Seasons of Change!

[smittysmitty]

I recall reading (can't place it at the moment),that the season introducing the commencement of a new year amongst the ancient Greeks/perhaps just the Athenians? was Summer.i.e A year went from Summer to Summer, and this is why moderns refer to the years eg. 360/359 .Is this correct?
thanks in advance.
cheers!

[jona]

Not every Greek town had the same New Year's day, but the first new moon after the summer solstice was not uncommon. This Athenian practice is accepted as the common Greek practice, for instance, by Diodorus.Another common starting point was the first new moon after the spring equinox. This happened in a/o Babylon and Judaea.Jona

[amyntoros]

There are people today who have revived a belief in the old Greek religion, and there is even a site online where you can currently buy a calendar which runs from August through July and shows all the old Athenian-based celebrations!:-)Linda Ann

[marcus]

Yes, I've heard about those people, too.I was toying with the idea of signing up (in a rather tongue-in-cheek sort of way) - if for no reason other than to horrify my brother and sister-in-law, who are members of the Church of England clergy...(Having said that, as my brother has recently been on a course to learn how to be an exorcist, perhaps he'll just see me as a guinea-pig)Marcus

[smittysmitty]

Thanks all for your help!Marcus! You'r brother wanting to be an exorcist?bit of a worry!

[amyntoros]

Marcus, how about taking up Mithraism as practiced by the Romans? That would really freak your brother out, given the religious similarities - Mithra was born in a cave on December 25th, crucified, rose again, Sunday was "his day", etc. 'Course, you would have to take an oath of celibacy... LOLOn to something only a little more serious... According to some authorities, Alexander's birthday is coming up soon, and I have a question of my own regarding the ancient calendar and birthdays. First of all, does anyone know of any mention of birthdays actually being celebrated back then? I haven't seen any, but I'm hardly that well-read. If they did celebrate, I'm curious how they would have calculated Alexander's birthday each year?They followed a lunar calendar where the months started on the first day of the new moon. This year, July 20th falls on the 3rd day of the ancient Greek (Athenian) month of Hekatombaion. I checked a lunar calendar and next year, July 20th would fall on the 14th day of Hekatombaion! I'm thinking that if they did celebrate birthdays they would have followed the lunar calendar and Alexander's birthday would fall on (hypothetically) the third day after the new moon of Hekatombaion each year. Which means it would jump all over the place according to our calendar today!Linda Ann

[marcus]

Well, to be fair, I think it was the lesser of two evils, as far as which course he went on!On the other hand, he lives and works in a parish in Birmingham, so there's probably much more requirement for exorcism than in other parts of the country.And... you haven't met my brother! :-)Marcus

[marcus]

Well, I did wonder about Mithraism a while ago, but I have enough trouble with Anglicanism, that another variation on a theme probably isn't the right idea.I am quite tempted by Zoroastrianism (which of course influenced Mithraism quite a lot)... not least because it has the most attractive name of all the world religions...All the bestMarcus