^ a b Ancient Greek Inventions (Michael Lahanas) Archived at the Wayback Machine.^ a b Newsfinder (2002) "The Nekromanteio at Acheron" Archived at the Wayback Machine, Accessed: October 13, 2008.167 BC - Site burned down by the Romans.Late 4th century BC - Site building erected.5th century BC - Necromanteion described by Herodotus.8th century BC - Necromanteion described by Homer.Most surprising of all were 21 washers (the distinctive bronze modioli) from at least seven different catapults, which Dakaris had mistakenly identified as components from a crane. īesides quantities of household ceramics, the site produced agricultural tools and weaponry, including Roman pila from the final destruction of the site by the Romans in 167 BC. It is now also believed that the site was a fortified farmhouse of a sort common in the Hellenistic period. However, its topographical situation on a hill commanding the immediate neighbourhood does not fit this interpretation and the ruins dated to no earlier than the later 4th century BC. Disputed archaeological site Īn archaeological site discovered in 1958 and excavated during 1958––77 was identified as the Necromanteion by archaeologist Sotirios Dakaris based on its geographical location and its similarities to descriptions found in Herodotus and Homer.
#Greek hades and persephone series#
The nekromanteia would pose a series of questions and chant prayers and the celebrants would then witness the priest arise from the floor and begin to fly through the temple through the use of theatrical cranes. Following a cleansing ceremony and the sacrifice of sheep, the faithful would descend through a chthonic series of meandering corridors leaving offerings as they passed through a number of iron gates. Ritual use of the Necromanteion involved elaborate ceremonies wherein celebrants seeking to speak to the dead would start by gathering in the ziggurat-like temple and consuming a meal of broad beans, pork, barley bread, oysters, and a narcotic compound. In Homer's Odyssey, the Necromanteion was also described as the entrance by which Odysseus made his katabasis. It belonged to the Thesprotians, the local Epirot Greek tribe.Īccording to Herodotus' account, it was to the Necromanteion that Periander, the 6th century BC tyrant of Corinth, sent legates to ask questions of his dead wife, Melissa.
Although other ancient temples such as the Temple of Poseidon in Taenaron as well as those in Argolis, Cumae, and Herakleia in Pontos are known to have housed oracles of the dead, the Necromanteion of Ephyra was the most important. The word Necromanteion means " Oracle of the Dead", and the faithful came here to talk with their dead ancestors. Ī site in Mesopotamos, Epirus was proposed as the site of the Necromanteion in 1958, but this identification is now questioned. The meaning of the names of the rivers has been interpreted to be "joyless", "burning coals" and "lament", respectively. The site is at the meeting point of the Acheron, Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus rivers, believed to flow through and water the kingdom of Hades. This site was believed by devotees to be the door to Hades, the realm of the dead. According to tradition, it was located on the banks of the Acheron river in Epirus, near the ancient city of Ephyra. The Nekromanteion ( Greek: Νεκρομαντεῖον) was an ancient Greek temple of necromancy devoted to Hades and Persephone.
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