The May Day Wreath and Its Roots in Ancient Greece

The archetypal time of Maios (Πρωτομαγιά, oregon Protomagia, successful modern Greek) celebrates the last triumph of the summertime against wintertime and the triumph of beingness against death. Credit:  kshelbz, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

The May Day wreath has its roots successful Ancient Greece. The sanction of the period of May, oregon Maios successful Greek (Μάιος), originates from the past goddess Maia (in Greek Μαία) and is simply a reborrowing from Latin, arsenic the Romans were the archetypal to sanction the period aft her.

According to Greek mythology, Maia was 1 of the Pleiades and the parent of Hermes by Zeus. Daughter of Atlas and Pleione the Oceanid, she was the oldest of the 7 Pleiades.

In aboriginal antiquity and arsenic past Roman religion and story took over, Maia embodied the conception of growth, arsenic her sanction was thought to beryllium related to the comparative adjective maius, maior – which means “larger, greater” successful Latin.

Originally, her sanction whitethorn person been a homonym autarkic of the Greek Maia, whose myths she absorbed done the Hellenization of Latin lit and culture.

The period of May (Latin Maius) was supposedly named for Maia, though past etymologists besides connected it to the maiores “ancestors”, meaning those who are “greater” successful presumption of generational precedence.

The archetypal time of Maios (Πρωτομαγιά, oregon Protomagia, successful modern Greek) celebrates the last triumph of the summertime against wintertime and the triumph of beingness against death. The solemnisation is akin to an past ritual associated with different insignificant demi-god, Adonis, which besides celebrated the revival of nature.

The solemnisation of outpouring successful past times was successful relation with the Anthesteria, a festival held successful February and dedicated to the goddess of agriculture, Demeter, and her daughter, Persephone.

Persephone emerged each twelvemonth astatine the extremity of wintertime from the underworld. The Anthesteria was a festival of souls, plants, and flowers, and Persephone’s coming to world from Hades marked the rebirth of nature, a communal taxable successful each these traditions.

What remains of the customs contiguous echoes these traditions of antiquity. A communal May Day customized progressive the yearly revival of a younker called Adonis, oregon alternatively of Dionysus, oregon of Maios (in Modern Greek Μαγιόπουλο, the Son of Maia).

In a elemental theatrical ritual, the value of which has agelong been forgotten, a chorus of young girls sang a opus implicit a younker lying connected the ground, representing Adonis, Dionysus, oregon Maios. At the extremity of the song, the younker roseate up and a angiosperm wreath was placed connected his head.

May Day and the wreath successful Thargelia

Other experts hint the May Day solemnisation and the tradition of the wreath to the Thargelia (in Greek Θαργήλια), 1 of the main Athenian festivals successful grant of Apollo and Artemis held connected their birthdays, the 6th and 7th of the period Thargelion, which is astir the 6th and 7th of May.

Thargelia included a purifying and expiatory ceremony. People offered the first-fruits of the world to the deity arsenic a token of thankfulness, arsenic it was besides indispensable to appease him lest helium ruin the harvest by excessive vigor and, possibly, pestilence.

The purificatory preceded the thanksgiving service. A wreath was created utilizing twigs from fruit-bearing trees, specified arsenic fig trees, almond trees, oregon peach trees.

The astir communal facet of modern May Day celebrations is the mentation of a angiosperm wreath from chaotic flowers, though arsenic a effect of urbanization, determination is an expanding inclination to bargain wreaths from angiosperm shops.

The flowers are placed connected the wreath against a inheritance of greenish leaves and the wreath is hung either connected the entranceway to the household house/apartment oregon connected a balcony.

It remains determination until midsummer night. On that night, the angiosperm wreaths are acceptable alight successful bonfires known arsenic St. John’s (Agios Ioannis) fires. People leap implicit the flames consuming the angiosperm wreaths.