Nekyia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In ancient Greek cult-practice and literature, a nekyia (ἡ νέκυια) is a "rite by which ghosts were called up and questioned about the future," i.e., necromancy. A number of sites in Greece and Italy were dedicated wholly or in part to this practice. The most notable was the Necromanteion in the northwestern Greek town of Ephyra. Other oracles of the dead could be found at Taenaron, Heracleia Pontica and Avernus. Such specialized locations, however, were not required to perform necromancy. One could also perform the rite at a tomb, for example. The gods associated with the nekyia rite include Hades and his wife Persephone, as well as Hecate and Hermes (in his capacity as psychopompus).
The earliest reference to this cult practice comes from Book 11 of the Odyssey, which was called the Nekyia in Classical antiquity. Odysseus consults the soul of the priest and prophet Teiresias about the means to return home to Ithaca. He sacrifices a lamb into a pit in order to let Teiresias drink from its blood. Furthermore, he meets and talks to the souls of dead heroes. The Athenian playwright Aeschylus features the use of tombside nekyiai in his Persians and Libation Bearers.
It is important to note that in literature, a nekyia is not the same thing as a katabasis. While they both afford the opportunity to converse with the dead, only a katabasis is the actual, physical journey to the underworld undertaken by several heroes in Greek and Roman myth.
Nekyia is also a popular name assumed by numerous art projects and performance or music groups.
[edit] See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nekyia |
