(feel free to correct me if i made a mistake)
Literally yesterday I was talking to one of my best friends about her relationships and said “i must admit when you dated x i prayed day and night for you to find a better man, im not a prayer person tbh”.
And that little dumb comment ended up here. I thought to myself why was I in fact not a prayer person and why and how did I pray in certain cases such as when running or asking Aphrodite for my friend to find a better guy.
So here you go, a crash course on prayers but specifically in hellenism.
If it’s not obvious, each way of worshipping is different and if you don’t agree with something I say just don’t do it? Paganism in general is a very personal and free religion, so do whatever you think it’s the right way (be careful too pls).
Let’s start with what troubled me the most, the posture. Did I have to kneel? Sit? WHAT?! Well here you go:
When praying to ouranic Gods or heavenly Gods, one should stand with hands in the air and palms facing upward (Burkert 1985, 75).
When praying to chthonic Gods or underworld Gods, as well as the deceased, hands mustn’t be raised, and the prayer should be murmured (Burkert 1985, 75).
When praying to einalic Gods or Gods of the sea, as well as Nymphs and spirits of the earth, arms must be spread wide towards the sea; the hands “are also stretched towards the cult image” (Burkert 1985, 75).
(Here you can find which are some of the ouraic, chtonic and einalic gods)
Position ready, now you should try to purify yourself through washing your hands, taking a shower, etc. (Miasma, this is all miasma go research kiddos). Why? WHY?! Well, Imagine someone comes to you all dirty and smelly asking for help… no fun right.
Let’s assume you already are clean, get an offering to offer the gods and let’s start.
Okay okay now, what do we say when we start a prayer? Do we say “Hey pal how you doing bro” (be kind enough to add the generic frat boy voice when reading)? The answer is obviously not but what should we say… I assume you have already decided who are you praying too, so we name/invoke the deity we are asking help/giving our gratitude too, most of the times this starts with a “Hear, O (deity) + (epithets you might think are pertinent for this specific prayer, optional)”. Not always though, I’ll be furthermore breaking down two prayers from the Iliad on this steps to make it even more clear. This comparison can be found below.
Done that? We can proceed to basically give an “argument” on why you, from all people, should be blessed with their help. This is not for to guilt trip the deity okay, this is to bring up the beautiful relationship you have with them, it’s basically a reminder of “Hey, I’m serious about our deity x worshipper relationship, this is no joke”.
Now ofc we have to say why are we praying for. Wealth? Love? Want to pass your exams? (I sure do). Please don’t ask for an unicorn, ask for something the gods can give you such as protection, a blessing, good luck at an exam: be creative but not too creative.
Now that they are hopefully giving you what you’re asking for, we give back freely not because we want to force them to give us what we want. Basically the quote “I give so that you may give.” This can be considered as a “promise” on doing something like “I will practice violin daily for you” or “I will burn a candle for you”. You have your own practices so go with them.
Comparison among two prayers
Now that we got this, you may ask yourself “Where the hell is Roy taking all this info from?”. So I’ll just analyze prayers for you so you can see the clear structure used by Greek Writers. Here we go through comparing two prayers from the best book on Earth, the Iliad:
[446] So saying he placed her in his arms, and he joyfully took his dear child; but they made haste to set in array for the god the holy hecatomb around the well-built altar, and then they washed their hands and took up the barley grains. Then Chryses lifted up his hands, and prayed aloud for them: “Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stands over Chryse and holy Cilla, and rules mightily over Tenedos. As before you heard me when I prayed—to me you did honour, and mightily smote the host of the Achaeans—even so now fulfill me this my desire: ward off now from the Danaans the loathly pestilence.”
[220] to war in the forefront of the Myrmidons. But Achilles went into his hut, and opened the lid of a chest, fair and richly-dight, that silver-footed Thetis had set on his ship for him to carry with him, whem she had filled it well with tunics, and cloaks to keep off the wind, and woollen rugs. [225] Therein had he a fair-fashioned cup, wherefrom neither was any other man wont to drink the flaming wine, nor was he wont to pour drink offerings to any other of the gods save only to father Zeus. This cup he then took from the chest and cleansed it first with sulphur, and thereafter washed it in fair streams of water; [230] and himself he washed his hands, and drew flaming wine. Then he made prayer, standing in the midst of the court, and poured forth the wine, looking up to heaven; and not unmarked was he of Zeus, that hurleth the thunderbolt:“Zeus, thou king, Dodonaean, Pelasgian, thou that dwellest afar, ruling over wintry Dodona,—and about thee dwell the Selli, [235] thine interpreters, men with unwashen feet that couch on the ground. Aforetime verily thou didst hear my word, when I prayed: me thou didst honour, and didst mightily smite the host of the Achaeans; even so now also fulfill thou for me this my desire. Myself verily will I abide in the gathering of the ships, [240] but my comrade am I sending forth amid the host of the Myrmidons to war: with him do thou send forth glory, O Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, and make bold the heart in his breast, to the end that Hector, too, may know whether even alone my squire hath skill to fight, or whether his hands [245] then only rage invincible, whenso I enter the turmoil of Ares. But when away from the ships he hath driven war and the din of war, thea all-unscathed let him come back to the swift ships with all his arms, and his comrades that fight in close combat.”
The Iliad book XVI 220-245
Achilless: This cup he then took from the chest and cleansed it first with sulphur, and thereafter washed it in fair streams of water; [230] and himself he washed his hands, and drew flaming wine.”
Chryses: “around the well-built altar, and then they washed their hands (…) then Chryses lifted up his hands, and prayed aloud for them”
Chryses: “Hear me, god of the silver bow, who stands over Chryse and holy Cilla, and rules mightily over Tenedos
Achilles: ”Zeus, thou king, Dodonaean, Pelasgian, thou that dwellest afar, ruling over wintry Dodona,—and about thee dwell the Selli, [235] thine interpreters, men with unwashen feet that couch on the ground.”
Chryses: As before you heard me when I prayed—to me you did honour, and mightily smote the host of the Achaeans
Achilles: Aforetime verily thou didst hear my word, when I prayed: me thou didst honour, and didst mightily smite the host of the Achaeans; even so now also fulfill thou for me this my desire.
Chryses: even so now fulfill me this my desire: ward off now from the Danaans the loathly pestilence
Achilles: O Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, and make bold the heart in his breast, to the end that Hector, too, may know whether even alone my squire hath skill to fight, or whether his hands [245] then only rage invincible, whenso I enter the turmoil of Ares. But when away from the ships he hath driven war and the din of war, thea all-unscathed let him come back to the swift ships with all his arms, and his comrades that fight in close combat.”
Chryses: and took up the barley grains.
Achilles: nor was he wont to pour drink offerings to any other of the gods save only to father Zeus.
They both fulfill the checklist I did for you so hopefully this will be helpful. As always good luck!
Pulleyn, S. (1997). Prayer in Greek religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Petrovic, A., & Petrovic, I. (2016). Inner purity and pollution in Greek religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
