What If A Former Murderer Came To My Temple For Help?

In a discussion on this subject some time ago, I decided to draw my own conclusions on the matter, and that question is basically, "Is there an offense someone can make that can forever be unrepairable with the Gods?" In other words, is there a mistake that can make sure you can never be a Hellenist? Or at least, make sure you could never be part of any group or organization? I have thought about this myself extensively, "What if someone had been convicted of murder, served their time, wanted to change and be Hellenic, and came to my temple for help?" I might first conclude that they were sent to me for a reason, however that may have worked itself out.

Let's first be clear as to what murder is. Murder is not when you are forced to kill someone in order to save your life or the life of someone you care about. It's not even automatically murder to simply kill someone in and of itself. Accidentally causing someone's death is homicide or manslaughter. Murder is when you intentionally take someone's life who is posing no threat to your physical well being. In short, it's an intentional unjustified killing of another human being. It's absolutely the worst offense someone can make.

In ancient Greece, whether or not someone could atone and return to the religious community was based on what kind of killing had taken place. For self-defense or accidents, they could be purified and return. For premeditation, it may have been considered incurable at least in some instances. That's not to say they could no longer worship the Gods, but they may not be able to come back to certain temples, sanctuaries, or other religious orders in their communities. There was also no such thing as life imprisonment in ancient Greece. The City wouldn't have wanted to pay for someone for that long. You were executed or exiled if you were guilty of premeditated murder. In Early Homeric Times, murder could be cleared through reparations to the family or exile. 

It must first be kept in mind that purification was not just about the individual. If they came into a temple or participated in a City's ceremony while having such pollution, it could disrupt everything else. So it wasn't only about punishing them specifically, it was about protecting the spiritual welfare of the entire Polis. So the ultimate question is, "Can they be purified? Can the Gods remove that pollution?" Yes, they can. But only they can make that choice. They can do anything, and therefore, that means they can clear someone of murder. 

If such a man or woman came to me for help with sincere remorse after having served their sentence, I would take them to a calm place in Nature and use every means and every tool possible at my use to cleanse them of the miasma. I would start with purified water blessed by the Gods, then into sulfur purification for some of the most powerful, invoking Gods such as Zeus Kosmetes (Orderer), Zeus Hikesios (of Suppliants), Zeus Katharsios (of Ritual Purification), Zeus Prostropaios (Turner of Pollution), Zeus Soter (Savior), and Zeus Meilikhios (Gracious and Merciful). I would invoke Apollon Alexikakos (Averter of Evil), and pray for His cleansing and purifying light. I would also perform my temple's Dionysian Rite, invoking Dionysos as the God of Rebirth and life. In short, everything and everyone I could think of to free this person from the worst of crimes.

Then I would advise them to make a great sacrifice to the Gods, acknowledging their wrongdoing, accepting all the consequences, making possible reparations to the family of the deceased, and expressing sincere devotion to a better life. All of this might indeed ensure that they could start their own personal and private life as a Hellenist. As for me, I helped the suppliant as best as I could. 

As far as entering my temple, I would honestly be torn on the issue. On the one hand, I have a strong belief in redemption, simply because I believe the Gods can do anything for someone, and there were Heroes in Greek religion who atoned for terrible offenses, including murder. But I would also be compelled to think about the comfortability of the other members. Perhaps divination would be in order. I would turn to the Gods for an answer. They might advise a probationary period for the person before they could enter. There could be several possibilities. But the person could still ask for my counsel and learn from all the information out there for worshiping the Gods and being Hellenic in their own life. I would tell them that they can rebuild their own life from this point onward.

What do you think?

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Sources - 

Google, Life In Prison In Ancient Greece, 2026, Link

Google, Purification of Murder in Ancient Greece, 2026, Link