In Ancient Greece, Soil Was Sacred

Temple of Poseidon
The Temple of Poseidon in Attica, Greece. Temples erected in honor of Poseidon, linked in myth and iconography to the sea, were built on arid soils near fishing harbors like the one pictured here.

Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Greek temples honored specific gods and goddesses, and now new research suggests that even the dirt under such buildings held spiritual significance.
The discovery could help explain why writers like Homer and Plato wrote of "divine soil" and soil that can affect a person's soul. It may also explain how the ancients selected locations for their sacred buildings.
"Temple sites were chosen to honor the personality and aspirations of gods and goddesses, which, in turn, were shaped by the economic basis for their cults," author Gregory Retallack told Discovery News.
Retallack, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Oregon, took soil samples from 84 Greek temple sites dating to the Classical Age from 480 to 338 B.C. Based on analysis of each sample, he created a profile for the soils naming their characteristics and how they might have been used at the time.
His findings are published in the latest issue of Antiquity.
Retallack noticed a pattern: The soil appeared to be directly connected to the mythology surrounding the god or goddess honored by the particular temple. Buildings dedicated to Athena and Zeus, for example, were erected on soils of citadels.
"These are the god and goddess of warrior societies, and their temples are mostly on or near easily defensible hills, with evidence of long prior occupation," he explained.
Temples dedicated to Artemis and Apollo -- associated with hunting -- were located on likely former hunting grounds. Hera and Hermes buildings sat atop clay-rich soil that would have been suitable for cattle grazing, in keeping with "Hermes the ram-bearer" and "ox-eyed queen Hera."
The sanctuaries of Demeter and Dionysus, on the other hand, were found on fertile soils suitable for mixed farming. According to Greek mythology, both of these deities were linked to this activity, with grain cultivation festivals held in their honor. Larger estate farmlands appear to have been more closely associated with Hestia, Hephaestos and Ares.
Temples erected in honor of Poseidon and Aphrodite, both linked in myth and iconography to the sea, were built on arid soils near fishing harbors. Even the king and queen of the underworld, Persephone and Hades, received their due -- deep, dark caves served as sacred retreats in their honor.
Based on the writings of early Greek historians, Retallack believes that "religious sites precede temple construction by many centuries," with outdoor ceremonies leading to wood and earthen temples that were "later replaced by the marble edifices as the wealth and influence of cities increased in classical times."
The ancient Greeks even used natural special effects to enhance their spiritual experiences. For example, the temple of Apollo at Delphi was located "over a fault trace, producing vapors of hydrocarbons responsible for the oracle-inducing trance of the priestess of Pythian Apollo," he said.
Similarly, ammonite fossils preserved in pink limestone made for a dramatic entrance to the sacred precinct of Apollo, Artemis and Asclepios in Epidauros. They created snake-like shapes that would have reminded visitors of a mythological healing wand enwrapped by snakes.
Richard Feather Anderson is director of the American School of Geomancy, the study of divination by means of lines and figures or geographic features. Such sacred geometry was studied and practiced by Leonardo da Vinci, Beethoven and many other artists and architects.
Anderson told Discovery News that he had never before heard of the soil-temple link, but that it made sense, given the ancients' desire "to put buildings and other things in their rightful place."
He agreed that some of the natural special effects were, and still are, quite spectacular.
"The bull was the main goddess shape during the Taurian Age, so in Crete there are temples where mountains in the distance look like the horns of a bull," Anderson said, adding that such design elements were probably not unique to Classical Greece.
He described the serpent mound of southern Ohio, begun at around 800 B.C. Said to be the largest and finest serpent effigy in the United States, this nearly quarter-mile-long monument represents an uncoiling serpent. A nearby second mound likely represents an egg, "signifying the birth of humanity."
"The site happens to be the oldest geological formation in the area," Anderson said, "so early cultures may have somehow been more in touch with geology and soil composition than we tend to think."
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