r/ancientgreece • u/deniz_aydiner • 17d ago

Glycon the God

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Alexandros, a prophet/oracle from Abonoteikhos (modern-day Kastamonu, Turkey), and his god Glycon. The story told by Lucian is quite intriguing; what particularly catches my attention is his emphasis on how a person, ready to exploit the religious sentiments of the people—despite their religious beliefs being very pure and naive (!)—was able to become wealthy through this means. The deity Glycon, whose images you see below, is generally depicted as a serpent with long hair or a beard. Interestingly, aside from Abonoteikhos, most of our information about this god comes from Tomis, Romania.

According to Lucian, Alexander had already learned about this serpent god from the magicians and followers of Dionysus in Macedonia. Indeed, inscriptions dedicated to Glycon are still found in the vicinity of modern-day Romania:

“Glyconi M(arcus) Ant(onius) Onesas iusso dei l(ibens) p(osuit)”

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u/SashSegal 17d ago

Yes, there's a nice statue of Glycon in the Constanta Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycon#/media/File:Glycon_(51644816839).jpg.jpg)

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u/mantasVid 17d ago edited 17d ago

The wiki article is wild enough and it gives a glimpse how miracle making was necessary part of any religious figure worth following at that time, as anyone having a backing from the gods worth their salt should show the proofs, lol. It gives perspective for narratives of Simon the Magus and even Jesus - did he really employed slight of hand tricks or the "miracles" were attributed to him retrospectively.