Ludzie pragną czasami się rozstawać, żeby móc tęsknić, czekać i cieszyć się z powrotem.
Even on pictures of little Jesus. Color red was very good color for any amulet. Defensive function.
Moyra – goddess of the fate – Moira, modern: Mira.
Ancient Moira 1 or 3 godesses of fate, modern: fairy godmothers, goddesses of fate, Italian fata, French fée, English fairy.
They decided the future.
People used to put wine and cookies on the table and the Moira could eat and drink it. So it be benevable to the child.
Richard and Eva Blum: Dangerous Hour. The Lore of Crisis and Mystery in Rural Greece, London 1970.
Nereids
ancient: nymph, dryas, nereid.
Leo Allatius: naragidas [narahidas], kalai arkhontissai (=beautiful ladies). Modern: Naraidas, Nereid.
[= rusałka, aes sidhe, elves]
Nereids are all the nymphs and dryas and every in modern ages. This name survived.
„Beautiful ladies” - such creatures were always dangerous.
It's difficult to tell what difference is between modern and ancient nereids. In case of fairies – in the tales are kind, in the 'reality' are dangerous. About nereids there's nothing but fairytales, no idea what Greeks thought about them. Probably they're more dangerous than in the ancients tales.
Few stories about abductions by nymphs (ancient). E.g. took into the spring, so people died.
Sometimes when children died, people thought child was too pretty and it was taken by nymph.
Ilness was atributed to the nymphs ---> nimpholiptos – got / stroke by the nymphs. If you see the nymph, you will be frightened and you may die because of it.
Survivals from imperial era and late antiquity:
extraordinary dead:
ancient: aoros, biothanatos, ataphos
modern: the same + unbaptized + excommunicated by church
Children born on religious festivals.
Concept of dragon – ancient – Greek mythology full of dragons – huge snake (giant one) –
connected to the earth – their mother was Gaya – Mother Earth – dragon lived in dealphy. Modern dragon has few characteristics that it hadn't in ancient. Dragon with 7 heads – comes from the Roman period, antiquity but not from the classical age of the Greeks. Favourite activites of dragons: treasures and maidens. They collected treasures – ancient originity but no ancient stories. Eating maidens – few stories from Pausanias – Roman age – sometimes they ate young men too. Stories about sb who had to save the maiden. A lot of homosexual stories about the young men saving another young man... 6th or 7th century --> Hungarian fairytales – dragon had many heads and sometimes appeared in the human form. Kinapped maidens not to eat, but to marry them. St. John of Damaskos – wrote a short essay about dragons not kidnapping women and being only snakes. He shows how people imagined dragons. Dragons with human form and marrying women – very popular.
The witch – figure of the witch – widespread in the Roman era, latin: saga [means wise woman], we don't have the real Greek form. Thessalia – northern part of Greece was the home of witches.
Word striga – origin? - it isn't old... 5th, 6th cent. Meant witch. Striga was most frequently used word for the witches before the 10th cent. They were called malefica (latin, woman who do something wrong/evil). Independent because before 10th cent. Church didn't believe in witches.
Sometimes innocent women accused by villagers, nothing special for church. High born people started to believe witches. Changing their appearance and so. Developement was not absolutely independent. Striga – it seems it was latin word. Witches survived.
Innovations: early modern age, modern age --> totally different system.