Antique private commemorative ceremonies and feasts in honor of the Christian martyrs in the Early Byzantine period
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/tes.01204Keywords:
ancient christianity, cult of the martyrs, pagan customs, everyday lifeAbstract
The aim of the article is to point out the similarities between the ancient cult of the dead and the feasts of the Christian martyrs in Late Antiquity. The Author discusses a few source relations on one element of the ceremony, that is, a commemorative banquet, which was an essential element of the ancient cult of the dead. We read about the same habit in relations referring to the feasts of martyrs. They show that on the eve of their feasts, some Christians gathered at the chapel of the martyr, arranging and joining the banquet in the belief that the martyr also participated in it. Of course, the custom did not stem from the need to satisfy hunger. It was the religious act of pagan provenance derived from the conviction that the deceased in the afterlife was plagued by hunger and thirst.
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