Greco-Roman Pagan Tattoos

A little while ago I was at a pub and noticed an amazing tattoo of the Egypto-Roman Goddess Isis underneath the shirt of the man across from me – I was super impressed and we got talking … turned out he got the tattoo because he just thought it was a cool design; wasn’t a Pagan at all. Although, strangely, he did claim to have been a gigolo when he was younger. I have no idea if this was true but I did later hear a story (apparently true) that he fell in love with a woman who lived overseas and he packed a suitcase full of lube, condoms and Viagra when he went to visit her – an old trick of the trade perhaps?

That story is a diversion, but it was his tattoo that got me thinking about Pagan tattoos and how cool they can (potentially) be. There are some awesome tattoos dealing with the Greco-Roman pantheon out there – here are some of the best that I was able to find online (note that some of them were perhaps not originally intended to pertain to a particular deity but I think are evocative of certain Gods nonetheless).

Apollo
Apollo is the God of light and the sun, healing (and disease), music, poetry, archery and prophecy.

Source: tattoopaulski.com

Tacitus on Indigenous Germanic Religion

Statue of the prophetess Veleda by Bucker (20th century) 

Source: nationalheldinnen.de

Tactius’ Germania is perhaps one of the most important texts we have concerning the religious practices (inter alia) of the Germanic tribes in the 1st century CE. While we should read Tacitus with caution, because he was not Germanic himself and because we cannot be certain that he ever travelled to the Germanic lands (in which case he would have assembled the work based on the descriptions of others including, perhaps, traders, Roman soldiers who had fought in those lands, or manned German border outposts, and possibly Germanic mercenaries and those serving in the auxilia who had moved to Roman territory), what is exciting about his account is that he was not a Christian, unlike many later writers who were to record aspects of indigenous Germanic religion. His bias was more along the lines of occasionally seeming to idealise the Germanic peoples in such a way as to suggest the comparative decadence of contemporary (Pagan) Romans. He emphasised that these Germanic tribes were almost universally composed of people who were warlike, brave, loyal and hardened by their climate – in short they were formidable enemies for whom Tacitus seems to feel admiration on the one hand and a kind of disgust or horror (at their “barbarism”, eg, because they practiced human sacrifice and had a supposed tendency towards drunkenness and violence) on the other.

Vulcan – Ferocious Fire

"Apollo in the forge of Vulcan" by Velazquez (1630)

If you want to understand the Roman attitude to deified fire, understanding Roman ideas about the nature of Vulcan (or Vulcanus, as the Romans knew him) is essential. Vulcan is the fertile, creative and yet potentially ugly and destructive side of fire. On the one hand he is propitiated – for his scorching fires, which threaten to burn and destroy forests, homes and harvests, are feared. On the other hand, he is honoured as a master metalworker who creates the finest armour, weapons and any other object forged in fire. Thus Vulcan is the God of fire and of metalworking, and one of the major Gods in the Roman pantheon.

The antiquity of Vulcan’s cult in Rome

Not only was Vulcan one of the Dii Consentes (one of the 12 major Gods of ancient Rome), he was also one of only 15 Gods to have a State appointed priest (flamen) and he is known to have had a shrine in the Roman Forum since at least the 6th century BCE – the Volcanal, which appears to have consisted of:

Vesta – Fire in the Home

Detail from "Vesta and Apollo" by Vincent (late 18th century)

Vesta was one of the most vitally important Goddesses in the State religion of ancient Rome. Despite her importance scholars tend to have more to say about Vestal priestesses than the Goddess herself.* Vesta is generally described as a Goddess of the sacred hearth fire, guardian of the home, and as a virgin Goddess who is inviolable and pure.** Perhaps the best contemporary description I have come across comes from Shelton, who writes:

“Vesta was the deity of the hearth fire. Fire for cooking and heating was a necessity of life, and the Romans were therefore conscientious in their worship of Vesta. In private homes of early Rome, where the hearth was a central element, all family members [which included slaves] gathered … for a sacrifice to Vesta [the sacrificial items were usually salt and flour]. In a sense, then, every private home was a temple of Vesta [J Shelton, As the Romans Did at 385].”

Roman Gods, Indian Gods

Fire ritual in honour of Agni, God of fire. Source: balu on Wikimedia 
(image is cropped). Agni is cognate with the Latin "ignis" (literally "fire")

I recently spent time trying to discover how the interpretatio Romana could be applied to the Indian pantheon. I discovered that it is not easily applied and that Indian polytheism is almost unbelievably complex. The first thing to know is that Hinduism is the sum total of numerous polytheistic belief systems emanating from the huge geographic region that is south Asia and linked by “various common elements such as Vedic tradition, the caste system, religious and moral law, epics and myths, and reverence for spiritual teachers” (Dallapiccola, Hindu: Visions of the Sacred). The second thing to know is that polytheism as experienced and understood by Hindus today is not the same as south Asian polytheism in ancient times. These days it appears that the majority of Hindus believe that most, if not all, Gods and Goddesses are manifestations of other more major Gods and many Hindus believe all deities are aspects of Brahman (or Shiva or Vishnu) – the ultimate reality and deity, which is a concept not dissimilar to Neoplatonic ideas about “the One”. The major Gods of Hinduism today are Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver and Shiva/Siva, the destroyer, as well as Devi/Shakti, the great Goddess – these Gods do not really have direct parallels in the Roman (or Greek) pantheon, which is not to say that the Indian equivalent to Roman Gods cannot be discovered but it makes the process difficult and uncertain. The Vedic pantheon of ancient India certainly seems more recognisable to one who is familiar with Roman Gods (and Vedic Brahmin priests appear to have been even more obsessed with the correct practice of ritual than the patrician priests of ancient Rome) but many Vedic Gods are no longer widely revered or they have been subsumed into other, more accessible, deities such as Vishnu or Shiva (Vedic Gods may be considered less accessible because traditionally only Brahmin priests can perform sacrifices to Vedic Gods).

Household Shrine and Ritual

Lararium fresco from a tavern in Pompeii - on either side of the Lares is
2020Mercury on the left and Bacchus on the right. Sacred snakes appear below.

Over three and a half years after I first set up my household shrine a few things have changed – one of the biggest changes is that after years of wariness of statues I now have a carefully chosen statue of Mercury on my shrine, for he is a God I particularly revere. Initially I held the notion that the household shrine, or lararium, should, to be consistent with the religious practices of ancient Romans, only honour household deities, but I have since come to realise that ancient Romans did not necessarily hold that view. Mary Beard writes:

Interpreting the Lares

What the scholars say

Bronze statuette of Lar holding a rhyton and a patera,
 1st century CE (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK)

In many ways the heart of the Roman way to the Gods can be said to lay with the household shrine and the deities worshipped thereon. The Lares familiares/Lares domestici (Lares of the household/familia – which includes family members, slaves, servants and perhaps animals) are prominent among these but I have struggled to understand their nature – are they guardians of place (where the household resides) or, as some have suggested, ancestor guardians of the family? Respected scholars M Beard et al describe them as follows: 

“Lares, protecting spirits of place, were worshipped in various contexts: in the house, at the crossroads, in the city (as guardians of the state). The Lares 'familiares' (gods of the house and its members) are the best known of these - receiving offerings, sacrifices and prayers within the household, and commonly appealed to as the protectors of its safety and prosperity. But no mythological stories attached to them; nor were they defined as individual personalities [Beard, North and Price, Religions of Rome: Volume 2 at 2.2a].”

The Golden Ass and the Catamite

Patera depicting Cybele and Attis, 4th century CE, source: ancientrome.ru

As the traditional time to mourn and then celebrate the death and resurrection of Cybele's beloved Attis draws near there is perhaps no better time to look at the role of the galli in ancient Rome. The galli were priests of the great Goddess Cybele, also called the Magna Mater. In imitation of her lover, Attis, who was said to have castrated himself after being driven into a frenzy by a jealous Cybele, the galli castrated themselves during the festival of Attis. Thereafter these “mad eunuch priests” (to quote Lucretius) dressed in women’s clothing, which were typically brightly coloured, wore earrings and heavy make up, and became well known for their wild rites in which they ritualistically flogged and mutilated themselves whilst in an ecstatic frenzy brought on by boisterous music and dancing. They were also well known fortune tellers and were perhaps the only priests permitted to beg during the Roman era.

Greco-Roman Pagan Lego

There are no shortage of Lego set ups engaging with Greco-Roman themes, however they tend to be scattered across cyberspace. Here follows my attempt to bring the best of them together in a Pagan setting. I humbly acknowledge that I became aware of many of these set ups through godbricks.blogspot.com, which is a blog dedicated to Lego set ups with a religious motif.

"Legionaries Ready!" by ACPin. The God of the temple is not indicated (presumably a military God would be appropriate, such as Mars or Bellona) but it is still a great set up. The Sphinxes at the front of the temple are a nice touch.



See more at pinlac.com/LegoRomanTempleDeparture

In another Lego tribute to the God of war (in this case it is definitely Mars), this is "Roman Temple" by Casper.



Sourced from www.flickr.com/photos

Even great soldiers may be felled by Cupid's arrows. This beautiful set up is called "Amor's Arrow" by Jojo.



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/chutspe

"Templum Vestae" by Gema. Vesta is the Roman Goddess of protecting hearth fire and ritual fire. Within her famous temple/shrine at Rome a continuous fire burnt. Extinguishment of the fire was associated with ill fortune. Indeed, within 20 years of Vesta's protecting flame being permanently put out, during Emperor Theodosius' persecution of Paganism in the 390s, the Visigoths sacked Rome and the fall of the western Roman empire was essentially complete.



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/brickilla

"Palladium in ignis" by lokosuperfluoLEGOman. I love this one - it depicts Pontifex Maximus (high priest of Rome), Lucius Caecilius Metellus, rescuing the sacred Palladium (a wooden statue of Minerva/Pallas Athena said to have been brought to Rome by mythological founding father of Rome, Aeneas) from a fire in the temple of Vesta in 241 BCE.



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/lokosuperfluolegoman

"Temple of Claudius, Colchester" by peggyjdb. The temple of the deified emperor Claudius (Templum Divi Claudii) was built in Camulodunum (Roman Colchester) after the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE. In 60 or 61 CE, during Boudica's uprising, Camulodunum was laid to siege. Boudica's army set fire to the temple and the whole city was eventually destroyed by fire.



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/peggyjdb

"Pantheon, Rome" also by peggyjdb. Originality the Pantheon was a Pagan temple dedicated to the Gods of Rome. In the 7th century (by which time Paganism in Rome had been suppressed for over 200 years) the temple was repurposed by the Pope as a Church, as it remains today. 



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/peggyjdb

"The Mithraeum" by mikey. A Mithraeum was a place of worship for the followers of Mithraism - a mystery religion, adapted from Persian religion, that was especially popular with the Roman military. Mithraea were usually either an adapted natural cave or cavern, or a building imitating a cave.



See more at flickr.com/photos/37943614@N06

"Nikaia Antipolis" by Krazy Kastle Krak Guy. A reconstruction of the ancient city of Nikaia in Illyria, Greece.



See more at www.brickshelf.com

"Lego Temple to the Gods (Greek)" by Anthony Callaghan.



See more at anthony-callaghan.deviantart.com

"Temple of Athena" by Justin R Stebbins. The design of this set up is inspired by the Parthenon. 



See more at www.saber-scorpion.com/lego

"Greek Temple" by Matija Grguric. Greek temple in Doric style; dedicated to Poseidon, God of the sea.



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/matijagrguric

"Plato's Allegory of the Cave" by lokosuperfluoLEGOman. The allegory of the cave describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall do not make up reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.



See more at www.flickr.com/photos/lokosuperfluolegoman

If you are looking for official Greco-Roman Lego set ups the best option definitely lies with Lego's "City of Atlantis" - a legendary island first mentioned by Plato (in circa 360 BCE). According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BCE. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune".



See more at www.brickset.com

Lego also has some great mini figures:

Series 9 - Roman Emperor


Series 9 - Cyclops


Series 7 - Ocean King


Series 6 - Roman Soldier

Series 6 - Minotaur


Series 5 - Gladiator


Series 5 - Egyptian Queen/Cleopatra


Series 2 - Spartan Warrior


If you are still hungry for more Lego with a Greek or Roman Pagan theme check out these websites:
www.flickr.com/groups/greco-roman_lego (collections celebrating ancient Greece and Rome)
www.flickr.com/photos/legoadam (tomb of the Julii)
www.flickr.com/photos/acpin (Roman temple interior)
www.flickr.com/photos/gvafol (Temple of Neptune)
www.flickr.com/photos/77626063@N08 (Greek temple)
www.flickr.com/photos/spiderpudel (Hephaestus)
www.flickr.com/photos/mylegocreations (Pallas Athena)
www.flickr.com/photos/iamzeessi (Ares and Hercules)
www.flickr.com/photos/shadowviking (the Olympians)
www.flickr.com/photos/wiredforsound23 (Mount Olympus over Athens)

Postscript (Dec 2013): here is my own Lego tribute to Saturnalia - it is meant to be Saturn and his wife Ops on a dais, with a mill and barn in the background, and farmers in the foreground, as tribute to Saturn's agricultural nature. The legionary adds an added touch of Roman-ness and the Wizard is just for fun.



And here is another fabulous Roman setup:

Source: www.flickr.com/photos/jaredchan

Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at neo polytheist