Local titles are often derived merely from the town or district in
which the church stands, as Our Lady of Tenos, or S. Gerasimos of
Cephalonia. In other cases they have reference to the surroundings
of the sanctuary. The chapel of the Virgin in the monastery of
Megaspelaeon consists of a large cave at the foot of some towering
cliffs, and the dedication is to our Lady of the Golden Cave (Παναγία
χρυσοσπηλαιώτισσα). In this case the word ‘golden’ is an imaginative
addition, for the interior is peculiarly dark: but the dedication has
been borrowed, owing to the repute of the original shrine, by churches
which have not even a cave to show. In Amorgos S. George has the title
of Balsamites, derived from the balsam which covers the hill-side on
which stands his church. In Paros several curious dedications are
mentioned by Bent, which he renders as Our Lady of the Lake, Our Lady
of the Unwholesome Place, and S. George of the Gooseberry[95]. In
Athens there is a church of which the present dedication is said to be
due to a fire which blackened the _icon_ of the Virgin, who is known
on this account as Our smoke-blackened Lady (Παναγία καπνικαρέα), or,
it may be, Our Lady of the smoky head, according as the second half of
the compound is connected with the Turkish word for ‘black’ or the now
obsolete Greek word κάρα, ‘head[96].’
Titles denoting functions are equally numerous and quaint. In Rhodes
the Archangel Michael is invoked as πατητηριώτης, patron of the
wine-press[97]. S. Nicolas, who has supplanted Poseidon, often assumes
the simple title of ‘sailor’ (ναύτης). S. John the Hunter (κυνηγός)
owns a monastery on Mt Hymettus. In Cimolus there is a church of Our
Guiding Lady (Παναγία ὁδηγήτρια)[98]. SS. Costas and Damien, the
physicians, are known as the Moneyless (ἀνάργυροι), because their
services are given gratis. S. George at Argostóli has been dubbed the
Drunkard (μεθυστής)[99]--thus furnishing a notable parallel to the
hero celebrated in old time at Munychia as ἀκρατοπότης[100]--because
on his day, Nov. 3rd, the new wine is commonly tapped and there is much
drinking in his honour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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