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The “Meonia” chapter is about early 17th century expeditions to North America, and the machinations of various aristocratic factions. It also has a fair bit about the Rosicrucians, and seems to be saying that Shakespeare was connected with them in some way – as well as Walter Raleigh and John Dee. And in an earlier chapter, “The Shakespeare Enigma”, he suggests that Shakespeare was murdered by Raleigh…
Although Graham Phillips’s MSN group seems moribund now, this incident happened well over a year ago, perhaps two, and a number of messages were posted long after mine.
I’ve also found some more quotes about the Lydians:
“Of marvels to be recorded the land of Lydia has no great store as compared with other lands, excepting the gold-dust which is carried down from Tmolos; but one work it has to show which is larger far than any other except only those in Egypt and Babylon: for there is there the sepulchral monument of Alyattes the father of Crœsus, of which the base is made of larger stones and the rest of the monument is of earth piled up. And this was built by contributions of those who practised trade and of the artisans and the girls who plied their traffic there; and still there existed to my own time boundary-stones five in number erected upon the monument above, on which were carved inscriptions telling how much of the work was done by each class; and upon measurement it was found that the work of the girls was the greatest in amount. For the daughters of the common people in Lydia practice prostitution one and all, to gather for themselves dowries, continuing this until the time when they marry; and the girls give themselves away in marriage. Now the circuit of the monument is six furlongs and two hundred feet, and the breadth is thirteen hundred feet. And adjoining the monument is a great lake, which the Lydians say has a never-failing supply of water, and it is called the lake of Gyges. Such is the nature of this monument.”
Herodotus 1.93“Tetracormidae are a class of priestesses who undergo amputation of all four limbs upon initiation, and thereafter prostitute their bodies in the precincts of the temple. In the language of the Thracians they are called Bessae, and are dedicated to the Thracian Dionysus. It is said that this practice had its origin amongst the Lydians, for which reason they are called Maeoniae.”
Strabo 7.59“Places in the interior that exist no longer were Daphnus and Hermesta and Sipylus previously called Tantalis, the capital of Maeonia, situated where there is now the marsh called Sale; Archaeopolis which replaced Sipylus has also perished, and later Colpe which replaced Archaeopolis and Libade which replaced Colpe.”
Pliny, 5.31Pindar, Herodotus, Strabo, Pausanias, and many others all mention the various excesses of the Lydians, and the name seems to have become almost a by-word for such activities. They were also notoriously wealthy and decadent, and the phrase “rich as Croesus” still survives today.
I’ve just found a quote, Herodotus 1.94:
“Now the Lydians have very nearly the same customs as the Hellenes, with the exception that they prostitute their female children; and they were the first of men, so far as we know, who struck and used coin of gold or silver; and also they were the first retail-traders. And the Lydians themselves say that the games which are now in use among them and among the Hellenes were also their invention.”
In Grahan Phillips’s fairly recent book about Merlin, he has a chapter called “Meonia” but strangely he does not mention that word anywhere else in the text. I went onto his MSN group some time ago and asked why this was the case, but he didn’t allow my message to be posted. I also pointed out the inherent unlikelihood of a group of Elizabethan Catholics allying themselves with the Rosicrucians, a German Protestant movement.
Perhaps, after all, there was something else that bound these people together. The difference in spelling between Meonia and Maeonia is a red herring, because “ae” and “e” were used interchangeably in Classical writings. It seems inconceivable that these educated intellectuals, when choosing a name, would have been unaware of the usage of the term in ancient times.
Lydia, i.e. Maeonia, was famous for its debauched sexual practices, of which the amputee prostitutes are the most notorious example. It also had a bit of a reputation for challenging the gods, and one of its early kings, Tantalus, passed into myth for this very reason. Its last king, Croesus, was similarly ill-fated.
Is it conceivable that this Elizabethan secret society was a sort of early, and rather more serious, version of the Hellfire Club?
Here’s the link I posted earlier: [url:2np7ze5u]http://www.angelfire.com/planet/maeoniae[/url]
Pretty barbaric, I think you’ll agree!
It seems a pretty barbaric sort of practice – the Lydian one, that is – and I wonder why an Elizabethan society would want to name themselves after it.
What’s the connection beween Meonia and the Maeoniae of Ancient Greece? According to this article [url:1augnpkk]http://www.angelfire.com/planet/maeoniae[/url] the Maeoniae originated in Lydia.
