Nov 12 - 'The Charonion ' (3rd cent. BC), thought to be Charon, boatman of the river Styx, or possibly Mithras (the face from neck to brow is @ 2 m.s), Mt. Staurion, Antakya (ancient Antioch)
Thought to be Charon, boatman on the river Styx of Greek legend who would ferry souls to Hades, like an ancient grim reaper. www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3453012969/ "Carved in the mountainside above Antioch [handy to the cave-church of St. Peter], this dates from the Seleucid era and the reign of King Antiochus (200s B.C.)... On his right shoulder stands a smaller draped figure which appears to wear a calathus, a lily-shaped basket of a type carried in processions in honour of Demeter... According to the 6th cent. chronicler Malalas, the Charonion was carved in an attempt to save Antioch from a plague. After many people had perished from the illness, a seer named Leios commanded that a great "mask" be carved out of the mountain overlooking the city, "and inscribing something on it he put an end to the pestilential death. This mask the people of Antioch call the Charonion." No inscription is visible, but the sculpture has been badly weathered, or damaged. The name Charonion may be a clue that the carving represents a deity of the underworld who needed to be appeased to bring to an end the plague that had sent so many souls to Charon." www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/antioch-charonion.htm
- "It has been pointed out by several commentators that Charon cannot be beardless, that the two figures must belong together, that they're in a necropolis, and hence prefer to see in them Mithras attended by Attis. They prefer to explain the story in Malalas and Tzetzes as a popular legend, which had grown up after the passing of the old Greek or Asiatic mythology." libaniusredux.blogspot.ca/2008/12/charonion-sic.html
www.flickr.com/photos/erimenta/6199919628/
- The famous cave-church of St.s Peter and Paul was closed for "restoration" (how to restore a cave?) and the guard couldn't be bribed. I wasn't too disappointed though as the use of the cave by early Christians is a myth, and it wasn't given to the Christian community for use as a church until the middle ages. It might have been used as a temple or shrine for pagan worship, but it was no place for early Christians to worship in secret and in peace right near the centre of the ancient city, and no reference was made to it in ancient sources while other long-gone Byzantine churches were well known. Ruins of a famous cathedral built in Justinian's time were visible until just a few centuries ago. My cynical theory as to why the cave-church has been closed (and will be for 10 more months I was told) is to discourage tourist groups and pilgrims from visiting Antakya for the time being and near future, until the messy business of overthrowing Assad and installing a compliant, western-client government is wrapped up.
www.google.ca/maps/place/Cehennem+Kay%C4%B1k%C3%A7%C4%B1s...
Nov 12 - 'The Charonion ' (3rd cent. BC), thought to be Charon, boatman of the river Styx, or possibly Mithras (the face from neck to brow is @ 2 m.s), Mt. Staurion, Antakya (ancient Antioch)
Thought to be Charon, boatman on the river Styx of Greek legend who would ferry souls to Hades, like an ancient grim reaper. www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3453012969/ "Carved in the mountainside above Antioch [handy to the cave-church of St. Peter], this dates from the Seleucid era and the reign of King Antiochus (200s B.C.)... On his right shoulder stands a smaller draped figure which appears to wear a calathus, a lily-shaped basket of a type carried in processions in honour of Demeter... According to the 6th cent. chronicler Malalas, the Charonion was carved in an attempt to save Antioch from a plague. After many people had perished from the illness, a seer named Leios commanded that a great "mask" be carved out of the mountain overlooking the city, "and inscribing something on it he put an end to the pestilential death. This mask the people of Antioch call the Charonion." No inscription is visible, but the sculpture has been badly weathered, or damaged. The name Charonion may be a clue that the carving represents a deity of the underworld who needed to be appeased to bring to an end the plague that had sent so many souls to Charon." www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/antioch-charonion.htm
- "It has been pointed out by several commentators that Charon cannot be beardless, that the two figures must belong together, that they're in a necropolis, and hence prefer to see in them Mithras attended by Attis. They prefer to explain the story in Malalas and Tzetzes as a popular legend, which had grown up after the passing of the old Greek or Asiatic mythology." libaniusredux.blogspot.ca/2008/12/charonion-sic.html
www.flickr.com/photos/erimenta/6199919628/
- The famous cave-church of St.s Peter and Paul was closed for "restoration" (how to restore a cave?) and the guard couldn't be bribed. I wasn't too disappointed though as the use of the cave by early Christians is a myth, and it wasn't given to the Christian community for use as a church until the middle ages. It might have been used as a temple or shrine for pagan worship, but it was no place for early Christians to worship in secret and in peace right near the centre of the ancient city, and no reference was made to it in ancient sources while other long-gone Byzantine churches were well known. Ruins of a famous cathedral built in Justinian's time were visible until just a few centuries ago. My cynical theory as to why the cave-church has been closed (and will be for 10 more months I was told) is to discourage tourist groups and pilgrims from visiting Antakya for the time being and near future, until the messy business of overthrowing Assad and installing a compliant, western-client government is wrapped up.
www.google.ca/maps/place/Cehennem+Kay%C4%B1k%C3%A7%C4%B1s...