ABSTRACT
Focusing on springs within caves, this essay considers contemporary Greek water rituals and their relation to ancient pre-Christian traditions and sites. Formerly, springs represented water nymphs, and today, springs are dedicated to the Panagia (“the All-Holy One” from Pan: all and Agia: holy) who is the Virgin Mary in her identity as Zōodochos Pēgē (that is, the Life-giving Spring). The water is thought to be particularly healing and purifying during festivals dedicated to the Panagia, such as the contemporary celebration of the “Life-giving Spring” on the first Friday after Easter Sunday. During this celebration, Athenians come to the Panagia’s chapel inside an ancient circular spring house that was hewn in the rock on the southern slope of the Akropolis to fetch “life-giving water.” The sacred spring is situated inside a cave over which a church was constructed. Comparing the modern practices with ancient evidence, this essay argues for a continual association of water sources with the sacred in Greece.
