Ancient Secrets, Tiny Island
The remote Greek island of Samothrace, off the coast of Turkey housed an ancient mystery cult of the Great Gods that was second only to the mysteries at Eleusis outside Athens. Homer has Poseidon use the island’s central mountain as a seat from which to observe the Trojan War. And, memorably, the winged Nike monument in the Louvre came from this island (pictured above, photo by Diego Delso, Wiki). Archaeology Magazine‘s October issue features an article, Secret Rites of Samothrace, about the long-running archaeological dig on the island.
A New Approach on Samothrace
The article has interesting discussions about the implications of remains from various periods. What grabbed me most was how much the recent work under the direction of Bonna Wescoat of Emory University sounds so similar to what I do as a writer of historically-based fiction. I gather up what archaeological evidence there is–artifacts, texts, and remains–and make imaginative leaps to fill in the activities and emotions of a long ago world. Often archaeologists haven’t felt it was their job to “create the world,” but to some extent, that’s what is happening at the dig on Samothrace.
Of the recent work the article says:
By considering the interaction between the natural landscape and built environment, examining small votive objects and other items initiates left behind, and through survey, excavation, archival research, and 3-D modeling, the archaeologists have begun to re-create the sensory, spiritual, and emotional experience of initiates as they were introduced to the rites of the Great Gods. “We want to explore the landscape, the connectedness of monuments, ancient initiates’ route through the sacred spaces, and the issues of what they could and could not see,” Wescoat says. “These aren’t questions that have been asked in the past.”
I’m envious of the depth of evidence these archaeologists can plug into their examination of the site. They’ve figured out and recreated in 3D the circuitous route that initiates followed and thus formed some ideas about the psychology of that walk down into a ravine through various sacred buildings and structures. A deep gorge of rushing water that must be crossed might have instilled a desired terror, for example.
Writerly Imagining
When I, as a writer, work through the imaginative process of who moves where and what they see or feel during a scene, what they will do, I often have to make rough diagrams so I don’t inadvertently make a character do something physically impossible that will disconnect my reader (consciously or not). The sun in the morning can only enter eastern windows, for example. Doors should not jump from one side of the room to another because I forgot where I put one. That sort of thing. I also have to know what everything looks like even though I’ll only include some small, crystalizing details for my readers. All that physical stuff has to be super clear in my inner vision before I can leap into the emotions and conflicts that occur within. I have to make the leap into those emotions, etc. but archaeologists usually leave that up to us historical fiction writers.
Fancy Tools for Imagination
These archaeologists applied much more refined tools than I use to understand the environment! For example, at one point along the sacred route, it isn’t clear which of various paths into the sanctuary an initiate would have taken. “Digital modelers are exploring potential pathways through the sanctuary using gaming software and agent-based modeling, which simulates the movements of groups of people who are given a degree of autonomy to make collective decisions.”
Read the article to discover the history of the site and all the intrigue of a mysterious religious center. On a personal level, it was fun to read that one of my professors, Kevin Clinton, from my days as a grad student at Cornell, has been working with the site’s inscriptions. The dig reveals stages from Thracian cultic origins (900 BCE) to the island’s entrance into “celebrity” status when Alexander the Great’s parents went to the island to negotiate the terms of their marriage. They then sponsored some impressive buildings of imported marble. Apparently other VIP’s decided to follow suit, and launched a building and statuary boom. By the Roman period the tiny island was a standard stop.
A Mystery Rite for All
However fancy it became, the site continued to serve people from every walk of life and from all over the ancient world (all well past the period and world I write, but fun nonetheless). The Aegean Sea is treacherous around the small island, but anyone who made the dangerous journey by ship was welcomed into the initiation rites and many humble votive offerings reveal how diverse those initiates were. I’m glad Wescoat feels this way about the work done there: “Samothrace asks us to be imaginative in every way…All parts of the sanctuary–the place itself, the rites as we know them, the buildings in which they happened–call for us to step outside ourselves and into another world.”
Sounds like my daily project!
Here for more about the mystery cult on Samothrace.