On bees and honey: Bees and their direct associations with some of the theoi. (2/3)
The initial struggle with getting this post out was exactly this section. I kept putting in too much information, and not summarising at all. This section is about the direct associations to the theoi, and thereâs likely more I havenât found. Iâd definitely recommend looking more into it for your exact god.
Zeus has strong connections to the bee within his myths; as a baby he is fed honey by his surrogate mother, and he never stops loving his bees. The insect was called âthe nurses of Zeus.â And, he also protects the bees. When someone comes to the bees in the Cretan caves, he nearly kills the man - only stopping due to Themis and the Moirai. In myth, he also the patron of the bee - for he gives the bee the bronze colour and hardness of honey, and gifts the bee their string.
His sons were often fed honey in myth too, and such examples are Meliteus and Dionysus.
It was said by the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyrius before the vine was every cultivated, Honey was the wine before wine - a sacred and old substance. Zeus, to overthrow Kronos, got him drunk on honey.Â
Lastly, he even bares the cult title of Melissaios. (Heschy. Îź 718 Schmidt)
Demeter and Kore/PersephoneÂ
In her mysteries, the initiates were addressed as bees. Her connections to bees are also linked by the beeâs role in fertility and the beeâs chthonic aspects, both of which Demeter has. And by extension, this applies to Kore too especially within the Eleusinan mysteries. Lastly, bees are always seen near plant life and flowers.
Their connection becomes even more interesting, as the bee formulates life and is tied to the cycles of death and rebirth, much like the seasons. For as we all know by now, Persephone goes into the underworld for the winter and comes back for the spring. She is described as honeyed, and honey itself was offered to Demeter.Â
While not exactly Demeter, I decided to add this one in anyways. Thereâs a rather interesting myth about Ceres and her priestess Melissa: Melissa gives away the secrets she swore to keep secret. As a result, Melissa is transformed into a swarm of bees.Â
As the mistress and goddess of animals, it makes sense that bees are tied to her. Ephesian Artemis, in her cult, was closely tied to bees. In statues, she was depicted with bees around her, and her sacred cityâs earliest coins had the bee. Her priestesses were called Melissai, and the officials connected to her cult were called King Bees. Along with that, in a fragment of a lost play, Aeschylus, mentions bees as being associated with the worship of Artemis, calling her Head priestesses âBee-Keepersâ.
With the bee relating to the death and rebirth of the soul, itâs not surprising theyâre tied to him too. In myth, while he was an infant - Dionysus was given honey. It wasnât as much as Zeus, but alas.Â
As covered by the previous post in the series, Apollonâs ties to bees are rather evident. The beeâs ties to project, and the Pythia being called the âDelphic beeâ, and their connections to poetry, etc. His tie to honey goes even deeper with the three bee-like nymphs, which end up connection both Hermes and Apollon to bees.Â
In the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, Hermes is given three nymphs, with features of bees, that are skilled in the art of prophecy. Theoi.com identifies them as the thriai, but the study disagrees. Anyways, bees are tied to Hermes via these bee-like nymphs.
Aristaios - âmost usefulâ or âmost excellentâ, a son of Apollon who is heavily tied to bees. Heâs the god of beekeeping, honey, and other such useful things. Within myth, he brings his bees back to life via a bull after theyâre killed.Â
As stated in the last post, bees act as a messenger between a nymph and her potential lover in myth, and parallelâs Erosâs sweetness and anger.Â
Nymphs in general are associated with bees, and are even said to take the form of bees. Honey in general is an excellent offering to them.
Carlson, R. D. (2015). The honey bee and apian imagery. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
Cook, A. (1895). The Bee in Greek Mythology. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 15, 1-24. doi:10.2307/624058
ARISTAIOS. (n.d.). Retrieved August 07, 2020, from https://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Aristaios.html
Rienties, M. (1970, January 01). PBP: Nymphs, Naiads and other nature spirits. Retrieved August 07, 2020, from http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2012/07/n-is-for-nymphs-naiads-and-other-nature.html
