Video: Golden passports of the ancient Greeks, which became a real ticket to paradise
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The myths and legends of Ancient Greece made a great contribution to the culture of many peoples. The way of life and beliefs of the Greeks, it would seem, for two and a half millennia should be studied thoroughly, but much remains unknown. So, the Greeks, who believed in the afterlife, prepared in advance to accept death, for this they even made special golden documents.
If you take a closer look at the legends of Ancient Greece, it becomes obvious that the Greeks sincerely believed in life after death. Like Dante, the ancient Greek hell, ruled by Hades and his consort Persephone, was divided into several regions. Paradise was just a part of the Underworld. It was called Elysium (Champs Elysees), and only demigods such as Hercules, Orpheus, Odysseus could immediately get there. Only they could go down to paradise, bypassing the three-headed dog Cerberus.
Whether or not the soul of a common man falls into Elysium depends on his deeds during his lifetime. And if he was not a righteous man, then he could have ended up not in paradise, but in Tartarus - a dungeon inhabited by demons and titans.
To increase their chances of getting into Elysium, some Greeks carried special gold tablets with them. They are often found in graves from the 3rd and 4th centuries BC. in the Mediterranean, from mainland Thessaly and the island of Crete to Magna Graecia in the south of the Apennine Peninsula (modern Italy).
Archaeologists associate these "passports of the afterlife" with Orpheus, a mythical hero with close ties to the Underworld. On small pieces of foil, instructions are given on how to behave in heaven. The Greeks believed they acted as amulets, protecting the people who wore them and with whom they were buried.
The name of the cult, whose members created "passports of the other world", is still unknown. Plato associates them with the followers of Orpheus, known as "priests-poets." They believed that, like the legendary singer and musician, they would be able to return from the Underworld.
Tests on the surviving tablets tell about the holiness and almost divine purity of the deceased, his connection with the god Uranus, Gaia, Persephone, Hades or Dionysus. Whatever the status of a person during life, his merits were exaggerated. These Greeks were presented as almost divine beings, apparently increasing their importance. Obviously, only the wealthy Greeks could afford the gold tablets.
And also the people of the Ancient world had a very specific intimate life. Often it was necessary to solve an important question: "to give birth or to die?"
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