Category Archives: Britomartis

Ancient Religious Mysteries

Posted on by
Reply

In A Murder of Furies, Martis undergoes an initiation in order to embark upon several quests.

Although I imagined most of what Martis endures, I read widely about the ancient mysteries, particularly about Dionysus and Artemis. Both are very old Gods and it is believed both were present in the pantheon of Bronze Age Crete. Because these were mysteries, known only to the initiated, not much was known about either.

However, we can make some educated guesses.

Since Dionysus was the God of wine, ecstasy, and music, it is thought his rites involved all three. (Both wine and hallucinogenics, as well as sex , dancing and singing.) The following is a quote from The Bacchae by Euripides.

“Following the torches as they dipped and swayed in the darkness, they climbed mountain paths with head thrown back and eyes glazed, dancing to the beat of the drum which stirred their blood’ ‘In this state of ekstasis or enthusiasmos, they abandoned themselves, dancing wildly and shouting ‘Euoi!’ [the god’s name] and at that moment of intense rapture became identified with the god himself. They became filled with his spirit and acquired divine powers.

Dionysus predates the Olympian pantheon so this wild release is wholly different from the cool logic of an Athena or measured behavior of Apollo.

The other God, or Goddess in this case, that I researched was Artemis. Her great temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Like Dionysus, she is thought to be of pre-Greek origin, a goddess in her own right, before the Classical Greeks tied her to Zeus and put her in with their Olympic Gods. In Minoan Crete, there was a link between a goddess Britomartis and Artemis. Both were hunters, nurturers of the young, and virgins. In both cases, the bear was sacred to them. (In Murder of Furies, I begin with a ceremony in which little girls dress as bears, a ceremony also described as occurring in Classical Athens.

In both cases, we know very little of the mysteries involving their rites. (No one talked, apparently.) My takeaway, though, was that the initiations involved a transformation into someone different and that is what I tried to convey with Martis (whose name I adapted from Britomartis. I will add that the initiation was as difficult as the final quest itself.

Minoan Tea

Posted on by

One of the reviewers for On the Horns of Death commented on the fact Martis and her mother, as well as other women in the mystery, drink tea. She questioned whether this might be an anachronism.

In fact, I was not thinking of the teas we get from India and China but instead of an herbal tea made from herbs well known in Crete.

Both sage and dittany were known then. Dittany is an herb that has been used for centuries, right down to early America, as a medicinal plant. A potent and fragrant herb related to oregano, the name comes from Mount Dikte in Crete. And, of course, one of the names for Britomartis, the maiden in the Cretan pantheon, is Diktynna. It is marketed now as a tea called Dictamnus.

Sage is another herb we believe was known and used in ancient times. We use it primarily as a culinary herb but, like oregano today, it also was used as ritually and as a medicine.

Finally, an herb that is marketed as an herbal tea today is malotira. This herb grows at high altitudes on Crete and is valued for its medicinal properties. It is commonly used to treat respiratory illness and digestive problems as well as skin irritation. It has anti-inflammation, anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties.

When I described Martis and company drinking tea, I was visualizing an herbal concoction. Maybe one of the herbs alone, maybe a combination

More about Artemis

Posted on by

Further proof that Artemis is linked with the Minoan Cretan hunting Goddess Britomartis (or Diktynna which means of the nets.) By the 5th century B.C, this goddess had been completely assimilated into Artemis.

Britomartis, whose name means sweet maiden, was said to have invented hunting nets. This is thought to be one reason she was also called Diktynna. And yes, I took Martis from her name as the name of my main character in the Bronze Age Crete series.

In one of the myths, Britomartis jumps into the sea to escape King Minos and his lust. Fishermen hid her in their nets (an alternate reason for the name Diktynna.)

Am I the only one appalled by the constant stories of rape of all the women in the myths? It does make Artemis’s reaction to the men who watched her or pursued her – frequently death – a little more understandable.