Monday for it is a deadly sign. When the dead person has been taken out of the house the doors and windows must be shut otherwise death may again enter the house, requiring other victims. Carrying the dead person on the road one should not go or look back lest someone else might die. When coming from a funeral one should wash one’s hands. In the house where someone died no laundry should be done nor walls whitewashed for a week lest another person could die.
When the owner of a new house wants to give alms he should do this out of his house. To find whether they live or die, women melt wax or lead; if these take the shape of the cross it is a bad sign; if they take another shape then the women will live. When a sick person does not rest his head on the pillow it is a sign he is dying. If after getting married one of the spouses loses something on the way home, he will not live long. If a man who is very sick turns his face to the wall then his end is near: but if he turns his face the other way then he will get well. When a sick person makes his confession and the wafer is above the wine in the spoon the sick person will get well but if it falls to the bottom he will die. If one eye or both of a dead person stay open
someone in the house will soon die. Who has had a death in the family should carry water in a bucket to a relative each day for nine weeks. Who had several women in this world will live only with the first in the next world, and the other will stay behind her. If a pregnant woman dies the family should give as alms a little chair and a stick so that she has something to sit on in the kingdom come and something to lean on. A dead person should have a silver coin tied to his little finger on his right hand so that he can pay customs duty in the next world. If a virgin dies her clothes are sewn without knots for if there is a knot her fiancé will never get married.
someone in the house will soon die. Who has had a death in the family should carry water in a bucket to a relative each day for nine weeks. Who had several women in this world will live only with the first in the next world, and the other will stay behind her. If a pregnant woman dies the family should give as alms a little chair and a stick so that she has something to sit on in the kingdom come and something to lean on. A dead person should have a silver coin tied to his little finger on his right hand so that he can pay customs duty in the next world. If a virgin dies her clothes are sewn without knots for if there is a knot her fiancé will never get married.
It is good to make no knots when sewing for a dead person. Death comes better at night than during daytime when the birds will not let alone the dying person. He who dies young will live young in the other world, and he who dies old will be for ever old. The pillow for the dead person is made with flowers brought by women. If a dead man remains with his mouth open he prays people to forgive him or he asks for alms or it is a sign someone else in the family will die. It is a sin not to mourn at night for the dead. It is not well to speak of the dead on Tuesday or at night. The pot where water for bathing the dead has been kept should be broken or buried lest others die. When you go to a house where there is a dead person you should not say “good-day” or “good evening” since for those folks that day is not at all good. Where there is a dead person you should not say anything, nor shake hands for both hands will grow numb. When wine and bread are received as alms and the person who receives them spills or drops something it is a sign the dead person was hungry or thirsty. The persons who come to a dead man’s house should not be seen out. Do not cross the path of a dead person for your hands will grow numb. If it rains in the grave the respective dead person will go to heaven. It is not good to cry a lot for children since in the next world they will have to drink all those tears. The soul of a person who has many children and relatives on earth who died before him will be welcomed by them in heaven. If one has nobody, nobody will welcome him. When a sick person breaks into tears and cries, it means he feels he will die. If a dying person lies on a down-filled pillow he cannot die. If someone struggles to die a fur should be put under his head. If a sick person suffers too much the pillow should be taken off his head and put under his feet; thus he will expire. If someone cannot die he should be lifted from the bed and laid on the floor and he will die.
For someone who is in huge pain to die easily pea stalks should be put under his head. If a sick person is much tormented until he dies it means he is full of sins and God will not forgive him. He who did mean things in this world cannot die quickly and will endure a terrible agony on his death bed. When a dead person is taken out of the house, the coffin should touch three times each threshold. This way the deceased says good-bye to his home, to his relatives, and friends. After the funeral, a pot of wine should be placed on the spot where someone died, several nights in a row, together with a pewter of water, a piece of bread and a lit candle. The wine and the bread are given to a man or a woman (according to the sex of the deceased) to be eaten and drunk for three nights in a row on the spot where the person passed away. The respective person stands for the dead, who is believed to walk around the house for three days and nights, looking for nourishment and beverage. The candle must be taken to the church and placed at the icon of the Virgin, and then at the grave of the deceased. The habit goes that when the dead has been taken out of the house, his clothes or some of his cattle be given as alms as thus the sins of the dead will be forgiven and his soul will find eternal peace.
When a dead person is being taken to the churchyard, water from his last bath is sprinkled after the procession, then a pot is broken in the middle of the house so that all the troubles should go away. After the dead is taken to the cemetery, bread, salt, a glass of wine and a bundle of unwashed wool are placed in his place in the bed. The following morning, the person who puts these will carry them out of the village or throw them into water. When the dead is taken out of the house a child should be called and given a dish of flour so that the dead has victuals in the next kingdom. Up to the church a dead is lighter, but after the church service, to the cemetery the dead weighs heavier. A coin must be thrown in the grave with the dead: it is payment for the place so that nobody else can take it away. After the dead has been lowered into the grave everybody wash their hands across the grave so that they should not go numb or sweaty.
The Burial
When a man is dying a lit candle should be placed in his hand. This is the habit with Christians so that the dead can see in the next world where it is pitch dark, and frighten away the Devil. When he has passed away one of the relatives should close his eyes and say: “God rest him in peace” or “God forgive him!.” Afterwards he is washed very well for he must go before God clean. Then he is dressed in his best clothes or specially tailored attire if he has lain long.
Afterwards he is placed on a chest with his head under the icon or on the table in the middle of the house, always with his feet to the door. His hands are arranged crosswise, the right over the left. In his hands a wax cross is placed or even the candle he held when he passed away. There should also be a coin for the dead to pay his passage across the river to the next world. A coin is also attached to his little finger to pay the man who will help him cross the bridge into heaven.
Money for the customs will be put in his bosom or will be given as alms. Next to the cross there should be an icon. The body is covered with a white cloth called shroud. This will protect the dead against fire on his way to heaven. When he is placed in the coffin the shroud should cover his face. At the head of the dead two candles are placed in holders. Mirrors in the room of the dead are turned to the wall or covered with a black cloth for if the dead man sees himself he will turn revenant. No dog, cat and even mouse is allowed in the room for if an animal goes under the bed of the dead, it turns into a revenant, and the soul in its torment after death may enter one of these animals.
When the dead has been thus arranged tidings are sent to the relatives and to the church where bells start to peel. All the bells must be tolled for an old man, and only one for a baby. The same if the man is rich all the bells toll longer, and if he is poor bells toll less.
In many parts of the country by custom a little fir tree is placed in front of the dead man’s house. The melancholy event is heralded by mourning. If a man or a child die, then the wife or mother or any other woman in the house mourn first above the corpse then outside the house, intoning specific dirges. First, a mourner stands on the threshold and then goes to each corner of the house. In many places of the country the dead is mourned for three times a day.
As soon as they learn about the demise of someone, relatives and friends start pouring in. They put a candle next to the stand at the head of the dead and at times they also leave a coin. The dead person must be kept in the house for two or three days. All this while, the closest relatives should wear mourning clothes, the men with their head covered, and the women wearing a black headkerchief. Each night there should be a vigil for the Devil claims the body of the mortal since it is he who brought the clay from the bottom of the sea. So, if vigil is not kept the Devil may come and steal the body. Friends and relatives gather for the vigil. Especially young people, and to while away time, they tell stories and play various games so that the folks in mourning forget a little their despair. After midnight the folks of the house bring pies and pound cake and brandy to keep people awake.
Then the preparations for the funeral are started. First round, pretzel-like bread for the alms and the sweet wheat mash are cooked and the tree is arranged. This can often be a little fir tree, nicely decked with ribbons and various fruit: figs, nuts, apples and others. In the folk belief they represent the tree of life with all the goodies that the dead person leaves behind: a passage to the other world; the shadowing and recreation of the soul in the next world, after having passed the customs, and the tree in heaven also heavy with good things.
The coffin is made in fir wood according to the size of the dead. It should not be bigger for it invites other deaths in the house. The head of the dead is propped up by a pillow and close to it are placed the soap and the comb he last used.
The funeral takes place in the afternoon. As soon as high noon is gone the groups of friends and relatives gather in the house of the dead. Here they receive a candle and a handkerchief. The people who carry the bier have a black cloth tied on their shoulder.
Before the lid of the coffin is sealed any knot in the clothes of the dead is cut off so that the widow may remarry. When the coffin is taken out of the house it should strike the threshold three times lightly as a thank-you to the house from the dead man for the protection and shelter offered. A short prayer is intoned indoors and then the dead is taken out in the yard where the mass for the dead is said.
Mourning cries are numerous and diverse, for a father, for a mother, for a child, a lad or a virgin, for any other member of the family, and they are learnt from the special mourner. These dirges are sung for every dead, with little variants. There are also ad lib cries, according to the circumstances. The mourners sing them in a mournful tone, not forgetting to give out cries and tears, even when they are professional mourners. The more decried a dead and the more beautiful the dirges, the more prestigious the funeral.
Mass for the dead is said partly in the yard, partly in the church. Then the procession starts in the following order: first comes a child with the wooden cross that will be placed on the grave. Next come the men with the banners. Usually, the number of the banners depends on the importance of the dead person. Next come the people carrying the alms.
The processions makes several halts on its way. There are 12 stops or stations that embody the customs the dead has to pass through. In certain parts of the country they are made only at crossroads. In other parts they are settled per village. At each station a prayer is said and then the procession goes on.
Besides stops there are also bridges. In certain places a towel is laid on which a round bread, a light, and sometimes a bottle of wine are placed. The entire procession has to pass over this cloth bridge that embodies the bridges across the rivers in the next world that the dead has to cross. The towel is then given to the priest or as alms to the poor together with the bread and the light. The good-bye kiss is given to the dead either at the end of the mass, in church or in the yard of the dead person. In other parts of the country, the separation takes place in the cemetery.
When they return from the funeral everybody must wash their hands, to clean away the unholy spirits, either at the first fountain they find on their way or at home. Some start a fire of leaves and they jump over it to wave away the stench of death and the unclean spirits clinging to them. It is convenient that people should come back from the cemetery on a different road in order to break the death line, lest the dead should return as a revenant. For the eternal rest of the dead the folks of the house should go to the tomb three mornings after the funeral before the sun goes up. There they light candles and incense. In other parts of the country, candles are lit at the icon for 40 days, when a memorial service is organized. Memorial feasts are prepared after 3, 9, and 40 days. When memorials are not organized the dead cannot rest in his tomb, and small sins that prevent the dead from going to heaven cannot be forgiven.
Also for the soul of the dead there is the custom that when returning from the funeral a feast be thrown. All those who participated in the funeral and especially the priest are invited. After saying a little prayer for the soul of the dead, the priest makes the sign of the cross over the walls of the house and says: “May God rest him in peace!” Which everybody present repeats.
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