Ancient Greeks and Eris

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I would hate to be disrespectful of other people's ideas.

Then you're gonna have a tough time here.   

[Chairman Risus]

I would hate to be disrespectful of other people's ideas.

Then you're gonna have a tough time here.   

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

I would hate to be disrespectful of other people's ideas.

Then you're gonna have a tough time here.   

I just felt like needlessly quoting something ITT, I don't actually have anything to say.

[the last yatto]

found a new book so ill add some more references as I find them
Robert Graves - "Greek Myths" volume two

Erisboea - rich in cattle
Ericepaius - feeder upon heather
Erichthonius - wool on the earth
Erigone - child of strife or plentiful offspring
Erinnyes - angry ones
Eriopis - large-eyed or very rich
Eripha - kid
Eriphus - kid
Eriphyle - tribal strife
Eris - strife



If you cant find this volume two then heres A list of translations from The Greek in Penguin Classics
Aeschylus: The Oresteian Trilogy - translated by Phillip Vellacott
The Fables of Aesop - translated by S.A. Handford
Apollonius of Rodes: The Voyage of Argo - translated by E.V. Rieu
Aristotle: Ethics - translated by J.A.K. Thomson
Arrian: The Life of Alexander the Great - translated by Aubrey de Selincourt
Euripides: Alecestis and Other Plays - translated by Philip Vellacott
Euripides: The Bacchae & Other Plays - translated by Phillip Vellacott
Herodotus: The Histories - translated by Aubrey de Selincourt
Four Gospels: Codex Sinaiticus - translated by E.V. Rieu
Homer: The Iliad - translated by E.V. Rieu
Homer: The Odyssey - translated by E.V. Rieu
Longus: Daphnis and Chloe - translated by Paul Turner
Plato: The last days of Socrates - translated by Hugh Tredennick
Plato: Protagoras and Meno - translated by W.K.C. Guthrie

[Cain]

Interesting.  Are there any other sources for this?  I don't really speak Ancient Greek well...

[the last yatto]

names list after, was those in the back with their meaning and page number for all entries of Eri, almost included Eros (erotic love) for the fun of it. (still need to read moar and get the goods to quote) about each, the children are curious for me as there is two of them.

106 Seven Against Thebes 
e. It happened that Adrastus had formerly quarrelled with Amphilaraus about Argive affairs of state, and the two angry men might have killed each other, but for Adrastus's sister Eriphyle, who was married to Amphiaraus. Snatching her distaff, she flung herself between them, knocked up their swords, and made them swear always to abide by her verdict in any future dispute. Apprised of this oath, Tydeus called Polyneices and said: ' Eriphyle fears that she is losing her looks; now, if you were to offer her the magic necklace which was Aphrodite's wedding gift to your ancestress HARMONIA, Cadmus's wife, she would soon settle the dispute between Amphiaraus and Adrastus by compelling him to come with us.'
f. This was discreetly done, and the expedition set out, led by seven champions: Polyneices, Tydeus and the five Argives.[2]


2. Aeschylus: Seven Against Thebes 375 ff.; Homer: Odyssey xi. 326 ff. and xv. 247; Sophocles: Electra 836 ff. and Fragments of Eriphyle; Hyginus: Fabula 73; Pausanias: v. 17. 7 ff. and ix. 41. 2; Diodorus Siculus: iv. 65. 5 ff; Apollodorus: iii. 6. 203.

Then under 2 it included

The mythographers often made play with the syllable eri in a name, pretending that it meant Eris, 'strife', rather than 'plentiful'. Hence the myths of Erichthonius and Erigone. Eriphyle originally meant 'many leaves', rather than 'tribal strife'. Hesiod (Second Gathering at Aulis) says that Zeus wiped out two generations of heroes, the first at Thebes in the war for Oedipus's sheep, the second at Troy in the war by fair-haired Helen. "Oedipus's sheep' is not explained; but Hesiod must be referring to this war between Eteocles (true glory) and Polyneices (much strife), in which Argives supported an unsuccessful candidate for the throne of Thebes.

which I believe is of the author Robert Graves as its setup like commentary

[the last yatto]

I think I may have found the first known public worshipper of Eris although he may have not known it himself
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10430/10430-h/10430-h.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl1/wl113.htm

He attacked the gods of Greece, and the whole system of mythology, when, in its second century, the Christian Church was ready to replace the forms of heathen worship.  He laughed at the philosophers, confounding together in one censure deep conviction with shallow convention.  His vigorous winnowing sent chaff to the winds, but not without some scattering of wheat.  Delight in the power of satire leads always to some excess in its use.  But if the power be used honestly—and even if it be used recklessly—no truth can be destroyed.  Only the reckless use of it breeds in minds of the feebler sort mere pleasure in ridicule, that weakens them as helpers in the real work of the world, and in that way tends to retard the forward movement.  But on the whole, ridicule adds more vigour to the strong than it takes from the weak, and has its use even when levelled against what is good and true.  In its own way it is a test of truth, and may be fearlessly applied to it as jewellers use nitric acid to try gold.  If it be uttered for gold and is not gold, let it perish; but if it be true, it will stand trial.

The works of Lucian consist largely of dialogues, in which he battled against what he considered to be false opinions by bringing the satire of Aristophanes and the sarcasm of Menippus into disputations that sought chiefly to throw down false idols before setting up the true.  He made many enemies by bold attacks upon the ancient faiths.  His earlier “Dialogues of the Gods” only brought out their stories in a way that made them sound ridiculous.  Afterwards he proceeded to direct attack on the belief in them.  In one Dialogue Timocles a Stoic argues for belief in the old gods against Damis an Epicurean, and the gods, in order of dignity determined by the worth of the material out of which they are made, assemble to hear the argument.  Damis confutes the Stoic, and laughs him into fury.  Zeus is unhappy at all this, but Hermes consoles him with the reflection that although the Epicurean may speak for a few, the mass of Greeks, and all the barbarians, remain true to the ancient opinions.  Suidas, who detested such teaching, wrote a Life of him, in which he said that Lucian was at last torn to pieces by dogs.

[Telarus]

Another important role is in the fascinating Dionysiaca text.  Eris appeared in the form of the Goddess Rheia, exhorting him to make battle with the Indian King Deriades, who she later sides with, along with the usual crew of Ares and Fear and Terror.

HOLY CRAP! Thanks to whomever bumped this! I started reading the whole thing from page 1.

I've read some of this on Cain's blog, but I've been searching and searching for the link between Eris and Rheia (Rhea, Cybele). It was the alternate spelling that probably tripped me up the most. Now I can start looking for links between Rheia/Rhea/Cybele and Enyo.

Huh, and that wasn't hard at all.

http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Enyalios.html
Enyalio(Enyalius), a minor war deity, had [Ares and Enyo] OR [Kronos and Rhea] as parents, and originates in Thracian myth. His name comes from his mother's, Enyo.

Enyalius was also said to be a surname of Dionysus. Dionysus was said to have studied the "mystic rites" under Rhea.

That's an interesting connection, identifying Rhea with Enyo.

Ohshit, here's another:
Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible -  By K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst
http://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=Rhea+bellona&source=web&ots=aFnwfVo_0q&sig=XmVRMz3YKyAZ-T_izJwvqi8akfU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA215,M1

Page 214 and 215

II. Cybele or Cybebe is a goddess of the fertile earth originating from Asia Minor, where she was known in the second millennium as Kubaba(LAROCHE 1960). Having made her way into the Greek world, the deity was identified with a number of other 'mother goddesses' such as Rhea, Agdistis, Ma, and Bellona. Her cult had orgiastic traits.
...
III. The connection made between Machpelah and Ma-Cybele is based purely on phonetic similarity. In fact, the construct Ma-Cybele is extremely rare; the conjugation Ma-Bellona is more frequent.
...

This is exciting, and has confirmed something I've suspected for quite a while. Why?

Well, Rhea/Rheia can be traced to the Scythian Nomadic Tribes (a matriarchal based society) who spread the cultivation and use of Cannabis throughout that part of the world. They called her Bonna Rhea (the Great Goddess, the Cannabis Mother), or Rhea Krona (The Death Mother, the Scythe weilding Crone), or Tabiti the Fire Goddess. Tabiti is also identified with the Celtic Diana.

I'm writing an article about various religions use of cannabis called Cannabis: A POEE Special Report. Part one is already 7 pages long, and awaiting publication. Suddenly the first commandment of the Pentabarf snaps into a whole new focus. This is totally going into Part 2.

The Scythians influenced a lot of the rituals of the Thracians (http://www.lost-civilizations.net/scythians-page-3.html). Here's a selection from an article by Chris Benet:

A Greek speaking nomadic tribe, the history of the Thracians is closely tied to that of the Scythians, so that at times the two groups would seem inseparable.

Herodotus wrote of the Thracian's ability at working hemp fibres, and claimed that their clothes "were so like linen that none but a very experienced person could tell whether they were of hemp or flax; one who had never seen hemp would certainly suppose them to be linen."

Like the Scythian shamans, the Thracians used cannabis in a similar manner. Dr Sumach explains in A Treasury of Hashish that:

The sorcerers of these Thracian tribes were known to have burned female cannabis flowers (and other psychoactive plants) as a mystical incense to induce trances. Their special talents were attributed to the "magical heat" produced from burning the cannabis and other herbs, believing that the plants dissolved in the flames, then reassembled themselves inside the person who inhaled the vapors.


Dionysus a Doper?
The majority of scholars are in agreement that Dionysus, the famous Greek God of Intoxication, was originally a Thracian god. Mircea Eliade, probably recognized as the foremost authority on the history of religion, has commented on the Thracian cult of Dionysus, and further he has connected this worship with the use of cannabis:

I've corresponded with Chris, and he's a very well researched scholar. I take this to confirms the Tabiti->Rhea->Thracian Enyalius -> Enyo/Bellona -> Eris connection.

[the last yatto]

A long time ago, Hercules walked up the valley toward where Atlas and his wife Phoebe had their home and garden. Hercules was completing the 'Twelve Labors' required of him if was to escape enslavement and become immortal. One task was to get a golden apple. In the orchard at Atlas' house was the golden tree, guarded by a fierce dragon, that bore golden apples. Hercules approached Atlas as he stood holding the heavens on the ridge top, and asked for a golden apple. Atlas thought his release had finally come! He said to Hercules, "Sure, you can have an apple. I can go get it for you from my orchard, the dragon cannot hurt me. If you just hold this burden for me, i will go get the apple." So Hercules took the heavens onto his shoulders. Atlas thought he was very clever for tricking Hercules. Atlas was free! That dumb lump could hold the heavens for eternity! So Atlas went to the garden and got an apple and brought it up to where Hercules was, like he said he would. Because Hercules could not take the apple into his hands, Atlas put the apple on the ground and thinking he was so slick, started to walk away. Hercules, thinking quickly said, "Oh how could i have been so tricked! Now i have to hold the heavens on my shoulders forever! Whew, this is really uncomfortable! If i just had a pad to put between my shoulders and the heavens, it might be more bearable..."
Atlas turned and looked back.
"Atlas, you have tricked me! You could at least give me a pillow!"
So Atlas, being kind, but not the brightest Titan, went and got a pillow for Hercules. When he brought it, Hercules asked him if he could just hold the heavens for a second, while he got the pillow situated. So Atlas took the heavens, and Hercules, laughing, grabbed the golden apple off the ground and ran off.

http://sacredmountains.blogspot.com/2007/05/mt-atlas.html

[Cain]

Those are the same apples.

According to Trojan War cycle poetry, Eris took them from the Garden of the Hesperides.  I'm not sure what had happened to Ladon, the dragon, but I think it was either absent or made to fall asleep (like Hermes did with Argus).  Also, those apples were gifts from Gaia to Zeus and Hera upon their marriage.

Telarus, still assimilating your information.

[hooplala]

Eris doesn't seem like the type to be worried about a silly little dragon.

[Cain]

Technically, Ladon was the Greek interpretation of the Leviathan.  Slightly tougher than your average fire-breathing lizard.

But, fortunately, that was not a problem, because Hercules had been through the area earlier and killed it.

[hooplala]

Yeah, I guess the timing would work for that since Heracles predates Peleus.  Or wiat... does he?  Weren't they both Argonauts?

[Cain]

Hercules did his shizzle before the Trojan War, because several events relating to his descendants is mentioned in the Iliad.

[hooplala]

True, but not long before the Trojan war.  A single generation if memory serves me.

I'm going to do a little digging because I'm almost positive Heracles was a member of the Argonauts early on, and so was Peleus.  So, depending on whether Peleus was already married when he went on that voyage, the dragon may not have been dead for his wedding...