Tag Archives: Kômos

Musings on the Origins of Christmas

22 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Angels, Comedy, Feasts

≈ 12 Comments

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Donatello, Circle of Italian, 1386/7-1466 The Nativity, c. 1465 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Christmas: the winter solstice

The Roman Saturnalia

As we have seen in earlier posts, Christmas occurs on the day of the longest night or near the day of the longest night, the winter solstice (usually Dec. 21 or 22). This must have seemed unnatural in Greco-Roman antiquity.

In pre-Christian Rome, the longest night was celebrated by a reversal of roles. During the Roman Saturnalia, the slave was the master and the master, the slave. I suspect the ethnicity of slaves was the same as that of the slave owners.

Column krater with a komos and three maenads

Column krater with a komos and three maenads, Walters Museum of Art (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Greek Kōmos

Red figure and black-figure pottery – kylix – amphora – Maenads – Bacchus– phallic symbols

As for the Greeks, their celebration of the longest night was the Kōmos or comus, a drunken and disorderly procession, hence a reversal, order being the norm.[1] The revelers were called komast or kōmastaí. We have inherited magnificent red-figure and black-figure pottery depicting the Kōmos: the krater, the kylix (a rounded drinking bowl), amphoras and other vases or containers. Featured above is a krater, but that particular photograph does not show three Maenads, the wild female followers of Dionysus, or Bacchus, in Roman mythology. However, the image is described as portraying a Kōmos. Below is an amphora clearly depicting a Kōmos.

1280px-Komos_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_1432

Kōmos scene, Attic black-figure amphora, ca. 560 BCE, Staatliche Antikensammlungen (Inv. 1432) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Birth of Comedy

The Kōmos – the agōn– satyrs – Phallic symbols

Interestingly, the Greek Kōmos, the drunken and disorderly procession mentioned above, developed “into Greek Old comedy of the Dionysian festival in the 6th century BCE.” (See Kōmos, Wikipedia.) Satyrs are associated with satires. There exist other theories concerning the origin of comedy, but etymology points to a relationship, not only between Satyrs and satires, but also between the Kōmos and comedy.

Our best examples of Greek Old Comedy are the comedies of Greek playwright Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BCE)[2]. These feature an agōn,[3] which is, at times, a formal debate, but, at other times, a sham struggle usually opposing a young man and an old man. The old man could regain his youth and win the contest, but the more likely outcome of the agōn was the victory of the young man over the old man. The Kōmos is in fact a fertility ritual demanding a renewal. In the Old comedy of the ancients, even if a woman had not participated in the agōn, she suddenly appeared and a “marriage” was celebrated. Phallic symbols were used (See the image below, red-figure pottery).

 
Satyr, Colmar Painter

Satyr, by Colmar Painter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Greek Old comedy – Middle Comedy – New Comedy

Ancient Greek comedy is divided into the three above-named periods. The plays of Aristophanes belong to the Old Comedy of ancient Greece. My favourite is Lysistrata (411 BCE), a play in which women deny men sexual privileges until they end the war, the Peloponnesian War (c. 431 BCE – 404 BC). Lysistrata is an ancient expression of our “make love, not war” and the women’s refusal to engage in sexual intercourse is a threat to the outcome of the comedy, comedies being a fertility ritual. Eleven of Aristophanes’ comedies have survived.

untitled

Lysistrata (Photo credit: Google Images)

Old Comedy was followed by Middle Comedy (Antiphanes and Alexis, mainly) and New Comedy, the comedies of Menander (c. 341/ 42 – c. 290 BCE), its most important representative. Menander’s comedies were written shortly before the “Roman” comedies of Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BCE) and Terence (c. 195/185 – c. 159 BCE).  According to Britannica, “[t]he Roman predecessors of Plautus in both tragedy and comedy borrowed most of their plots and all of their dramatic techniques from Greece.”[4] In other words, given that Plautus and Terence used techniques borrowed from Greek New Comedy, they may be ancestors to dramatists Shakespeare and Molière, but Greece is the primary source.

It remains, moreover, that the contest between the alazṓn and an eirôn, who are stock characters, took place in Old Comedy. It resembles the agōn. We know the alazṓn opposes the marriage of a young couple. The young lovers, often helped by a supporter or supporters, the eirôn, are able to overcome obstacles to their marriage. The blocking-character, or alazṓn, is defeated. So, if all is well that ends well, Greece seems the fountainhead.

Comedy has not changed significantly over the centuries, not to say millennia.

“Eos is the iconic original from which Christian angels were imagined, for no images were available from the Hebrew tradition, and the Persian angels were unknown in the West.” The image featured above is therefore precious. Eos, a Titaness, is the Greek Goddess of dawn, a counterpart to Rome’s Aurora. Eos’ brother is Helios, god of the sun, and her sister is Selene, goddess of the moon. (See Eos, Wikipedia.)

(See: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Eos.html.)

Conclusion

The Beatitudes – the Sermon on the Mount – the New Testament

Christmas is therefore rooted in the Roman Saturnalia and the Kōmos. Seasons and human nature dictated festivities on the day of the longest day, Midsummer Day (June 20-21) and on days when night and day were of equal duration, the equinoctial points. Hence a degree of commonality between the raucous Kōmos and Christmas. For Christians, Midnight Mass and the réveillon, a copious and festive meal served, in Quebec, after, not before, Midnight Mass are a reversal. (See Réveillon, Wikipedia.)

Given that Jesus spoke in parables, the “kingdom of heaven” may be metaphorical. Yet, the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes in particular, teach a new order. It promotes compassion and honours the humble, the meek, the just, the merciful, the pure, and the peace makers. (See Matthew 5 – 7.) The New Testament is therefore a reversal, but on many occasions Christians have not or would not listen. Judas betrayed Jesus of Nazareth.

Let us end this post, by noting that the longest night heralds the gradual return of light. Light is the norm. But were it not for darkness, light would have no meaning.

RELATED ARTICLES

Sources and Resources

My kindest regards to all of you and very best wishes for the New Year. I have been too unwell to write, but I hope it will simply pass. I wish you a very happy New Year. 

_________________________

[1] See Theodore H. Gaster (ed) Francis Macdonald Cornford, The Origin of Attic Comedy (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1961 [1914]).

[2] “Aristophanes”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 28 dec.. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34467/Aristophanes>.

[3] As in protagonist, antagonist, agony and in other words.

[4] “Plautus”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 27 déc.. 2014
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/464334/Plautus/5775/Approach-to-drama>.

© Micheline Walker
22 December 2014
WordPress

The Four Seasons: from Darkness into Light

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Feasts, Music

≈ 6 Comments

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Satyr with pipe and a pipe case (Attic red-figure plate, 520–500 BC, from Vulci, Etruria

Satyr with pipe and a pipe case (Attic red-figure plate, 520–500 BCE, from Vulci, Etruria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

From time immemorial, seasons, or more precisely, darkness and light, have determined the days on which humankind placed its festivities, regardless of cultures and religions.  In fact, nature has always prevailed, bestowing unity upon diversity. And it most certainly dictated the moment when festivities were held.

The Solstices

The Winter solstice (December 21/22 for the Northern Hemisphere; June 20/21, for the Southern Hemisphere)

Humankind has always celebrated the longest night and the longest day.  In ancient Greece, comedies and satires were associated with the winter solstice:  Kômos, or Cômos, and Satyrs.  And in the Rome of Antiquity,  Saturnaliæ occurred on the day of the longest night.  On that day, the universe was upside down.  Therefore, in certain cultures, the master was suddenly slave.  In more ancient cultures, an old king was replaced and, at times, sacrificed, so a new king could be enthroned.  The old king was the pharmakos or scapegoat.

Judaism placed Hanukkah very close to the longest night of the year as did Christianity.  In fact, Christianity celebrated the twelve days Christmas.  In the Western Church, Christmas, the birth of Christ, has been celebrated on December 25th, but in the Eastern Church, January 6th, Epiphany, is the day on which the birth of Christ has been celebrated.

—ooo—

When Julius Cæsar established his calendar (the Julian Calendar), in 45 CE, he situated the winter solstice on December 25th, but in time, Christmas was celebrated several days before December 25th.  See Winter solstice.  Consequently, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (the Gregorian Calendar) brought the winter solstice back to December 22nd and, as per the directives of Council of Nicaea of 325, in the Western Church, Christmas has since been celebrated on December 25th and twelve days later in the Eastern Church.

Cæsar fixed the Spring (vernal) equinox on March 25th, but that was also changed at the Council of Nicaea.  In Western cultures, we use the Gregorian calendar which is based on the determinations of the Council of Nicaea.

  • The Summer  Solstice (June 20/21, for the northern hemisphere; December 21/22, for the Southern Hemisphere)

As for the longest day, for Christians, it is la Saint-Jean, St John’s Day, and various other feasts.

Ring Sundial

The Equinoxes, or equinoctial points

  • The Vernal Equinox (March 20/21, for the Northern Hemisphere; September 22/23, in the Southern Hemisphere)

The day on which darkness and light are of more or less equal length (equi =equal), Judaism celebrates Passover and Christians, Easter.  Easter is the day of the resurrection of Christ.  Consequently, the night before Easter Sunday, a mass is celebrated during which the Church is momentarily in complete darkness and gradually lit a candle at a time.  In earlier days, a lamb was sacrificed: the sacrificial lamb.

As for the Autumnal equinox, it is the Judaic Rosh Hashanah.  In Christianity, the day is marked by la Saint-Michel, on September 29th or the now nearly-forgotten Michaelmas.  In the Roman Catholic Church, Michael is one of three archangels, the other two are Gabriel (March 24th) and Raphael (October 24th).  But Christianity also has its archangel of death, or Esdras, the “avenging angel,” or archangel of death, named Azrael in Hebrew culture.

In Islamic culture, the four archangels are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Azrael.  There are slight variations in the spelling of Azrael, variations that are consistent with national languages.  The Greek Orthodox Church honours the archangels on November 8th.

The solstices and the equinoxes do not occur on a fixed and permanent day.  However, nations have situated official feasts on fixed dates.

—ooo—

For the moment, my purpose is

  • first to provide a concise background for liturgical and secular Books of Hours.  Liturgical “Books of Hours” are, among other texts, the Breviary and the Liber Usualis.  Moreover Benedictine monks and other monks observe the Canonical Hours during which psalms are recited.  Secular “Books of Hours,” such as Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry, are exquisitely-decorated books, books with illuminations or enluminures.  As we have seen, Bestiaries are also richly-decorated manuscripts, a pleasure to the eye.
  • Second, it seemed important to write about humanity’s universal observance of feasts that are embedded in the seasons, or in the degree of darkness and light.  Nature is the template.

In short, seasons and feasts correspond to natural phenomena, i. e. the degree of darkness and light.  All cultures have let the cycles of nature dictate the dates of their feasts and, as strange as this may seem, our ordinary calendars are a cultural monument.  They resemble “Books of Hours” and, generally, they are illustrated or “illuminated.”

In other words, as humankind progressed through milennia, it amassed traditions we must never forget.  They shape our lives and inhabit the imagination of all human beings, and they cross every border.

—ooo—

For information on ancient practices perpetuated through religious rituals, tales, and literature in general, one’s best source is Sir James George Frazer’s (1 January 1854, Glasgow – 7 May 1941, Cambridge) The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic and Religion, published between 1890 and 1915.  The Golden Bough is a Project Gutenberg‘s publication.

composer: Antonio Vivaldi  (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741)
piece: The Seasons, Winter 
performers: Dénes Kovács
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Sand animation film – Ferenc Cakó
 
Satyr pursuing a nymph, on a Roman mosaic

Satyr pursuing a nymph, on a Roman mosaic

© Micheline Walker
5 December 2012
WordPress

 

The Four Seasons: from Darkness into Light

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Angels, Antiquity, Feasts, Sharing

≈ Comments Off on The Four Seasons: from Darkness into Light

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

 

Running Warrior, by Colmar Painter

Running Warrior by Colmar painter

From time immemorial, seasons, or more precisely, darkness and light, have determined the days on which humankind placed its festivities, regardless of cultures and religions.  In fact, nature has always prevailed, bestowing unity upon diversity.  And it most certainly dictated the moments when festivities were held.

The Solstices

The Winter solstice (December 21/22 for the Northern Hemisphere; June 20/21, for the Southern Hemisphere)

Humankind has always celebrated the longest night and the longest day.  In ancient Greece, comedies and satires were associated with the winter solstice:  Kômos, or Cômos, and Satyrs.  And in the Rome of antiquity, Saturnaliæ occurred on the day of the longest night.  On that day, the universe was upside down.  Therefore, in certain cultures, the master was suddenly slave.  In more ancient cultures, an old king was replaced and, at times, sacrificed, so a new king could be enthroned.  The old king was the pharmakos or scapegoat.

Judaism placed Hanukkah very close to the longest night as did Christianity.  In fact, Christianity celebrated the twelve days Christmas.  In the Western Church, Christmas, the birth of Christ, has been celebrated on December 25th, but in the Eastern Church, January 6th, Epiphany, is the day on which the birth of Christ has been celebrated.

—ooo—

Julius Cesar (the Julian Calendar) situated the winter solstice on December 25th, but in time, Christmas was celebrated several days before December 25th.  See Winter solstice.  Consequently, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (the Gregorian Calendar) brought the winter solstice back to December 22nd and, as per the directives of Council of Nicea of 325, in the Western Church, Christmas has since been celebrated on December 25th.

  • The Summer  Solstice (June 20/21, for the northern hemisphere; December 21/22, for the Southern Hemisphere)

As for the longest day, for Christians, it is la Saint-Jean, St John’s Day, and various other feasts.

Ring Sundial

The Equinoxes, or equinoctial points

  • The Vernal Equinox (March 20/21, for the Northern Hemisphere; September 22/23, in the Southern Hemisphere)

The day on which darkness and light are of more or less equal length (equi =equal), Judaism celebrates Passover and Christians, Easter.  Easter is the day of the resurrection of Christ.  Consequently, the night before Easter Sunday, a mass is celebrated during which the Church is momentarily in complete darkness and gradually lit a candle at a time.  In earlier times, a lamb was sacrificed:  the sacrificial lamb.

When Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45 BC, he fixed the Spring equinox on March 25th, but the Council of Nicea of 325 corrected that date.  In Western cultures, we use the Gregorian calendar (Gregory XIII, 1582) which is based on the determinations of the Council of Nicea.

As for the Autumnal equinox, it is the Judaic Rosh Hashanah.  In Christianity, the day is marked by la Saint-Michel, on September 29th or the now nearly-forgotten Michaelmas.  In the Roman Catholic Church, Michael is one of three archangels, the other two are Gabriel (March 24th) and Raphael (October 24th).  But Christianity also has its archangel of death, or Esdras, the “avenging angel,” or archangel of death, named Azrael in Hebrew culture.

In Islamic culture, the four archangels are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Azrael.  There are slight variations in the spelling of Azrael, variations that are consistent with national languages.  The Greek Orthodox Church honours the archangels on November 8th.

The solstices and the equinoxes do not occur on a fixed and permanent day.  However, nations have situated official feasts on fixed dates.

—ooo—

For the moment, my purpose is

  • first to provide a background, vague as it may be, for liturgical and secular Books of Hours.  Liturgical Books of Hours are, among other texts, the Breviary and the Liber Usualis.  Moreover Benedictine monks and other monks observe the Canonical Hours during which psalms are recited.  Secular Books of Hours, such as Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry, are exquisitely-decorated books, books with enluminures or illuminations.  As we have seen, Bestiaries are also richly-decorated manuscripts, a pleasure to the eye.
  • Second, it seemed important to write about humanity’s universal observance of feasts that are embedded in the seasons, or in the degree of darkness and light.  Nature is the template.

In short, seasons and feasts correspond to natural phenomena, i. e. the degree of darkness and light.  All cultures have let the cycles of nature dictate the dates of their feasts and, as trivial as it may seem Calendars are a cultural monument.  They resemble Books of Hours and are, generally, illustrated or “illuminated.”

In other words, as humankind progressed through milennia, it amassed traditions we must never forget.  They shape our lives and inhabit the imagination of all human beings, climbing every mountain and crossing every border.

For information on ancient practices perpetuated through religious rituals, tales, and literature in general, one’s best source is Sir James George Frazer’s (1 January 1854, Glasgow – 7 May 1941, Cambridge) The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic and Religion, published between 1890 and 1915.  The Golden Bough is a Project Gutenberg‘s publication.

Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Winter, Largo

Satyr, Colmar Painter

Satyr, by Colmar painter

© Micheline Walker
15 Novembre 2011
WordPress