Amanda Pretlow- Greek Festival

In October, I was able to attend the Greek festival with a couple friends. I expected it to be loud and lively, and the festival definitely lived up to my expectations. However, something that I observed at the festival surprised me. The venue was Sts Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. The church was split into two section: the main church and a Greek community center. The Church was adorned with the traditional icons of saints. The inside of the community center, however, was adorned with the images of the ancient Greek pagan deities. Seeing these images was quite a pleasant surprise to my friends and I. In the Christianity that I have experienced, there is a general disdain for the deities of older, polytheistic religions. On the contrary, this Greek Orthodox church actually venerated the deities of antiquity. This made me think about the preservation of history. The Greeks hold their history in such high esteem that they honor the pagan deities that their new religion does not accept. In my opinion, solely from observing the paintings of the gods, the Greek people are tremendously spiritually enlightened. They allow the recognition of different conceptions of the divine and cherish their history. Their art exemplifies both conceptions.