Luther professor speaks about fraternal organizations in ancient Greece

(Left to right): Decorah Lions Club 1st Vice President Kim Sheppard and Luther Classics Professor Philip Freeman

Service organizations like Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis can trace their roots back more than 2,000 years.  That's the message Luther classics professor Philip Freeman presented to members of the Decorah Lions Club recently.

Freeman, the chairman of the Classics Department at Luther College, says the first records of such groups go back as far as 500 B.C. in Athens, Greece.  Often the basis of the organization was to honor one of the gods, but the purpose, then as now, was to build social and business connections, as well as philanthropy and supporting the community.

Many times the purpose of the fraternity was to provide services to members that the government did not, such as helping people in need or assuring decent burial services for members.

During the Hellenistic period, from 300 B.C. through the first century A.D., these groups were very popular throughout the eastern Mediterranean.  Some were more religion based than others, one was made up of members of the military dedicated to the Persian God of war, with the initiation rite involving being bathed in the blood of a bull.