ON THE WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS AND LOCAL SPIRITS IN CLASSICAL POLYTHEISM
by Jeremy J. Baer

I see the Olympian pantheon as the same, for the most part, between its Roman and Greek conceptions, though obviously there are a few differences in cultural perceptions.   I view Hellenic polytheism and Roman polytheism as highly related religions with significant overlap in the gods they worship.  At last one scholar, James Rives, studies both as different ends of the same continuum rather than completely separate religions.   I have studied both religions; I feel comfortable enough in both systems that I have associated with both Hellenic and Roman communities without losing a beat between either. 

 

To me, "classical polytheism"  is a nice generic term for people who honor the Olympians, whether through Roman or Hellenic rites.  What makes a classical polytheist?   My own personal definition is: the worship of the classical gods in a manner that draws inspiration from classical sources (i.e., as opposed to Wicca and other modern occult movements).  The Romans sacrificed with their heads covered; the Greeks with their heads uncovered (though often they wore wreathes of laurel or other foliage).  The Romans organized their priestly officials into communal colleges, while in Greece there was usually one priestly official per temple.   Other than those two points, the two religions were significantly alike in certain presumptions and practices concerning religion, even before increasing Greek influence on Italy.   Followers of Apollo are doubly lucky; the cult was imported into Rome directly from Greece, complete with Greek rites!

 

While the gods are arguably the most important aspect of the religion(s), they are not the only part.   As with most other Indo-European  religions, there are two other foci of worship:  the ancestors and the local spirits.   This is where the two religions really differ.  

 

The Greeks honored their familial dead at their tombs with offerings.  This was usually accomplished toward the end of the lunar month and at certain festivals.   Deceased local notables might receive worship from the entire community if they were thought to be posthumous benefactors of the community; these were called Heroes.  Finally, Greek religion allowed for many types of local spirits, collectively called nymphs, who were honored with offerings in the rural settings in which they were thought to reside. 

 

For the Romans, things were a little different.   The dead were aggregated into collective deified spirits called Dii Manes.   Of Dii Manes there were two types: the Lares and the Larvae. The former were spirits who were helpful it they were propitiated; the latter were harmful entities who had to be averted with a  special festival.  Every family was thought to have its own Lar which it honored in its home; but every street corner or crossroads had a Lar as well where it was honored by local clubs or magistrates.   The Roman family also honored vaguely defined household spirits called Penates.  There were also the genii loci, the ill defined embodiment of a particular location, where altars were set up.  Worship of these forces was instrumental in Roman domestic religion; but the Romans themselves sometimes seems confused as to the exact difference between the Lares, Penates and genii loci. 

 

Therefore what really separates Hellenic and Roman religions is how local and familial entities were conceptualized and honored.   For some people, in both the ancient and modern worlds, the worship of familial and local entities may very well take precedence over worship of the major gods.  After all, theoretically one's ancestors and local spirits are a lot closer to the human level than distant and powerful gods of the cosmos.  Greek worship of the nymphs, in fact, survived in rural places until fairly recently.  Some people would say that the worship of the Saints in high Christian churches is a Christian echo of ancestor worship or Hero worship from pagan times.  

 

For other people, worship of ancestors and local spirits may not only be less important than the gods, it may be questionable.

 

Many people these days unfortunately hail from dysfunctional family structures.  They may not be especially inclined to honor people that were considered negligent or abusive.   I have met many people who see Greeks and Romans as their cultural ancestors, and revere them in lieu of actual biological ancestors.  To them ancestor worship means studying, appreciating and internalizing the great achievement of the classical world.  It may mean ritualistic honoring of notables from the ancient world: Roman emperors, Hellenistic god-kings, Athenian statesmen and philosophers.  

 

Other people may love their ancestors, but object to honoring them in a pagan fashion if those ancestors were not themselves pagan, or they may object to honoring them in a Greek or Roman fashion if their ancestors did not derive from those cultures.  Thus they honor their ancestors with whatever religious and cultural paradigm they find most condign.

 

As to local spirits, some people have raised objections to honoring local spirits outside of Europe with European rites.  If you live in North America  or Australia,  it is asked, would not one better approach local spirits from more indigenous methods than those known to Hellenes and Romans?   Rather than lighting incense to a genius loci or pouring a libation of wine for a nymph, would a local spirit in North America be better served with cornmeal and tobacco?

 

My response to the above is that what people do, or not do, for their own familial dead and local spirits is between them and the powers concerned.   Every family has to worship its own dead (or not) as it sees fit.  Every region has to worship its own local spirits (or not) as it sees proper. 

 

In my own practice, ancestors and local spirits receive minimal attention at best.   The former don't inspire my loyalties, and the latter seem to kep their distance.    My own practice centers around the deities - and then only a few deities at that!

 

Unlike ancestors and local spirits, the gods of Olympus are eternal and universal.   They are what unite us as classical polytheists, and our literate ancestors thoughtfully left us enough information to get a good idea of how to approach them.