(urth) Soldier: Hegesistratus the Lame Lycanthrope

[Stanislaus]

Friday, April 7, 2006, 7:18:31 PM, you wrote:



> Greeks seem to really dislike Ares, so they tend to ridicule him. He
> hates to lose personally in Homer, but he doesn't care whether the
> side he fight for does win. He likes to switch sides to support the losing side, so that the
> battle is longer.

> Names of Ares and his cult.

> http://theoi.com/Cult/AresTitles.html

> It appears that Spartans worshipped Ares more than other Greeks, if
> not very much. All sacrificed to him before battle, of course.


I found an interesting website about Greek practice of binding
Kolossos - "voodoo dolls".

http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/GP.html

They used to bind even gods in that way:

"Sometimes Kolossoi are used to restrain a dangerous deity, who may
cause harm or is believed to be favoring your enemies. Thus Ares, as
God of slaughter and death on battlefield, may be bound to bring
safety in battle, or to decrease the probability of war.


Protective deities also may be bound to restrain Them from leaving.
...
Ares is sometimes bound in this way as a protector, and, in the
absence of an inscription, it may be difficult to tell whether He
is being bound as a hostile or a friendly force. Perhaps He may be
bound in both aspects at the same time: constrained to stay here
to protect us and prevented from going to the enemy's side. "
 
"Second, Kolossoi can also be used to restrain ghosts and other
Hikesioi Apaktoi (hostile visitants). Again, they cannot be killed
(since they are already dead), but they can be bound. For ghosts
especially, the binding ceremony may follow funerary customs,
and so help to ensure that the ghost is properly laid
and departs for the Land of the Dead.

Third, Kolossoi are used to restrain mortal enemies. Such might either
be a Goes (Sorcerer), who has sent an Eidôlon or Phasma (Phantom)
against someone, or it might be a mundane enemy (e.g. in a lawsuit)."

"An example of this is the yearly binding of Ares for the protection
of the city of Syedra; He is unbound once a year during a period of
general license analogous to the Saturnalia. (This may be symbolized
in the story in Book 5 of the Iliad, where Ares is bound in a
cauldron for thirteen lunar months.) "

"Often the head is twisted backward, or at least extremely far to the left, to cause confusion. It is also common for the feet to be backward, and sometimes the arms or the entire torso. (So Hephaistos is sometimes shown with His feet backward.) In some cases the Kolossos is made with these parts backward, but usually they are made normally and then twisted around.

The figure is often pierced with nails or needles (13 is a popular
number), typically made of iron or bronze, though animal fangs and
other materials may be used. Each nail or needle transfixes some
part of the body representing a faculty, which it thereby paralyzes,
but without destroying it. For example, nails through the eyes, ears
and mouth paralyze cognitive faculties, while one through the heart
might restrain will, and nails through the limbs cause paralysis or loss of strength. "

"The spell may take the form of a prayer to some deities to restrain
the subject; often the Subject is handed over or committed to the
deity (as though being put under arrest) — a wise thing to do,
since then responsibility for the binding resides with the Gods.
Although any God or Goddess might be petitioned, it is particularly
appropriate to appeal to Hermes Katokhos (Restrainer) in the consecration.
Other deities called on for binding are Hermes Khthonios, Ge, Hecate (Khthonia) and
Persephone. "

I would surmise, that Latro is used to bind Ares, as a kind of
miniature or likeness of him. Ge seems to be often used to bind
subjects.

-- 
Best regards,
 Stanislaus                           mailto:sbocian at poczta.fm


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