Machine-assisted translation. The original Russian publication is linked below.
Junior student of Fatum school,
Pilgrim Lines platform "World of Atlantis"
- Raven Borzov
Hello colleagues.
The other day I submitted my essay. During the story, I touched on the topic of the Greek temples of the necromante. Some people were interested in this. As they said before, “by request,” I decided to look a little at this topic. It turned out that even those who visited Greece had not heard of such a landmark. And it’s true, for some reason it is not included in most excursion plans.
And so is the necromantion of Acheron. It was discovered in 1958 by archaeologist Sotirios Dakaris.
It was located under the arches of the sanctuary of Persephone, near the city of Parga. The very toponymy of this place is noteworthy. Three of the five rivers of the kingdom of Hades flow here.
Acheron - it was through this river, according to legend, that Charon transported the souls of dead people
Kokytos - river of lamentations
Pyriphlegethon - River of Fire or River of Boiling Blood
At the place where they flow into Lake Acherusia there is a necromanteion.
It is this place that Circe points out to Odysseus to meet the dead.
This is how Circe describes the location of the ritual:
“You, who have come to the wild shore, will enter Persephone’s grove,
Where poplars grow on the hill and willows worry -
They quickly drop their seeds.
Having pulled his boat ashore where the ocean current swirls,
You will descend into the Dark Kingdom of Hades.
There you will see the River of burning fires and the River of lamentations,
These are the tributaries of the Waters of the underground Styx, and they,
Combining near a sharp high rock,
They pour out their thunderous streams into Acheron.
This, my lord, is the place that I promised to point out...
It is there that the souls of the dead and departed will come,
In countless countless numbers...
In my opinion, a very accurate description of the destination
In the old days, the temple was located on an island in the middle of the lake. Now the rivers have become so shallow that the lake itself has practically disappeared. But let's go back to the times when the necromantion functioned.
Having rummaged through the Internet, I found it difficult to find a scientific reconstruction of the ritual itself that took place in the underground labyrinth.
Those who wanted to communicate with the dead arrived on the island. He was supposed to undergo some kind of quarantine. During quarantine he was fed a special diet. Apparently the diet included special additives. Not necessarily of a narcotic nature. After this, it was necessary to spend some time in a remote room without windows. This is a kind of retreat. Then the priest performed a ritual sacrifice. And only after completing such training was a person allowed into the labyrinth. Now a small section of it remains. But it still has a distinctive atmosphere. One can only imagine how these walls, illuminated by the light of torches or oil lamps, influenced a visitor who underwent such treatment.
Which is not typical for Greek oracles. There was no intermediary for communication in this place. A person received information directly from communication with the deceased.
So what can we take away from this short excursion? We have obtained a geographical match with a literary work. The toponymy in this case coincides completely. And the existence of the oracle temple itself serves as material confirmation of the existence at this point of a certain rapprochement of the two worlds. So perhaps not all ancient myths are fiction. Perhaps this is just a poetic description of real events that took place in their time? There is no clear answer yet.
In 167 BC. The necromantion was destroyed by the Romans. It would be interesting to know what prompted them to take such action. Rome of that period was tolerant of temples and such an action is rather an exception to the rule. If you get the opportunity, I advise you to visit this place with its dark history.