December 17, 2008
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Io Saturnalia!
You say it, “Yo,” as in “yo ho,” or “yo, bro.” It is an old Latin interjection, related to “ho” (as in “ho ho ho”), and used in ancient Rome in much the same way “yo” is used even now.
Saturnalia began as an annual feast day in commemoration of the dedication of the Temple of Saturnus, a major Roman deity of agriculture and harvest, on December 17. Then came the Opalia, on December 19, the feast day of Ops, the goddess of plenty. After a while, the feast days sort of grew together and the party stretched out to fill the middle day. By late in the Empire it bumped up against the Feast of Sol Invictus on December 25th, celebrating the lengthening of days after the Winter Solstice, the victory of the sun over winter’s dark.
In Cicero’s time, the celebration took up a week. Augustus ordered that it be shortened to three days, then Caligula extended it to five days. Despite official attempts to shorten the celebration, the people wanted to party. In addition to food, drink, and merriment, Saturnalia featured role reversals. Slaves reclined on couches and were served by their masters. The attractions of that merrymaking for the slaves is obvious. The Roman Patricians also found cause to enjoy the festivities as they were freed from their normal duties and mores. Accounts that survive suggest that Saturnalia was a time of “anything goes.”
Comments (8)
I just watched something on the History channel about Christmas and they mentioned the part of the slaves being the ones being cared for during a celebration. I wasn’t paying much attention to the program, but did pick up on that part…
Despite official attempts to shorten the celebration, the people wanted to party. Well… yeah.
you mean it’s not Jesus’s birth? like the church said.
No ,really I heard the church took the pagan holidays and made them their own
People sure do love to find reasons to celebrate and have a great holiday!
I had heard that about the role reversal and found it interesting! Never having had servants I wouldn’t have a clue about how that would all work out on a mythical level.
sup ‘ho.
Or am I being a little too respectful?
I was looking at Cicero/Seneca quotes the other day:
“The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.”
@jillcarmel - Yeah, pretty much every Christian holiday coincides with a Pagan one. As do certain Saints, feast habits, etc… Really, it was their way of saying “well, since you do this anyway, come play with us instead…”
@fly46 - yes, it’s interesting isn’t it?
It’s all erroneous the thing you are saying.
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