Ellinais — Wikipedia

Ellinaïs (In Greek: Greek. ) is the Greek acronym of the Sacred association of the faithful of the old Hellenic faith ( Greek ancients ), religious organization based in Athens to bring together the Olympian polytheists of Greece.

Ellinaïs claims that its rituals can take place on the sites of the former Olympian sanctuaries (which places it in conflict with the administration of historic monuments and with the unions of tourist guides) and that marriages, onomastic recognitions and other Olympian ceremonies are officially recognized by civil status, like Christian baptisms and marriages. Ellinaïs Also has political positions, militant for world peace, the preservation of the environment, the right to education for all, gender equality, religious tolerance. The political orientations of its members are however very diverse, but they are asked to keep them for them, as well as their sexual orientations; The group has initiation degrees ^{[ first ]} .

Although considered as a sect by the Orthodox Church of Greece, the association of the faithful of the Hellenic faith does not reject primitive Christianity, considering that its contacts with the Hellenism of the origins were not always conflictual, at least as long as Christian dogmas were not fixed by successive attempts to impose a doctrinal unity ^{[ 2 ]} .

Founded in 2005 and led by a board of directors of 34 members, especially academics, Ellinaïs was recognized by the Greek state as a religious organization. She intends to “represent believers faithful to the ancient gods of Olympus, persecuted for seventeen centuries, living clandestinely and passed to esotericism” ^{[ 3 ]} . In the Byzantine era the majority of Greeks, Christianized, defined themselves as Rhyme ( Romance , that is to say Orthodox and subjects of the Romania , official name of the Empire), but the polytheists were called Greeks ( Hellenes ), name synonymous with pagan For Christians ^{[ 4 ]} .

The January 22, 2007 , Ellinaïs Bringing together about 300 faithful, which, dressed in tunics and chitons and guarded by the Hoplites of the order service, returned a public cult to the temple of Olympian Zeus of Athens, singing hymns and dancing in procession to celebrate anciently The wedding of Zeus and Hera (ceremony known by Hesiod ^{[ 5 ]} ). Television and media were invited ^{[ 6 ]} . Ellinaïs claims 350,000 faithful including small groups in the Greek diaspora; Police recognize him between 15,000 and 20,000 ^{[ first ]} .