ATHENS, Greece (AP) – A clutch of modern pagans honored Zeus at
a 1,800-year-old temple in the heart of Athens in January – the
first known ceremony of its kind held there since the ancient
Greek religion was outlawed by the Roman empire in the late 4th
century. Watched by curious onlookers, about 20 worshippers
gathered next to the ruins of the temple for a celebration
organized by Ellinais, a year-old Athens-based group that is
campaigning to revive old religious practices from the era when
Greece was a fount of education and philosophy. The group
ignored a ban by the Culture Ministry, which declared the site
off limits to any kind of organized activity to protect the
monument. But participants did not try to enter the temple
itself, which is closed to everyone, and no officials sought to
stop the ceremony. Dressed in ancient costumes, worshippers
standing near the temple’s imposing Corinthian columns recited
hymns calling on the Olympian Zeus, “King of the gods and the
mover of things,” to bring peace to t