Sanctuaries built for Greek deities location depended on what they were known for, so Poseidon's was located in Sunium, overlooking the sea lane to and from Piraeus. The alter located outdoors of the temple was typically a stone rectangle, with his name carved into it, and a metal plate on top to protect from blood and embers. Worship could come in the form of burning, animal sacrifice, singing a hymn, giving thanks, or vase donations. Before one entered the temple, they would stop at the perirrhanterion to wash off any dirt because it was important to be clean physically before entering the temple. Worship could happen ranging anywhere from festival days to personal victories to Posidea of Poseidon 8. When the Persian War broke out and the festival took some damage, locals donated land and the state became involved and paid for the repairs over the decade.
Poseidon
7 discussions
Poseidon sanctuary was located in Sunium, which is at the southernmost tip of the Athenian coastline. This makes senses because Poseidon is the god of the sea. For the Athenians it was important because the maintain their empire by trading of seas. I was expecting their to be a good reason why the choose this specific place to build the sanctuary but it had nothing to do with the place it was built in.
I found the ending of this play very unique as it connected with the audience. I enjoyed the dramatic irony that was used as Theseus didn't know Hippolytus was innocent, but others did and couldn't say. However, because of this dramatic irony it causes Hippolytus to face the wrath of Poseidon. Although I do feel bad for Hippolytus going through the wrath and not even dying right away, I enjoyed reading Poseidon using his powers. Again I am the type of person to see the God's use their powers, so when Poseidon created an earthquake to build a giant wave against Hippolytus and had a bull chase him, I found it very interesting to read all the action. Again I do feel bad for Hippolytus, but Poseidon using his powers is pretty cool.
It was very interesting to read how a sanctuary to a god would come into existence. The way that the author displayed the evolution of the hypothetical sanctuary to Poseidon was very helpful in understanding how the different elements of a holy site come to be. It makes sense that the altar would come first. I thought it would have been inside the temple, but since it is the original consecrated spot, it stays put, regardless of the construction of a temple. It must have been very convincing when someone who was about to embark perilous voyage walked into Poseidon's temple and saw all of the plaques and statuettes dedicated to him. This display of the god's power would be very effective in persuading such a desperate person to make his supplication to that particular deity.
I find it very interesting that the Greeks, just like followers of religions now built these sanctuaries in populated places where people could find them. It wasn't a sacred piece of land bu the building made it now sacred. It is also interesting how when replicating Poseidon's sanctuary they are able to pick out a place that the ancient greeks would have back then. That just shows you how not so different the ancient greeks actually were from us now and how we go about religion. I didn't know so much went into pleasing these deities and giving them their sacrifices and offerings. There were so many steps and things to do or they wouldnt get their offering or they wouldnt be happy with it.
Okay, okay, maybe I feel bad for Hippolytus now. Although I kind of expected Poseidon to be ruthless with punishments, I did not expect him to use a bunch of his powers all at once just to make sure that the job was done. Usually, a god just picks one, but no. Poseidon used a monster, the sea, and horses to insure that Hippolytus would die. This baffled me, for some, unknown reason.
In the "Overview of Greek Sanctuaries and Worship," I thought it was really interesting how different the Greeks relationship to the gods was in comparison to the Christian god. In the section titled "Worship", it talks about how greek gods sought honor and respect, but not love. We've discussed this idea in class, in terms of how the greek gods did not care about your personal thoughts or feelings, so long as you outwardly payed them respect. On the other hand, the Christian god commands his followers to love, honor, and respect him both outwardly and also in their minds and thoughts. While the Greek gods demand a kind of honor of a king and subject, the Christian god demands the honor of a parent, the willingness to follow him, even blindly. I thought the contrast of the two kinds of gods was interesting, and, in a way, showed the development of religion into modern day. It seems to me as if, as time went on, religion became more encompassing. Instead of just praising your god for the good things in life, or doing so as part of a societal norm, many modern religions require praise of gods in everyday life, even if it goes against the society you live in.