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Crossing Pantheons from a Hellenic/Religio Perspective

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    Crossing Pantheons from a Hellenic/Religio Perspective

    Historically foreign cults were absorbed or Hellenized/Romanized on a pretty frequent basis. If a foreign deity was absorbed they were equated with a pre-existing or adopted into the pantheon. The degree to which the deity kept their native identity varied. Examples of foreign cults and equated deities include...

    -Cybele
    -Isis
    -Amon
    -Epona
    -Melkart

    and many many more.

    Would it be acceptable for a modern follower to worship foreign gods?

    Should they worship in a Hellenic/Roman, native or combined way?

    Under what circumstances would it be acceptable to equate deities?

    Obviously, I'd like to hear from Hellenes, but I'd also like to hear from any other trad pagans on the site.

    #2
    Re: Crossing Pantheons from a Hellenic/Religio Perspective

    I would figure, somewhat, that it would depend on the exact origin of the being in question. Take, for example, Cybele or Hekate. Both came from foreign cults of considerable antiquity, but they were from fellow Indo-European cultures. The people of western Asia Minor shared a similar ethno-linguistic background as the Greeks. They were more readily absorbed into the Greek pantheon because, perhaps, the Greeks saw something in them that struck a familiar nerve. Culturally or mythopoetically speaking.
    So a modern Hellenic polytheist might be more readily able to adapt, say, Celtic or Italic figures into their personal practices, than they would figures from the Levant, Mesopotamia, or further East. Egypt's a tricky animal, though, because of how strongly the Greeks and then Romans occupied the region.

    But, I could just be talking out my ass and making too much out of the cultural similarities between various groups based on their languages and some common myth-themes. The long history of interaction between Greek and Near Eastern people might, and in all probability does, trump that.

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