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The role of religion in the lives of ancient Greeks
The role of religion in the lives of ancient Greeks
The role of religion in the lives of ancient Greeks
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The Greeks were very strong in their polytheistic beliefs. Polytheism is when someone believes in more than one god. In the Greeks case, there were an unbelievable amount but there were 12 main Olympian Gods. There are also plenty of minor gods that are still important in their lives. The Greek gods impacted the lives of the Greeks through their religion and beliefs. Many people don’t know the story behind the gods and how they came into “existence”. That is what you will learn from this report. The titans were the deities that started it all. The titans ruled before the Olympian gods came along. “Cronus was the Titan god of time and the ages, especially time were regarded as destructive and all-devouring” (Atsma). Cronus was in fear of a prophecy saying that his child would overthrow him and take over. So what he thought was logical was to swallow all of his children whole. Since they were immortal, they didn’t die, they simply lived in their father’s stomach. But Rhea, the wife of Cronus, “managed to save the youngest, Zeus, by hiding him away on the island of C...
The religion of this culture group involved many gods. Unlike the present-day United States of America where the running of the country depends on the separation of church and state, religion, including the pleasing of the gods, heavily influenced the government of the ancient Greeks. Of all the gods they had, the most important gods of this religion emerged
The ancient Greeks practiced a religion that was in effect, a building block to many ensuing pagan religions. This religion revolved around their reverence to the gods. Essentially, the Greeks worshipped numerous gods, making their religion polytheistic. They believed that exercising the opportunity to choose between a wide array of gods to worship offered them a great sense of freedom that they treasured. After all, the Greeks were known for their intellectual distinction of which their means of worship played a huge part. Each city-state, or polis, thus had an affiliated god who protected and guided its residents. Within a given polis, the belief in common gods unified the people. Ultimately, the Greeks yearned for this unity and order in the universe, which is a characteristic that is not unlike that of people today. It might seem contradictory that they believed in many gods and sought organization at the same time, for larger numbers are inherently unstable. But, to the god-fearing Greeks, each god represented a different facet of life that together upheld an organized universe if each of these gods was properly appeased. To satisfy these gods, the Greeks participated in activities such as prayer and sacrifice and erected divine temples and centers for oracles in honor of specific gods. There is evidence of this institutionalization early on in the reign of the Olympian gods, thus forming the Olympian religion.
Many people would blatantly state that the importance of the gods in Greek society derives from the fact that Gods in any society are usually used to explain phenomenon that people cannot logically comprehend, but in ancient Greece gods were actually entities that took part in the workings of society itself. Even simple aspects of day-to-day life such as sex and disputes between mortals were supposedly influenced by godly workings. Unlike modern religions such as Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, where an omnipotent force supposedly controls the workings of the world, a hierarchy of Gods characterized religion in ancient Greece. Working as one big family, which they actually were, each one of the Greek gods governed a certain aspect of the world in a way that usually reflected their own humanlike personalities. These unique personalities also contained many human flaws such as envy and greed, and were where the Greek God’s importance lay. Greek religion was more concentrated on the way an individual dealt with situations that popped up in the world around him than on understanding the world itself. In other words the Greeks were more interested in the workings of the mind than in the workings of the environment around them.
The ancient Greeks knew little of any real people except those who lived in the countries to the immediate east and south of their country. Their imagination filled the rest of the land with mystical and supernatural beings. The ancient Greeks believed the earth to be a flat circular disk., with their country being in the middle of it. The disk was divided into two equal parts by the Sea(the Mediterranean). They believed the River Ocean flowed around the world from south to northen the western side of the world and vice versa on the eastern side. The Sea and all rivers around the world received water from it. The northern portion of the earth was thought to be inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans. They dwelled in endless bliss and an endless spring. They never aged, knew any disease or other unpleasant things of such. Their caverns supposedly sent piercing blasts of the north wind to the people of Greece. Their country could not be reached by land or sea. On the south side of the earth lived the Ethiopians. They were favored highly by the gods.They were as happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. On the western part of the earth was another happy place called Elysian Plain. Mortals favored by the gods were transported here without having to know death or anything but bliss.
Ancient Greek religion was a polytheistic religion that believed in many gods and goddesses. To Greeks, these gods and goddesses would be able to control everything. Each god or goddess had his or her own distinct personality and territory. “Greek myths explained the origins of the gods and their individual relations with mankind” (Hemingway). Unlike current religions, like Christianity and Judaism, Greek gods were not known for being moral or being truly good or evil. Many of the Greek gods and goddesses were disorganized and self-contradicting. Although this was apparent to the Greeks, the Greeks believed that their religion was to brighten their own lives, rather than give them godlike guidance. The best example of a self-contradicting Greek god is Zeus – father of all gods and humans (Cunningham and Reich 32-33).
Religiously the Greeks thought highly of their gods and goddesses. Greek mythology is comprised of tales that describe adventures of the Gods and how they came to be. The Greek people believed that their deities controlled their destiny. If they did all that the Gods asked them to then their lives would be fruitful and rewarding. If the people did not do as the Gods
Unlike religious gods today, the Greek gods resembled human being in form, emotions, and suffered from the same dilemmas humans did throughout their lives. The Greeks believe in many gods and think they are very much like people. They have both supernatural powers and human weaknesses. The Olympian Gods live atop Mt. Olympus in Greece behind a gate of clouds. Mt. Olympus was known as the tallest mountain in Greece. The Gods and Goddesses watched the mortals down on earth, which they can visit any time, and they are responsible for the success or failure of human life. The Greeks worship their gods, prayed to them, gave offerings, and build temples to please the gods so they will not give any punishments. Zeus was known as the leader of all
Strategy, pride, and plenty of deaths is what the Titans and Olympians brought to the battlefield during their clash in a 10-year war called the Titanomachy. The war was catastrophic and it was an event that was bound to happen. The Titans came to power when the descendants of Gaea and Uranus castrated their father due to unfair treatment, and the youngest of the first generation of Titans was Kronos and he became the Titans leader.
Have you ever wondered about the Greek gods or any god did or what happened to them? Many gods were created to control a different part of natural happenings. They had these gods because they had no other way to explain what happened like sea storms. They also were worshiped by many people because they thought what they were in charge of like sea would get mad. So a great amount of people rarely forgot to worship them. So many gods had really important roles back then, now it is explained to happen and these people are not needed but were interesting.
What is Greek Mythology? It is the myths and teachings the ancient Greeks had. One of the Greek God’s is Poseidon. He is the God of the sea, horses, and earthquakes. His parent are Cronus and Rhea. Cronus is the youngest among the Titans and the god of time and Rhea Titaness of the earth goddess (Gaia) and the sky god (Uranus). Poseidon is from the watery domains of the earth and lives in a palace under the sea. One interesting fact of this god is that he one of the five children Cronus (father of them all) has swallowed. Poseidon is the most important God of their time because he was one of the 3 major gods’ after Cronus
I have been surrounded by dead for millennia. After by brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, tricked me into making my domain in the underworld I rarely go to the surface. My brothers and sisters kicked me out of Mount Olympus. I am rarely visited by anyone unless they require something from me. Even then they are the sons and daughters of my family and those rotten demigods always steal or trick me into giving them what they want. The most recent was Hercules. He snuck into my domain, dipped himself into the river Styx, and brought his girlfriend back to life! Because of the intolerable acts of mortals I have decided to only concern myself with the dead.
Mercury-Although the Greeks saw Hermes as a crafty, cunning, and resourceful being, the Romans envisioned Mercury more as the god of commerce and trade rather than just being a god of thievery and travel.
These Gods were Gaea, the earth Goddess, and Uranus the sky God. These Gods had 12 children and these 12 children became the titans. After the titans were born Uranus feared that his children would over throw him so he tried to banish them to the underworld, but the plan failed and the titans with the help of their mother overthrew their father and ruled over the earth. After a while the titan king Kronos had five children, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, and just like his father Kronos feared his children would overthrow him so after his children were born he ate them. Now Kronos’s wife was a little annoyed that her husband was eating all of her children so when their sixth child was born she hid him. This babies name was Zeus, and after he grew up he snuck up on his father and cut open his father’s stomach letting his siblings free. Zeus and his siblings then killed all the titans and started their reign over the Earth. After the war Zeus created mankind, and had children of his own, creating the many major and minor Greek Gods we know
Did you know that a lot of lessons that your parents or grandparents tell you have derived from Greek mythology? Well if you didn’t, it’s a big possibility that they have told you lessons from the stories of Greek storytellers. Greek myths can teach you that everybody has a weakness, that good things can happen from bad situations, and that there are consequences to everything you do. Greek mythology can help you in your everyday life! Three examples of Greek mythology stories that teach can great lessons are; the story of Achilles’ and his weakness, the story about how Hercules was born, and the story about Echo and how she had got her name.
Throughout studying many myths, I came up with many new observations. Many questions came into my mind about these myths. Greek mythology takes us back to a time when people had a connection with nature and when nature played a major role in people’s lives. The religious beliefs of the people who wrote the myths are found in the background of these myths; however, they are not to be read like religious texts. The myths try to offer explanations of “how”, which makes us think deeply about the purpose of these myths and the questions they draw to our minds. According to the myths we studied in class, the world created the gods, not the other way around. The gods were always created in the image of man, which shows how much men were important in their society. Furthermore, many of these Greek myths show us the difference between the views of the Greek then and our view towards many aspects of the society, including nature. Monsters appear in Greek myths and have different representations and roles. Greek mythology reflects a view of the Greeks towards the world and how certain aspects of their lives are similar and different to modern society.