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December 25th in the Ancient World

“Another glaring coincidence is the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem, a story that is the same as the birth of Zeus in the Idaean Cave, a cave in Crete. His mother, Rhea, had taken refuge there in order to save her son from her husband Cronus, who was eating his children for fear that they would take his throne.

Herod had the same fear many millennia later, which is why he ordered the massacre of the infants of Bethlehem when he learned of the birth of Jesus. The cave in Ides was also called "Arkesion", because it was large enough for Rhea and Zeus to be saved from the wrath of Cronus.

The next information we learn about the birth of Jesus is that three Magi, following a bright star, arrived at the manger where Christ was born and offered him gifts. Some shepherds did the same, who hurried to worship the divine infant. However, similar things happen in the earlier story of the birth of Zeus in the Idaean Cave! Theophrastus (student and successor of Aristotle, in his school) writes:

"At the mouth of the cave in Ida the curses lie", Plant Histories, III, 3-4

At the opening of the cave where Zeus was born, they placed various offerings/gifts!

Antoninus Liberalis in the "Synagogue of the Transfiguration" (1) writes regarding the Idaean Cave:

"Every year, a flash of fire is seen coming from the cave."

But even without Antoninus's very useful information, it is known that the myths of the Greeks also hide a "sense of truth" and scientific knowledge, but also that astronomy as a science and the observation of phenomena were developed to a degree that even today it is doubtful if we know so much about them.

They observed the signs in the celestial vault before their great decisions (see the brave "One is the best omen, to defend oneself for one's fatherland" by Hector, when Polydamas informs him that the omen he saw is not good and it is better for them to withdraw from the battle), because they had observed that when great events occur on earth, the planets and constellations function accordingly, taking the appropriate positions.

“Homer describes… in Book IV of the Iliad (v. 75 ff.), when Zeus sends Athena towards the combatants, and she moves so quickly that she appears like an unusual star.

"a star that Saturn threw down...a bright monster (monster=extraordinary point in the sky, bright star)...and many sparks fly from it..."

And those who saw it were amazed and asked one another what this might mean.

"Thambus had not entered, neither the Trojans nor the Achaeans"

And according to the translation of James Polyla:

the goddess…was thrown down from the peaks of Olympus and poured out like the star that Kronides (=Zeus) threw as a sign to men…a bright star and its sparks are endless…”, The Destruction of the Greeks, Anna Tziropoulou-Eustathiou, p. 355  

Zeus had as his guards the Kouretes or Idaean Dactyls (because there were five of them like the fingers of a hand, Heracles the Idaean, Iasian, Idas, Epimedes and Paeonian). These were young men who protected Zeus, whose tears they covered by banging their shields and stamping their feet on the ground, thus introducing the well-known Pyrrhic dance.

They also demonstrated their worship of Zeus through armed dances accompanied by musical instruments, thus giving birth to what is known today as "Pentozali".  

The Kurites were engaged in agricultural work, in fact they had invented the domestication of wild animals, the collection of honey, the construction of houses, the processing of metals, they were engaged in grazing, so they also knew about the collection and processing of milk, etc. In other words, they were also capable shepherds...

The date on which Christmas was decided to be celebrated is no coincidence either. These days in December mark the beginning of the winter solstice (the length of the day gradually begins to increase), very reminiscent of the worship of the Sun (hence many speak of Heliogenea) by the Greeks for his contribution to life.

Specifically, on the night of December 21st to 22nd - today's date - the sun reaches the lowest point on the horizon and for three days it appears to remain stable, located in the constellation of the cross (the well-known "Southern Cross"). At the same time, Sirius (the brightest star, "Sirius the sun and the dog star", Hesychius) aligns with the three constellations of the Orion belt, which are also called the "Three Kings/Three Magi"!

On December 25th, the three constellations of Orion are in full alignment with Sirius and the Sun, which after three days of "stationary" in the Southern Cross begins to move 1 degree northward, signaling longer days, more warmth, and the beginning of the march toward spring and then toward summer.

And thus, astronomically, it is explained how the three wise men (stars of Orion), guided by the bright star (Sirius), found the stable that hosted the birth of Christ (birth of Helios).

But the Southern Cross, on which the Sun remains stable for three days and then is "reborn," marking the path toward summer and spring, seems to be the crucifixion of Christ, who was resurrected three days later, just as nature is reborn in spring (during which the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated!).

The ancient Greeks were excellent experts in astronomy/astrology, but also in every science, and guided by these they glorified nature and the divine, just as guided by nature and the divine they developed the sciences.

Today we have been distanced/we have been deceitfully distanced completely from everything truly scientific and from nature itself, while at the same time anything that reminds us of these, anything that reminds us of God, is ridiculed and disintegrated. It is no coincidence that all the temples of the Greeks were built based on astronomical and cosmic observations, in complete alignment with the constellations and planets, but also in such a way that the light of the sun would diffuse within them, depending on its position, according to the movement of the earth (in the Parthenon it is said that Sirius diffuses its light precisely at the point where the gold and ivory statue of Athena was located, precisely on the day the Panathenaic Games were celebrated) and in proportions based on the perfection of nature (see golden ratio φ, specific inclination angles, in many temples 36 angles, as many as the twist of each DNA base in relation to the previous one, building in complete symmetry with the points of the horizon and the remaining sacred ones in a large radius, so that they function as a compass, pyramidal shapes - such as that of the Virgin - for better support, etc.).

If people raised their heads to the sky, they would find many of the answers that kneeling deprives them of. But then the religious edifice would collapse -and- to its foundations...

The sun was associated with Apollo, which is why he was often depicted as Phoebus (Apollo) on his flying chariot, flying with his horses and generously distributing his rays. Something that has reached our days as… Santa Claus's sleigh with reindeer, on which the red-robed, flame-like Santa Claus distributes his gifts!

The Romans did the same on December 25th, because the sun stops lowering its orbit and gradually begins to rise high in the sky, symbolically celebrating the day of the "birth" of Helios. It was followed by the Saturnalia (a festival in honor of Saturn), during which they exchanged gifts, even slaves played games of chance, gave candles and money, ate lavishly and generally followed customs that continue today except for Christmas and New Year's (e.g., gambling and exchanging gifts).

It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the summer solstice (end of June), Christians established a feast to honor Saint John the Baptist, a feast which in Greece was called "Saint John the...Manifestor" (< φαίνω = I manifest like the pheinous sun)!

Moreover, the custom of the ancient heresy became a carol and a Christmas tree. The history of the heresy is again related to Apollo and the festival in his honor (and that of his sister, Artemis) the Pyanepsia. According to the myth, Theseus, starting his journey to Crete, where he would kill the Minotaur, stopped at Delon and made a sacrifice to Apollo, where he was promised that he would offer him olive branches in case he was victorious. Theseus fulfilled his promise, but because there were no provisions left on the ship, he gathered what he could (legumes) and made a "bean soup", so to speak.  

"But Pyanaepisio, because the Pyanaepis of Apollo are performed in phases. See the phases called Pyanaepis and the month Pyanaepisio, because they perform in them and the heresy is performed," according to the Suida dictionary.

Plutarch writes about the festival in "Theseus" (22,4): "And the heretics bring out an olive branch crowned with a ram, as was the custom at that time for supplication, and everywhere they offer alms for the end of the aphorism."

They boiled legumes with barley that day, held a procession to the temple of Apollo, and decorated the iresione (olive branches or laurel branches, which they called korythalis) adorned with woolen/peaceful ribbons and bipyra/biscuits made of honey, wine, and oil – the equivalent of today's Christmas tree –) as a petition/thanksgiving to Apollo who had given them a good harvest.  

During the festival, children would go from door to door holding the erisione, singing the song of the same name, which they believed protected the fruits of the earth from disease. Its lyrics were:

"A woman who is pregnant brings figs and a pion (=fat) bread and honey in a cup (=thin and tall glass) and oil to be toasted/to be toasted and a cup of wine (=intemperate), as if she were drunk and going down."  

The housewives would give them tips and hang their own rite on the door, which they would keep for a year.

"The olive branch became a "Christmas tree", the branches...became tufts of cotton, the hanging fruits became shiny balls, and the children with teeth are the children who sing the carols...

After the “New Year’s carols”, the cutting of the “Vasilopitta” follows, which, like the “Phanouropitta”, originates from the similar ancient “melitoutta”, i.e. sweet pies, sweetened with honey. Even the sharing of the pieces of the pie, the first “pieces” that are dedicated to the divine, with the expression “of Christ, of the Most Holy”, is also a very ancient Greek custom. Homer’s description is surprisingly contemporary, when in the 434th chapter of the Odyssey (XNUMX) he conveys to us the ritual of sharing the portions.

"And the seven things he divided, and the one he gave to the nymph Hermes, the daughter of Maeada, he increased, and the other four he gave to each of us."

In other words:

"And we made seven portions, but before dividing it, he takes out the first portion to the son of the midwife, Hermes, with the fairies, praying to them at the same time, and gives it to their companions, and they also give theirs."

… The Christmas trope “the sky and the earth danced” predates Euripides’ Ion: “the ether danced, but the moon dances” (st. 1079)…

The ancient Theophany (from God + to appear), "a festival in Delphi during which all the images of the gods were shown to the people," continued to exist, slightly modified, in the Holy Theophany.

"The destruction of Greek libraries"

 Anna Tziropoulou-Pelasgos Publications.