A Word on Hestia
My Substack and podcast is dedicated to Hellenism, all forms of it and my search to understand its center point, the Hestia of Hellenism, to which everything Greek revolves around.
Happy New Year! In the New Year I decided to update the cover art I use for my podcast and I wanted to talk about the significance of the art.
What Remains
What remains in the new art is the Goddess Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, She is the primary Goddess which felt appropriate to give focus to in the Hearth of Hellenism podcast/substack.
She is the hearth of the home, the center point, that which others revolve around. My Substack and podcast is dedicated to Hellenism, all forms of it and my search to understand its center point, the Hestia of Hellenism, to which everything Greek revolves around. This is why I write that this is “A Home for Knowledge on Greek History, Religion, and Culture - Ancient/Modern and In-Between”
What Changed
My first cover art focused on the modern aspect of Hellenism. The change in art emphasis the ancient and in between, bringing both into the modern The Goddess Hestia is rendered in the traditional ‘Byzantine’ mosaic art style that is very familiar to Greeks today. This is my reclaiming of an art style that pre-dates Christianity to reorienting the art style for the Gods.
The Continuity of Art
Mosaics were initially used as floor decorations in Greek and later Roman buildings. Mosaics often featured geometric and mythological designs. As the ‘Byzantine’ era dawned with the Christianization of the Roman Empire, mosaics ascended to the walls of churches, shifting from earthly themes to spiritual and religious imagery, in their perspective.
The artistic style in byzantine mosaics and iconography likely originated with the famous mummy portraits from Egypt. These early portraits, intimate and personal, evolved into the sacred and communal icons of ‘Byzantium’. While retaining the frontal, focused style of mummy portraits, icons became windows to the divine, emphasizing a direct, spiritual connection with the viewer.
In both mosaics and icons, there's a clear line of continuity from the naturalistic art of Late Antiquity to the more symbolic and spiritual representation of the ‘Byzantine’ era. This evolution reflects a broader cultural and religious shift, and today I keep that evolution shifting further, focusing the art style back on to a more ancient subject of focus, Hestia.
This also gives us a glimpse into an alternate timeline, where the traditional religions lived on publicly and could have evolved this way on its own. We have a surviving tapestry from the 6th century Egypt featuring Hestia and we can see that such changes were already present and underway.
I also think it is important for myself, as a Greek, to not mentally trap myself in a classical mindset where the classical is the standard to judge all things. Why should a millennium of art and mode of expression be forfeited to the Orthodox Christians? I have a claim to this way of expression as well, so reclaiming it feels appropriate.
I think this is also a helpful reminder for others to expand outward from the classical, which is so often focused on, and explore other expressions of Hellenism across history: Ancient, Modern, and In-between!