Greek Gods and Russell Rhodes Ornaments

Any historian will tell you that Jesus replaced Zeus, the ruler or King of the Greek gods. Nevertheless, some of the traditions from the days of Zeus, Hera and other gods from Mount Olympus carried over into the Christmas celebrations.

Before the days of actual Christmas trees, the gods were worshiped with fragrant branches and incense made from those branches. Palm fronds were frequently used to cover the flooring, and candles were used both for light during worship, as well as offerings. Small baubles of glass, similar to the beads of today, were often given as token offerings to honor a particular Greek god. When you take each of these traditions alone, little similarity is immediately evident. However, taken as a whole, it is easy to see how we arrived at a Christmas tree and Christmas ornaments in celebration of the gods of our time. The plural became singular based on the one-god concept popularized by Jesus and his disciplines, yet the materials of worship carried forward. It is out of this tradition that Russell Rhodes designed his earliest Ornaments constructed of glass, and religious in nature. In an historical context, Russell Rhodes created Mount Olympus, Our Lady of Athens, Zeus, Hera, Athena, and several of the other Greek gods as souvenirs in tourist shops throughout Greece. At the same time, Jesus, Joseph, and Mary ornaments were developed for nearby Italian destinations, including Vatican City.

From these early beginnings, Frankincense, Myrrh, and the gifts of the Wisemen were created into Christmas ornaments, sold alongside the Greek gods. While the latter was no longer a religious item in nature, one can see how the traditions form a fluid evolution from one form of worship to another. Today, the heaven of the Greek gods is relegated to myth and story telling, while the Heaven of the Christian faith is considered a lofty, high, valuable spiritual goal by millions of believers worldwide.

Whatever the viewpoint one holds, we can see that the basic materials involved in worship have scarcely changed in 10,000 years. Even the Atlantis story which predates Greek mythology has tales of glass balls being used in temple worship. While the names of the gods are hotly disputed, we can see that Christmas ornaments have an incredible long tradition spanning much more than a mere 2000 years.