Devotees invoke ancient Greek deities on Mount Olympus foothill

By Alexandros Avramidis

MOUNT OLYMPUS, Greece (Reuters) - Dressed in white robes and colourful tunics, devotees of polytheism each year honour gods on Mount Olympus with ceremonies they say can revive the ethos, rituals and lifestyle of the ancient Greeks.

The four-day Prometheia festival has been running since 1996, attracting visitors to the foothills of Mount Olympus, where according to mythology ancient Greek gods lived. Organisers say it aims to infuse ancient Greek values and spirit into modern life.

"Olympus is the great journey towards Hellenism. It is the abode of the gods and everything starts from here," said 55-year old Georgia Altintasiotou, President of the Cultural Association “Prometheus Pyrforos” which organises the festival.

This year, the July 4-7 festival kicked off with a torch-lighting ceremony and a relay from the archaeological site of Dion to an area called the Prometheus grove.

Raising their hands to the sky, pouring wine on the ground and dipping their feet in Enipeas river, participants said they aimed to appease or honour gods or urge deities to purify their souls.

"Polytheism ... recognises the divine within the world, which manifests itself in many forms, with different entities, the so-called gods and goddesses," said Christos Pandion Panopoulos, a founding member of the religious community conducting some of the rituals.

The festival takes its name from Prometheus who, according to mythology, stole fire from the Olympian gods to offer it to humankind.

"Every element of nature is a god, a goddess," Altintasiotou said. "As a Greek woman and as a human being, I have an obligation towards this divine whole, to take care of it, to love it."

(Reporting by Alexandros Avramidis; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Andrew Heavens)