ANATOLIA 2010
ANTALYA 1

ANTALYA 1

ANTALYA 2

ANTALYA 3

Antalya museum, a historic and mythological treasure....

Medusa, idol of the museum

I have visited some 8 different museums in Anatolia. They all start their exibitions with a section about the MotherGoddess, as the center of the universe. It therefore cannot be denied that She was the object of worship for early mankind
Later in time, in fact at the beginning of the agricultural revolution (10.000 BCE) Gods appear as the Son/Lovers of the Great Mother. These "dying and resurrecting Gods" embodied the change of seasons, a good harvest and fertility in general 
The development of Green Men goes from "beast men" (prehistory: identification with animals); personified "dying and resurrecting Gods" (Tammuz etc.); emphasis on vegetation (the Pan/Satyr/Silenus and Dionysos group), the Celtic deities to the Green Men of our medieval churches and beyond (modern times). Crucial is that they are NOT isolated phenomena, but always "act" as Son/Lover of the Great Mother. Spiritually, the Light is born out of Darkness, while continuously returning to its Origin 

God from the Pan/Satyr/Silenus/Dionysos group

The vineyards certainly indicate the Dionysos cult

Young Dionysos

Dionysos

Priapus, the God with the big phallus
(fertility)

After I was to leave the museum my intuition said: "Go back". And indeed, I found a forgotten corner. First the masks above the door, then.....a cold shivering....the first "real" Green Men after the Istanbul museum.
They were some of the most beautiful masks I have ever seen. First the first time I understood, that as masks, they had a function in Graeco-Roman theatre. It opened my eyes for a new dimension.....

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 © 2010 Copyright Han Marie Stiekema
Last revising: 04/22/10