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“Daphne and Chloe”

     The relation between gods and humans                        

        The relationship between the immortal gods and the mortal humans in the times of Ancient Rome and Greece feels somewhat familiar but also alien comparing to a modern person’s interaction with his/her god(s).  Prayers, offerings, sacrifices, pledges, or vows all find a place in the contemporary religious practices.  Communication received from god(s), in various forms, seems also possible just like it was during the first centuries in the Hellenistic world.  Was there anything different then and what were the quality and the degree of contact with the gods that the ancients had?     

        Researchers retain the access to the various forms of Greek and Roman inheritance that reveal some information pertaining to what the ancient citizens expected of their gods and what the gods expected of humans in return.  Inscriptions, iconography, hymns, or novels all shed some light on the communication the Greeks and Romans had with their deities.  “Daphne and Chloe” written by Longus constitutes one of the novels that lets the readers into the ancient reality unveiling some of the long passed away enigmas of the then ordinary relation of mortals and the divine.    

         Simply classifed, Longus’s novel is a romance story.  It tells a story of a boy Daphnis and a girl Chloe, saved by the gods in their infancy and of their gradually awakening love toward each other.  Daphnis and Chloe both lead a simple, shepherd life spending days and years together looking after their sheep and goats.  Several unfortunate events such as the raid of the pirates, conflicts in the village, malicious schemes of their neighbors, revengeful jealousy of those falling in love with Daphnis or Chloe, all interrupt the seemingly uncomplicated life they both lead.  All the “adventures” the youngsters experience seem disastrous enough to break the two apart.  However, despite all the difficulties that they encounter, and with the intervention of the divine, their love finally conquers.                              

        Throughout the development of Daphnis and Chloe’s mutual affection, the novel uncovers some of the religious customs relating to the interaction with the deities.  It is those that will constitute the basis of this essay’s exploration of the ancient communication with gods.  First, the paper will attempt to establish the position that gods and mortals held in relation to each other and consequently it will reflect on the means of communication that both sides employed so as to create a permanent bond.         

        The introductory pages of the novel explain how Dryas and Lamon find Daphnis and Chloe nurtured in the wilderness by the goat and the ewe.  When the children are fifteen years of age, the old men both receive a dream where the nymphs instruct them on the future of the kids.  Both Dryas and Lamon agree to the divine directives.                                         

                       But then it seemed best to accept divine guidance in the case

                       of children whose very survival had been due to divine providence. [1]

        This passage reveals two aspects.  Firstly, it becomes evident that the deities took a direct interest in the affairs of the mortals.  They were present and watchful directing the events of particular individuals and guiding them through.  Secondly, as the first part of the sentence suggests, gods did not always authoritatively compel the humans to follow their orders and, consequently, humans did not have to listen.  “…It seemed best to accept the guidance…”, meaning that they could have turned it down.  Obviously, or at least in this situation, we see the indication of free will given to humans.

        Numerous sources confirm that the deities’ concern with the human affairs seemed far from that of the “maternal embrace”. [2]   Gods dwelled in their remote realm distant from humans and their, often petty, lives.  This separation gave the ancients the freedom to occasionally refuse the divine guidance.  As Burkert informs, very often in the ancient writings we find the gods’ utterances starting with “If you follow me,…, then…”, as another indication of the free will the ancient Greeks and Romans could benefit from. [3]     

        Remote as the gods were, they nonetheless remained the Stronger Ones. [4]   The citizens of the ancient world definitely looked up to them and on finding links between their own lives and those of their gods, they felt privileged and elevated.  When Dorcon ridicules Daphnis of being nursed by a goat, Daphnis replies, “Certainly I was suckled by a goat- so was Zeus”. [5]   On the other occasion Gnathon reflects on his passion toward Daphnis comparing his experience to that of the gods.  “And if I’ve fallen in love with a herdsman, I’ve only followed the example of the gods”, [6] he declares.   Gods, then, represented the higher “race” of beings that the majority of the ancient Greeks and Romans undoubtedly revered.  The deities looked like mortals and often acted like them too, [7] they nevertheless held a superior power.  All that was exceptional in the lives of the humans had to remain excluded from the sanctuaries of gods in order to leave room for the divine beings who were “out of ordinary in the most eminent sense.” [8]   Versnel describes the relation of the ancient people and their gods as one of the “serving worshippers”. [9]   He goes on to present evidence on the human subordinance toward their gods.  We find many other traces of the deities’ superiority in relation to the earthly creatures, humans.  “…Men do not enter by it, the gods walk that way”, writes Homer describing the cave on Ithaca in the Odyssey. [10]

        Gods were like humans, but any attempt to cross a boundary between them and the mortals constituted a “hybris”, a forwardness. [11]   “Never forget the impassable gulf between gods and men”, [12] warns Pindar.  The deities themselves very often emphasized the gap between them and humans as in the Illiade,                                                                                                                   

…and strive no longer to make yourself like the gods in mind, since never

the same is the breed of gods, who are immortal, and men who walk

groundling. [13]

        Having established the position that both the gods and humans held toward each other, it seems right to move on to the next level of their relation, and that is the actual communication between the earthly and heavenly planes as well as the means through which this contact took place.  The discussion will begin with the actions that the mortals took to link with their superiors and it will go on to consider the deities’ response.

        The first and very important action when attempting to interact with the gods was offering the gifts.  Burkert states that the exchange of gifts represented a crucial step in the development of the permanent bond.  The ancient societies perceived their gods as Givers of Good who had a right to claim what they themselves provided. [14]   In Daphne and Chloe we see the abundance of the passages describing the offerings suggesting that the custom of gift giving was indeed a common tradition.

        Some modern writers criticize this practice of the exchange of favours as do ut des, ‘I give that you may give’. [15]   However, as Price explains, those offerings served only as a way to create a relationship between both sides that might or might not benefit humans in the future. [16]  

        Another means to establish a communication with gods were prayers and invocations.  One way of asking gods for favours were votive offerings and numerous vows.  Most of those vows took a form of “if…then….” formula, still common in today’s religious practices.  When Chloe finds herself in danger, Daphnis strives desperately to “buy” the Nymphs’ and Pan’s mercy promising various sacrifices if Chloe returns safe. [17]   There are countless accounts of other very interesting vows throughout the ancient Greek and Roman writings, [18] some of them officially preserved,

If the war…is ended as the Senate…desires, then for thee, Jupiter, the

Roman people will hold great games for ten …days, and sums of money…

will be offered at every funeral bed. [19]

       Subsequently, sacrifices constituted a very popular means to assure the bond with the gods.  Daphnis and Chloe sacrifice a he-goat to thank Pan and the Nymhps for saving the girl’s life. [20]   Successful existence depended on the cooperation with the divine and the sacrifices intended to ensure it.  Gods performed various activities for the mortals and they therefore needed a sufficient amount of vitality sacrificed for them.  It was for this reason, Ogilvie explains, that the ancient people resorted to animals as the highest form of sacrifice.  Without them, the gods might not have enough vigour left to act on humans’ behalf. [21]   Interestingly enough, the moral conduct of the individuals did not play a role in the potential success of prayers or sacrifices but only the properly performed ritual, which suggests that gods, being themselves “good” and “bad”, valued personal piety above the personal behaviour. [22]   Longus in his novel expresses the magnitude of the sacrifices on numerous occasions.  One of them illustrates Chloe’s family giving up the warmth of their home to go outside in “a biting North wind” to sacrifice a ram. [23]    

        Before the final part of this analysis, it must be noted that despite all the effort that the ancient people took to ensure the goodwill of the gods, they could never have certainty of the success of their requests.  In Daphne and Chloe we find the following passage,   

There he threw himself down on the ground and began to

reproach the Nymphs

for having betrayed him. [24]

        Daphnis rebukes the gods for abandoning Chloe in spite of all the offerings that she presented them with.  Versnel informs that on frequent occasions ancient people reprimanded and even

punished gods for not hearing their prayers.  Statues were often thrown out and sanctuaries destroyed. [25]

        Having described the ways the ancient people approached the divine, a brief discussion of the means through which the gods themselves revealed their presence to the earthly inhabitants remains the last aspect of the relation between immortals and mortals.  And the gods did indeed reveal their presence.  “There is no…silence on the part of the divine powers, no refusal to speak…”, [26] says Gould.  Ancient Greeks and Romans did not believe that gods appeared to them in person. [27]   However, they did nevertheless appear, or, as Heraclitus stated, they “indicated”. [28]   The way such communication occurred was usually through dreams, divinations, various natural phenomena as well as oracles. [29]   Occasionally, gods would come in contact with individuals through various guises. [30]  

        To link with the divine constitutes the main purpose of religion and there can be neither link nor the relationship with deities if the communication does not flow both ways.  Gods in the ancient world nevertheless spoke and Longus’s novel confirms that.  The story abounds in the descriptions of various characters’ dreams that serve as the communication channel between the heavenly and earthly realms.  Numerous other sources ascertain that dreams played a large part in the relation people had with their gods.  On awakening, the first job of many a Greek or Roman was to ponder immediately on their dreams to analyze potential messages from their protectors. 

         The study of the relation between people and their gods does not end here.  However, the disclosure of all the information revealing various aspects of the “cooperation” that the ancient Greeks and Romans developed with their deities falls beyond the scope of this introductory paper.  What appears possible to acknowledge, instead, is the high degree of the ancient people’s involvement in the regular communication with the divine realms.  Daphne and Chloe novel attests to that giving the readers the opportunity to delve into the ancient religious mentality.  Some might have regarded the ancient deities as remote.  It seems, nevertheless, that they lived closer to humans that the majority of the divine beings of the modern times.  Do the gods have any individual existence at all and will ever “descend” to tell us?  Ancient times may be over.  The search for gods, however, undoubtedly continues. 

Bibliography:

Burkert, W., Greek Religion; Archaic and Classical, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1985

Buxton, R., Imaginary Greece; The Contexts of Mythology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994

ed. by Easterling, P. E. and Muir, J. V., Greek Religion and Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985

Fergusson, J., Greek and Roman Religion, Noyess Press, Park Ridge, 1980

Fergusson, J, The Religions of the Roman Empire, Thames and Hudson, 1970

Festugiere, Andre-Jean, Personal Religion among the Greeks, Greenwood Press Publishers, Westport, 1984

Gardner, E. A., Religion and Art in Ancient Greece, Kennikat Press, Port Washington and London, 1969

MacMullen, R., Paganism in the Roman Empire, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1981

Nilsson, M. P., Greek Piety, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, 1969

Ogilvie, R. M., The Romans and Their Gods in the Age of Augustus, W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London, 1969

Price, S., Religions of the Ancient Greeks, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999

Turcan, R., The Gods of Ancient Rome, Routledge, New York, 2000

ed. by Versnel, H. S., Faith, Hope and Worship; Aspects of Religious Mortality in the Ancient World, Leiden/E. J. Brill