The Greek icon
In the Orthodox tradition, all forms of icons
—portable panels, painted wall frescos, or
mosaics— become an indispensable part of
this communion of humans with the divine.
During the liturgy, the officiating priest turns
to the icons as necessary and addresses
them with prayers, exaltations, and requests
for their presence and their intercession.
Greek Silver Alms Plate from
Constantinople, circa 1800, with
vine and grape decoration and the
Nativity of Christ.
A wall of icons, known as an iconostasis
or templon, separates the nave and the
sacristy. An iconostasis includes several
key elements: the Royal Doors, by which the
priest accesses the sacristy; a row of icons
of the cardinal feasts of the Church year, and
the deisis row with Christ, the Mother of God,
John the Baptist, and that particular church’s
patron saint. The icons in the church interior
depict the life of Christ on earth. Icons of the
saints reflect the basic beliefs and structure
of the Faith itself, by serving as examples for
emulation in all Christian life.
The typical Greek Orthodox home has its
own display of icons. A Western visitor to the
Greek world noted this more than 130 years
ago: “With pious faith, the modern Greek
consecrates in every house a chamber or
an alcove for devotion. In like manner, his
Byzantine ancestors set up a sanctuary in
every spot, beautiful for situation, wherever
there were worshippers to come.” 2
Greek Orthodox families hang a water and
oil lamp to keep perpetual vigil over the
icons and the home. Traditionally, the lamp is
lit with the flame given from the priest’s own
candle at midnight on Easter Sunday. The
2. Edwin A. Grosvenor, Constantinople, (Boston:
Little Brown and Company, 1899), Volume I, page 311.
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ICONS OF THE HELLENIC WORLD
light that illuminates the “beautiful corner”
of every Greek Orthodox home symbolizes
the paschal light of Christ’s Resurrection. It
is also the light that enlightens the spirit of
all believers.
Besides the obligatory images of the Theot-
okos and Christ, the “beautiful corner” may
contain icons of saints for whom family
members are named. These icons are vener-
ated as protectors of that family member
and may, during daily life, be appealed to for
deeply felt wishes. Often, icons of a saint are
acquired when a new member of the family
is born, and the birth date is often inscribed
on the back of the wooden panel. In that
sense, many icons serve as records of births
and deaths.
When a baby is born, according to Church
rule, its parents name it after a recognized
saint. By tradition, names are also used to
commemorate grandparents, parents, or
other relatives who may have died. This
results in the proliferation of certain names
that become common among families and
even in entire villages, which again results
in large numbers of icons commemorating
the same saint from the same geographical
area.
The practice of a family space where sacred
images are kept and venerated has deep
roots going back before Greco-Roman
times. In the ancient Greek household, the
goddess Hestia, among other local deities,
was venerated around the household
hearth. In pre-Christian times, sacrifices and
other rituals were performed around the
hearth and, in many respects, the function
of the ancient Greek hearth parallels that of
the later “beautiful orner”.
Not only was the Hellenic population of