restless spirits
ancestor intermediate Athenian single tradition · 1
Restless spirits were believed to dine on the offerings left at Hekate's shrines during the Deipnon. They became angry at anyone who looked at them while they were eating. Those who looked back at these spirits could be driven insane, causing Athenians to avoid leaving their homes during the night hours of the Deipnon.
When
- First attested
- 400 BCE
- Attested period
- -400 – 900
- Historical notes
- Associated with Athenian Deipnon ritual practices documented in classical and later sources.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Hekate
Mentioned by
Sources
wikipedia (1)
Source passages
“After the meal was set out, the person placing it did not look back at it, believing the restless spirits who dined became angry at anyone who looked at them; those who looked back could be driven insane.”
#19951 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5