Carla ionescu dissertation manuscript

“THE ENDURING GODDESS: Artemis and Mary, Mother of Jesus” Carla Ionescu A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HUMANITIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO May 2016 © Carla Ionescu, 2016 ii Abstract: Tradition states that the most popular Olympian deities are Apollo, Athena, Zeus and Dionysius. These divinities played key roles in the communal, political and ritual development of the Greco-Roman world. This work suggests that this deeply entrenched scholarly tradition is fissured with misunderstandings of Greek and Ephesian popular culture, and provides evidence that clearly suggests Artemis is the most prevalent and influential goddess of the Mediterranean, with roots embedded in the community and culture of this area that can be traced further back in time than even the arrival of the Greeks. In fact, Artemis’ reign is so fundamental to the cultural identity of her worshippers that even when facing the onslaught of early Christianity, she could not be deposed.

Instead, she survived the conquering of this new religion under the guise of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Using methods of narrative analysis, as well as review of archeological findings, this work demonstrates that the customs devoted to the worship of Artemis were fundamental to the civic identity of her followers, particularly in the city of Ephesus in which Artemis reigned not only as Queen of Heaven, but also as Mother, Healer and Saviour. Reverence for her was as so deeply entrenched in the community of this city, that after her temple was destroyed, and Christian churches were built on top of her sacred places, her citizens brought forward the only female character in the new ruling religion of Christianity, the Virgin Mary, and re-named her Theotokos, Mother of God, within its city walls. The fundamental position of this work is that a fusion took place between the ancient worship of Artemis in Ephesus, and the elevation of Mary to Theotokos, and that this fusion is not a result of the church-initiated action to convert the Ephesians, but rather the Ephesians forcing the early church to accommodate their traditions of Artemis by reshaping and reinterpreting the authority and responsibilities of the Virgin Mary.

iii Acknowledgments I would never have been able to finish my dissertation without the guidance of my committee members, help from friends, and support from my family. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Professor Barrie Wilson, for his excellent guidance, encouragement, patience, and providing me with constant motivation and inspiration for continuing my research. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Ph. A special thank you to Professor Becky Lee for patiently, and meticulously, correcting my writing, as well as continuously asking the hard questions which inspired me to detail my research with various perspectives.

I would also like to thank the third member of my thesis committee, Professor Joan Gibson, for her insightful comments and patient encouragement. Special thank you to Michelle Murray, Dean, Bishop’s University for her careful reading of the manuscript and for her helpful and gracious comments. Thank you to my colleagues, Gurbir Singh, Catherine Legault, and Francesca D’Angelo, who were always willing to help, give their best suggestions, and constantly encouraged me to get back to writing! Completing this work would not have been possible without their help. Finally, a great big thank you goes out to my parents, my husband and my amazing children.

Their constant encouragement, as well as financial and emotional support, allowed me to take the time to complete my research and achieve my academic goals. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract.iii Table of Contents.iv List of Illustrations.1 Chapter One: THE EARLY ARTEMIS: GODDESS OF TRANSITIONS. The Evolution of the Religion of Artemis……………………………………………. From Egypt to Greece: The Egyptian Transformation of Artemis Agrotera.

Minoan Traditions: Artemis as the Mistress of Animals…………………………………. The Embodiment of Duality: Representations of Artemis in Greek Ritual…………. Artemis Despoine: Mistress of Mysteries…………………………………………………. Goddess of Transitions: A Conclusion……………………………………………………….57 Chapter Two: ARTEMIS EPHESIA: THE PEOPLE’S GODDESS.

Ephesus: Origin and Geography………………………………………………………………60 2. Artemis Ephesia: Goddess of the First Throne………………………………………………. Processions, Rituals and Beliefs………………………………………………………………87 4.98 Chapter Three: THE VIRGIN MARY: A NEW CULT ON THE HORIZON. Mary: A Girl Like Any Other.

Infancy Gospel of James: The Virgin Brings Salvation. Conclusions: The Significance of Belief in Canonical Tradition.140 Chapter Four: THEOTOKOS: THE CITY OF GODDESSES. The Tradition of Mary in Ephesus…………………………………………………. The Council of Ephesus……………………………………………………………….

Theotokos: A Conclusion……………………………………………………………………185 Chapter Five: THE ENDURING GODDESS: A PROCESS OF FUSION………. A Synthesis of Life Narratives and Mythology…………………………………. The Importance of Titles and Roles in Successful Fusion………………………. Changing of the Gods: A Conclusion of Fusion…………………………………………….235 v List of Illustrations Fig.

1: Representation of the goddess Artemis Orthia in the usual stance of Potnia Theron on an archaic ivory votive offering, (National Archaeological Museum of Athens)………………………………………………………………………25 Fig. 2: Artemis, Demeter, Veil of Despoina, Anytus, Tritoness from the throne. Elements are from the cult sculptural group in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens………………………………55 Fig. 3: Black Artemis Ephesia, Capitoline Museum, Rome…………………………………….

Map of Ephesos Archeological Sites………………………………………. 5: Artemis (Diana) Ephesia, National Archeological Museum, Naples, Italy…………………………………………………. 6: The Virgin of Montserrat, Monserrat Shrine, Spain……………………………………. National Archeological Museum, Naples, Italy…………………………………………………………………………….

8: Coins of Ephesus often show the Bee and Stag, emblems of Artemis Ephesia. These date to around 300 B. Ephesus City – Mediterranean Sea Map 2. Aegean Region of Turkey 2 Map 3.

Ephesus: Excavation Site Map 4. Ephesus: Excavation Site, Artemession 3 THE ENDURING GODDESS Now is come the last age of the Cumaean prophecy: The great cycle of periods is born anew. Now returns the [Virgin]… Now from high heaven a new generation comes down. - Virgil Fourth Eclogue (4-7) INTRODUCTION I came across Artemis Ephesia in an undergraduate biblical studies class.

I was working on a paper about the worship of Greek deities in the broader Mediterranean area and stumbled upon a picture of her unique statue in Ephesus. I remember staring at the photograph trying to reconcile the familiar depiction of her as Mistress of the Hunt in Greek myth, with her being revered as Mother, Healer, and Queen, by the Ephesians. Since that time, I have noticed numerous details from Greek history, archeology and ritual culture, often glimpsed through obscure passages in ancient texts and in the writings of unsuspecting contemporary scholars. I have collected these seemingly random pieces and assembled them here.

Classical Greek historians claim that the most popular Olympian deities are Apollo, Athena, Zeus and Dionysius. Tradition states that these divinities played key roles in the communal, political and ritual development of the Greco-Roman world. My research shows that this deeply entrenched scholarly tradition is fissured with misunderstandings of Greek and Ephesian popular culture. In this work I provide evidence that clearly suggests that Artemis is the most prevalent and influential goddess of the Mediterranean, with roots embedded in the 4 community and culture of this area that can be traced further back in time than even the arrival of the Greeks.

In fact, Artemis’ reign is so fundamental to the cultural identity of her worshippers that even when facing the onslaught of early Christianity, she could not be deposed. Instead, she survived the conquering of this new religion under the guise of Mary, Mother of Jesus. This work demonstrates that the customs devoted to the worship of Artemis were fundamental to the civic identity of her followers, particularly in the city of Ephesus in which Artemis reigned not only as Queen of Heaven, but also as Mother, Healer and Saviour. Reverence for her was so deeply entrenched in the community of this city, that after her temple was destroyed, and Christian churches were built on top of her sacred places, her citizens brought forward the only female character in the new ruling religion of Christianity, the Virgin Mary, and re-named her Theotokos, Mother of God, within its city walls.

The fundamental position of this work is that a fusion took place between the ancient worship of Artemis in Ephesus, and the elevation of Mary to Theotokos, and that this fusion is not a result of the church initiated action to convert the Ephesians, but rather the Ephesians forcing the early church to accommodate their traditions of Artemis by reshaping and reinterpreting the authority and responsibilities of the Virgin Mary. This finding has strategic implications. Paul’s attempt to replace the Ephesian Goddess with a male deity, the Christ, was found wanting. Rather, early Christianity was pressured by popular devotion into accepting both a Goddess and a God.

The strategy of confrontation was 5 replaced by one of accommodation, the clear result of popular demand by the laity. It also testifies to the enduring power of the feminine within religious practice and belief.1 A SURVEY OF LITERATURE It was extremely difficult to dig through scholarly works on archaic Greek ritual and myth only to find that Artemis had been largely ignored and set aside as a young virgin girl who loves animals and the hunt. While Homer and Herodotus did nothing to convey the influence of Artemis in Greek culture, Pausanias (c. 110-180) was able to illuminate the complexities and plethora of her worship and temples.

I spent many hours tracing Pausanias’ footsteps and noting every corner, seaside, and city where a temple to Artemis was found. Pausanias cites dozens of such sites, many of which still exist today as one drives around the Peloponnesus. Numerous other primary sources were consulted in the hope of piecing together the earliest worship of Artemis and her etiology. Aeschylus, Hesiod, and Callimachus are some of the foundational primary texts when looking at the tradition of the Greek Artemis.

Their writings are mostly analyzed in Chapter One and Two, and used to establish the mythological position of Artemis in 1 For the purpose of this work the sources and discussion presented here are based on Early Christian and Greco-Roman representations of the divine feminine. Jewish traditions regarding the feminine divine during this time period, e. the concept of shekhina, the feminine presence of God that dwells in Israel, is reflected in rabbinic writings (e. These writings address a manifestation of the feminine-masculine relationship expressed in the connections between Asherah and Yahweh, or Wisdom (hochmah, which is feminine) and Yahweh.

Although the context of Early Christian mythology is based in Jewish traditions, and Mary was a Jewish woman, the narrative analysed in this work shows that Early Christian authority, as well as the Ephesians of this time, did not explicitly discuss or debate Judaic elements. 6 the Greek pantheon. However, it is Pausanias’ records of Artemis at Ephesus that provide reference to the pre-Greek traditions of this area. During the course of this research I have come across numerous artifacts describing the authority, influence and widespread worship of Artemis, that it is truly surprising no one has put them together before.

This collection of data identifies Artemis as Parthenogenetic Mother, Virgin, Saviour, Healer of all, and the Queen of life and death. The stories and ritual practices of the cult of Artemis all over the Mediterranean are often dismissed as remnants of mythology; however, I find it difficult to believe that this is fiction, alone, and argue that they point to something more important about the actual beliefs and rites of those who worshiped, and fought for her, despite the repeated conquering of new cultures and religions. While primary sources were used to identify the remnants of worship in the ancient period, secondary scholarship was consulted in order to contextualize this material. Early scholarship such as the work of Maria Gimbutas, Elinor Gadon, Rianne Eisler and Rosemary Radford Ruether were foundational in addressing the archaeological and anthropological debates about the position of female deities in the Neolithic period.

Many of the goddesses described in these texts are now viewed as archetypical and can be observed throughout history and into modern culture.