Did Easter Come From an Ancient Greek Festival?

Did Easter really travel from an ancient Greek festival? Image: A conceptual representation of Jesus. Credit: Heinrich Hofmann / Public Domain

Easter is traditionally known arsenic the yearly festival to observe the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, scholars person agelong linked the customs progressive successful this solemnisation with pagan festivals that already existed earlier Jesus.

Could an past Greek festival person influenced the improvement of Easter? This nonfiction volition analyse immoderate of the grounds for this imaginable connection.

The non-Christian root of Easter

First of all, what is the ground for saying that Easter is not simply a festival that emerged people retired of Christian tradition? One elemental ground for this decision is that determination is nary Christian contented from which it could person emerged.

Some researchers similar to accidental that it came from the customized of celebrating the Lord’s Evening Meal erstwhile a year. This was thing that Jesus specifically said to support connected doing, and we cognize that the aboriginal Christians did this erstwhile a year. However, this was the commemoration of his death, not his resurrection.

Regarding the relation betwixt rabbits oregon hares and Easter, immoderate researchers assertion that this comes from the information that hares were believed to reproduce asexually, meaning without a partner. This would nexus good with the conception of the Virgin Mary. The evident occupation with this mentation is that Easter is expected to beryllium astir Jesus’ resurrection, not his birth.

The elemental world is that determination nary ground for an yearly solemnisation of Jesus’ resurrection successful aboriginal Christian tradition, nor for galore of the circumstantial customs associated with Easter. However, we bash cognize that from the late-first period onwards, the Christians started adopting philosophies and customs from the Greeks and the Romans, arsenic good arsenic from others.

Eostre, Anglo-Saxon goddess of the spring

In particular, scholars person linked the solemnisation of Easter to the festival dedicated to Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess. At least, the sanction ‘Easter’ allegedly came from this, arsenic good arsenic astatine slightest immoderate of the customs.

Then, for galore decades successful the 20th century, scholars doubted the beingness of this goddess. She is lone known done the writings of Bede, an English historiographer from the eighth century. Some suggested that Bede made her up entirely.

Unfortunately, this outdated sentiment is inactive precise fashionable among the wide public, but assistance has agelong since moved on. Inscriptions from the Roman play attest to the beingness of cognate Germanic goddesses.

Furthermore, linguistic grounds demonstrates precise intelligibly the information that Eostre is simply the Anglo-Saxon look of a goddess that we spot crossed galore Indo-European cultures. She is cognate with the Greek Eos, the Roman Aurora, the Scandivania Austri, and galore different well-attested deities.

The past Greek festival of Artemis could person influenced Easter customs

Statue of the Greek goddess of hunting Artemis. Credit: Mark Cartwright/CC BY-SA 4.0

It is absorbing to enactment that the past Greeks had a spring festival to Artemis. Of course, the information that they had a outpouring festival successful itself is not a important transportation to Easter, since the Greeks had festivals astatine assorted times passim the year. Therefore, it is not astonishing that 1 of them was astatine astir the aforesaid clip arsenic Easter.

What is important is that this festival was dedicated to Artemis, to whom the hare was sacred. According to 1 encyclopedia:

“Thus, the fertile hare served arsenic property and messenger of Artemis.”

Another absorbing information astir this festival is that the Greeks would connection breadstuff to Artemis during their festival to her. This is absorbing due to the fact that breadstuff has a beardown transportation to Easter. Not lone are determination the celebrated hot-cross buns, but assorted countries astir Europe besides person circumstantial breads for Easter.

Artemis successful Britain

It besides mightiness beryllium important that the hare had associations with different goddess who whitethorn person been worshipped astatine spring. In Britain, determination was a goddess called Andraste. One Roman root mentions that the warfare person Boudicca called connected Andraste aft releasing a hare. This suggests that the hare was ineffable to Andraste.

Notably, Andraste herself was worshipped successful Britain during the Roman play arsenic a operation with Diana. This was the Roman mentation of Artemis. This reinforces the transportation betwixt Artemis and hares.

Although we cannot beryllium definite whether this means that Andraste was worshipped successful the outpouring similar Artemis was, it is simply a tenable conclusion. After all, outpouring is erstwhile quality seems to travel to life. Therefore, it is lone logical that Artemis, the goddess of the wilderness and wildlife, would beryllium worshipped astatine that clip of year. Since the Romano-Britons identified Andraste with Artemis, the 2 deities evidently had akin attributes.

All successful all, we bash not cognize the full communicative down precisely which festivals and customs led to the improvement of Easter. Nonetheless, it is simply a chiseled anticipation that the fashionable outpouring festival of Artemis, for whom the hare was a ineffable carnal and for whom breadstuff was offered, had an interaction connected the instauration of Easter among lands with a beardown Greek connection.