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Ancient Greek society
Ancient Greek society
Gods of ancient Greece
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Greek Religion
The ancient Greeks with their brilliant and imaginative spirit created a complete order of things that functioned harmoniously in the infinite world that contained them. Although its exact origins are lost in time, Greek religion is thought to date from about the 2d millenium B.C., when the culture of Aryan invaders fused with those of the Aegean and Minoan peoples who had inhabited the region of Greece from Neolithic times [1]. The beginning and the genesis of this world occupied the ancient Greeks in much the same way it did the early people of every civilization. Greek religion was at the beginning a blend of Minoan, Egyptian, Asian, and other elements, but it subsequently evolved along with Greek thought.
The early Greeks interpreted natural forces and unexplained phenomena in what they considered a reasonable way, true to a system of laws which arose from a respect for the superior beings who defined and ruled the universe. The stimuli from the environment and the incredible vastness they saw around them, made these early people deify abstract concepts, elements of nature and all the other amazing things they believed regulated their fortunes and their survival. The divinity that was worshipped above all others during prehistoric times was Mother Earth. Mother Earth was frequently identified with the goddess of fertility and the cultivation of the earth was clearly connected to religious practices.
These early divinities soon no longer satisfied the imagination of the Greeks or their yearnings of religion. People wanted more actively involved gods to keep them company in their daily lives and to take a position in regard to their problems. The early gods evolved with Greek thought and the scepter of th...
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...ympian religion emphasized the limits of humans, the religious and mysterious Eleusian and Orphic Mysteries offered the Greeks a sense of immortality (rebirth), a comfort to the fact that humans die. These mysteries were an aim to overcome the fear of death and achieve a spiritual purification (resurrection). And they seemed to be successful at that as the participants to these mysteries returned from their pilgrimage full of joy and happiness and with the fear of death diminished.
Bibliography:
1. The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Second Edition, Columbia University Press, New York, 1989
2. Sofia Souli, Greek Mythology, M. Toubis Editions, Athens, Greece, 1995
3. The Bacchae of Euripides, A New Version by C. K. Williams, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, 1990
4. Readings on Sophocles, Don Nardo, book editor, Greenhaven Press, San Diego, 1997
The Greek Orthodox Church is one of the three major branches of Christianity, which "stands in today's society as one of the communities created by the apostles of Jesus in the region of the eastern Mediterranean, and which spread by missionary activity throughout Eastern Europe" .The word orthodox comes from Greek, this means right-believing. Currently, the orthodox religion has more than 174 million followers throughout the world.
...ardless of how "good" or "bad" they were, and despite constant worship the Gods did not intervene. Having witnessed such horrors, it is understandable that people of those times, such as Sophocles, would have taken a step back and wondered if the Gods were actually there. Having gone through a period as such, it is only natural for even the most faithful to doubt a little, which was evident from the absence of interaction between Gods and men in Sophocles’ work, Electra. However, it is clear as had been previously pointed out, that while belief in the literal truth of the myths was suppressed, the Gods did live on in the hearts of the Athenians.
These aspects of their culture have made a significant contribution to their quality of life. Moreover, these topics will be examined in relation to the twelve Olympian gods and their associates. The ancient Greeks practiced a religion that was, in effect, a building block to many ensuing pagan religions. This religion revolved around their reverence for the gods. Essentially, the Greeks worshipped numerous gods, making their religion polytheistic.
In Greek mythology and literature, the Gods are always present in some shape or form. It has been recorded in ancient Greek literature that the Gods interacted with mortal humans quite often. Nothing would change a mortal human’s life more than interacting with the Gods. What is the reason for such events? The Olympian Gods constantly intervene with the mortals, but what is the cause? The Gods show their power over mortal men through divine interaction, physically and psychologically. The Gods and mortals interact in many different ways, but the natures of these interactions are what truly explain and describe how ancient Greeks recognized their Gods.
Rational doubt sharply separated the Greek system of beliefs from other systems based on religious notions. The effect it had in Classical society was to sweep away convoluted magical explanations and replace them with the mechanism of logic. In societies which preceded Greece -- such as the ancient Egyptians, Hindus, and aborigines -- it was generally held that time was cyclical, and meandered back and forth between reality and myth. Furthermore, in these cultures there was typically no distinction made between the "in here" space of human imagination and the "out there" space of reality. In fact, the mixing of the inner space of dream, trance, and myth with the real space of everyday existence was a characteristic of nearly every cultural system of beliefs worldwide before the Greeks.
The Greeks believed that the earth was formed before any of the gods appeared. The gods, as the Greeks knew them, all originated with Father Heaven, and Mother Earth. Father Heaven was known as Uranus, and Mother Earth, as Gaea. Uranus and Gaea raised many children. Amoung them were the Cyclopes, the Titans, and the Hecatoncheires, or the
gods, each given a personality and purpose. And was the subject of many myths and legends that would be told for many generations to come. They were to become the basis for a religion that would last for hundreds of years and would yield thousands of followers to believe in the made stories of these enchanted people or gods as they were called.
The idea of gods and goddesses began as far back as the ancient Egyptians, but the ancient Greeks were the first group to form a religion based on gods and goddesses. They believed that the gods and goddesses were not different from humans. Some of the few ways humans were different from gods were that the gods were stronger and lived forever. Since the Greeks believe in many gods, they are Polytheists.
Ancient Egyptians tried to understand their place in the universe. This is why their mythology is centered on nature such as the earth, sky, moon, sun, stars, and the Nile River. There are many Egyptian myths of creation, but the Heliopolitan Tradition, Hermopolitan Ogdoad, and the Memphite Theology are the most commonly used. They all have some common elements and gods. For example, many of t...
People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...
...other due to jealousy issues. They didn’t want to be punished due to jealousy so they worshipped the gods equally. They had temples for each god and had a priest maintain the temple. Most temples contained an altar in which animals and food were sacrificed as offerings. They also had oracles which made important decisions by asking the gods about things the Greeks wanted to know. Although people did fear the gods and their punishments, there were significances to having them exist. For example, people fear death because death is unknown. Thanatos was created to provide a person with the sense of comfort in the idea that there is someone who knows about the afterlife and for the fact that one would not be alone when journeying to the afterlife. The Greeks believed that the gods controlled everything and that their goal as the Greek culture was to make the gods happy.
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).
Throughout time each civilization has spread its folklore about their gods. Mythology is the collection of a societys myths and during older times mythology was thought to be created by the people who did not see the world like everyone else. Those people saw the world full of beautiful, magical possiblities. Many of the stories still hold an impact on the world today. Maybe not in the sense of worship, but people are intrigued to figure out the state of mind of the ancient people that once worshipped these gods. Some civilzations worshipped these gods in hope that they would help them in their daily lives. Most civilizations had gods for everything taht imacted their lives. Civilizations had gods that controlled the weather, the harvest, or
Because of the under development of science, Ancient Greeks used mythologies and associated to the gods anything that they could not explain or understand, which also have revealed many aspects of their culture and society, including their views toward gods. Through the survived works of ancient Greeks, one can see that the concept of exchange plays a center role in the relationship between human beings and gods; and that the ancient Greeks had absolutely and undeniably respect for their gods, who are human-like and demand to be glorified.
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.