Father's Day

Khairete!

I know, it’s been a while since I last posted. I’m currently going through my exam period  and I had to study and do my exams, and I still have them till the 1st of July, so I may not post again soon… The time of that I have I prefer to Facebook, chat, play EVE Online etc, rather than posting stuff on this blog. And after that It’ll be working on my archaeological temp work, writing papers for the re-examinations which I know I have, and at the end of Augustus I’ll be doing my re-examinations… Busy, busy, busy…

Now, to the topic at hand. Most countries celebrated Father’s Day yesterday, so I wanted to talk about that. The first thing I want to say is that here in Belgium Father’s Day was celebrated last week, and I only recently learned that apparently the date isn’t internationally the same

Father’s Day is a day to remember and thanks our fathers grandfathers, and in fact all our forefathers, for having taken care of us when we were children, educate us, feed us, clothe us, etc., and off course for just being there when we need them And not only is this a day when we can honour our mortal fathers, and give them presents and thanks and spoil them for a day, this is also a day we can use to honour Patēr Zeus, Father of All.

Zeus is called Father by everyone, not because he is the actual father of everyone, but because he is a Father figure to Gods and Mortals alike. He guides us, takes care of us, teaches us, and off course he punishes us when we’ve done something we shouldn’t have done. But he is always there for us if we need him, he will listen to us when we’re in distress, comfort us by his presence and his listening, and directly or indirectly will guide us to a solution. He embodies fatherhood in so many ways.

Another God that can be honoured today is Apollōn Patroös (of the Fathers). He is a protector of the family, and was honoured by Athenians and all other Ionian Hellenes as the father of Iōn, the Ancestor of the Ionians. He had a temple in Athens, which was built in 340-320 BCE, on top of an older, earlier temple to Apollōn on the same spot, which was probably destroyed by the Persians when they sacked the city.

One last thing I wanted to consider in this post is those people who have no father. If ones father has passed away one could visit his grave, but what if a father has abandoned his children and disappeared without a trace? If another person stepped in to fullfill the role of Father figure, the solution is easy, we can honour that person instead. But what if no such person exists? What can we do then? I don’t really have an answer to that, but I think the only thing to do is to make sure that you ourself (if you’re in that situation of having no father figure at all) will be an excellent father to your children once you get them (provided off course you’re a man ).

This was just something I thought deserved some attention too on this day.

‘Till next time!

About these ads