#genethlia

Is Hekate's Deipnon a real ancient tradition?

Hello there!

I watched this video recently as well (within the last few weeks) and wanted to get back to it at some point - and here we are.

To anyone reading this and interested in what I have to say, the context is important! So have a listen to this video which is just under 20 mins long, and you can increase the playback speed too.

I like this video! And I'm surprised that I haven't heard of it sooner. Because it does dive into how fragmented our sources for Hekate's Deipnon are and how lacking they are, too.

I don't intend to re-analyse each fragment and the commentary provided by Fel, but instead here's my perspective on the situation, which doesn't necessarily make me an expert or "right"!

Assumptions When Reconstructing an Ancient Religion

Fel includes a quote from Sarah Iles Johnston's "Restless Dead" which I will pull some sub-quotes from to help explain my thinking here.

It has sometimes been assumed that these suppers were taken to the crossroads every month [...]

But like the Selinuntine rite for the Tritopatores, it is also possible that [...]

The monthly suppers are not mentioned in an festal calendars, which would tend to support the latter idea, although the omission may also mean only that they were taken to the crossroads by individuals on their own behalf [...] In either case, their regular offering does not seem to have been understood as so critical to the health of the polis as a whole.

Johnston demonstrates how we approach reconstructing concepts of Ancient Greek religion. Much of what we know about the practice, in a scholarly sense for academics and practical sense for hellenic polytheists, is based on educated assumptions.

You might ask someone in the field of classics, archaeology, or ancient history how they know if something was done or seen a certain way back then. They are likely to tell you that they don't know and that they tend to be careful with their wording because they never know when new evidence might be uncovered that changes what we have recorded of ancient civilizations and of this religion. Or even if we "never" uncover further evidence, they surrender to the idea that they are more than likely to never know.

When we apply this idea to the fragmented evidence of Hekate's Deipnon, we can make the following assumptions ourselves:

We don't actually know if it wasn't celebrated at all.

As noted from Johnston, the omission of the tradition in a common source (in this case, the festal calendars) doesn't necessarily mean the omission of the tradition entirely. Hekate's Deipnon could've been a household/private practice (in line with household purification rites) for those who wanted to honour the dead or cleanse their home or honour Hekate.

Fel mentions that Plutarch, who in a translation of Moralia writes of suppers to Hekate, in his time much later than Classical Athens, could have been writing based on literature we no longer have [or haven't found] on this potential tradition.

And I have a few notes under the section "What else do we know about Hekate's Deipnon?" with some topics and sources that can be further delved into when exploring this topic which weren't in the video - whether or not they tell us if this was a real ancient tradition.

2. We don't know if it was celebrated at all.

Fel notes in the video, based on their independent study, that the nature and existence of Hekate's Deipnon is not conclusive (i.e. we can't conclude that it was celebrated). I agree, to the best of my knowledge!

I mean, we don't have much of a record of any other festal calendar traditions for Hekate either. And Hekate is said to have "joined" the hellenic pantheon later than other deities were established (especially in discussions about Hekate's roles as a deity in the hellenic pantheon, and the potential overlaps. See example: Johnston's chapter Hecate and the Dying Maiden from Restless Dead which theorises on Hekate's entrance to the hellenic pantheon and how overlaps with other deities such as Artemis influenced what we know of Hekate's functions). (Does this mean she may have had holidays that weren't recorded in a way that we have evidence on these days? Does this mean they didn't exist in the first place? We don't know.)

I think it's fair and reasonable, based on what Fel has concluded in their video and if we were to look into what Fel said ourselves (i.e. actually look at/for the sources and consider our interpretations), to go forward saying: "Hekate's Deipnon is a [modern] celebration that we assume took place on the last day of the lunar month in antiquity and is assumed to involve [...]" -> and in stating this, we try our best to research into the potential traditions we're discussing (for example, purification rites involving Hekate, even if they aren't particularly associated with Hekate's Deipnon) and provide sources or be ready to provide sources.

If you wanted to, you could even say that "we lack the sources to confidently refer to Hekate's Deipnon as tradition from Ancient Greece" - which I also consider reasonable to state. Perhaps this is what I will say from now, until more evidence comes along.

Though we may now consider, what does this mean for current day celebrations of Hekate's Deipnon?

Modern Day Deipnon

My personal belief is that we shouldn't go around telling worshippers of Hekate that Hekate's Deipnon is fake and to never celebrate it because of our lack of sources. (I'm not assuming you would, Anon - I'm just making myself clear here).

I respect if other hellenic polytheists decide that they don't want to include Hekate's Deipnon on their festival calendars [anymore] after watching Fel's video and looking into the sources themselves. I imagine that celebrating better-sourced festivals (or some may interpret celebrating festivals that existed in antiquity) may be important to their practice and that's fine.

For myself, I intend to continue celebrating Hekate's Deipnon as a monthly observance either at the end of the lunar month or the start of a new one (the cusp, even, if that's your jam) because it fits into my practice and I like how it brings me closer to Hekate. I think it's okay and even good to celebrate new festivals for our deities, in a solitary practice or with a community.

From my understanding, this isn't a misconception in the same way as the maiden, mother, crone depictions of Hekate. MMC is a Wiccan concept which has its own issues around misogyny and the bastardisation of Hekate and other goddesses.

I would still consider Hekate's Deipnon as an ancient tradition as a misconception, yes, though one that is unproblematic.

Hekate's Deipnon doesn't make new assumptions about the goddess herself. Observing the deipnon doesn't change who Hekate is. Hekate's association with the restless dead is separate from the deipnon. Her association with crossroads offerings is separate. The deipnon being celebrated on the new moon doesn't necessarily make Hekate the goddess of the new moon (the new moon is simply the end of the lunar month). Deipnon being the concept of supper is separate from Hekate's Deipnon.

If some practitioners may form new associations with Hekate based on Hekate's Deipnon, that is less about the observance itself and more to do with missing research or knowledge (in my opinion!).

Again, the main turning point I see here is how we refer to it as a tradition. Rather than confidently stating that this was something the ancients did back then, we can acknowledge how little we know about Hekate's Deipnon plus consider how Hekate's Deipnon has become a religious development for many hellenic polytheists.

Religion changes and evolves. New traditions are and can be created.

(Plus the Attic calendar of festivals isn't the only one and there are many festival calendars we may never know about from different cities, rural areas, sanctuaries and more! Who knows what festivals were celebrated for the Theoi in Ancient Greece and around the world that we might recreate unknowingly nowadays?)

That is to say, I actually quite like how Hekate's Deipnon has evolved despite the rocky sourcing. It has become more than an assumed recreation of what was practiced in Ancient Greece. A fleshed out modern celebration for a goddess who is largely misunderstood. It brings worshippers together, teaches worshippers about the important concept of purification, honours the goddess, and puts Hekate on the calendar for those who want her on their festival calendars.

What else do we know about Hekate's Deipnon?

Apart from what was mentioned in Fel's video, I have a few more things to throw in the ring. These may or may not support or be associated with Hekate's Deipnon as an ancient tradition. All of these require more research on their origins and associations.

At some point I want to write something up about what I find on all these, but for now you can have this list to explore yourself if you'd like:

ἕνη καὶ νέα (hene kai nea) - "old and new", stated to be the last day of the lunar month, and sometimes associated with Hekate. A name/phrase that Hekate's Deipnon (or sometimes the triad of Deipnon, Noumenia and Agathos Daimon) has been referred to as. Mentioned: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/833/the-athenian-calendar/, https://chs.harvard.edu/primary-source/hesiod-works-and-days-sb/#fn27.

Triakas - Another term similar to hene kai nea.

Genethlia - Mentions found in non-english literature on Lagina/Caria and "Reconstructing the Sacred Experience at the Sanctuary of Hekate at Lagina" by Amanda Herring. Potentially a monthly feast of Hekate at the end of each lunar month or a yearly "birthday" feast of Hekate at the Temple of Lagina. Non-English literature includes "Stratonikeia Kuzey Şehir Kapısı Girişleri ve Kült Bağlantıları Üzerine Değerlendirmeler" by Özdemir and Söğüt, and "Les cultes indigènes en Carie" by Alfred Laumonier (pg. 393 - 397)

From what I found, the celebrations of Hekate at the Temple of Lagina may be of interest and a potential origin point for Hekate's Deipnon. (Ironically you should note that even her potential origin in Caria is still a scholarly debate and her geographical/cultural origin is non-conclusive too.)

This is all I have to say at this time on Hekate's Deipnon! I hope that it was insightful and provided some direction for you.

It is quite the development to learn this when we're comfortable in our assumptions about Hekate's Deipnon and hellenic polytheist festivals in general - it definitely took me some time to formulate these thoughts, though I'm glad to have this written up now!