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Polytheism vs monotheism essay
What are some differences between the monotheistic religions
The role of religion in the lives of ancient Greeks
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Morals are having principles or habits with respect to right or wrong conduct (“Morals”). Having morals is something that people can have or lack. In religion, believing in a god with morals is a necessity. In Ancient Greece, however, Greek religion believed in gods and goddesses with immoral behaviors. 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). As I said before, Zeus is the father of all gods and humans. He represents the idea of an independent moral code that all humans and immortals must obey. If any god or mortal did not follow this moral code, Zeus would enforce justice and watch over the punishment of the wrongdoers (Cunningham and Reich 33). Although Zeus is known for representing a moral code, Zeus’ behavior was far from moral. “Zeus was subject to pleasure, pain, grief, and anger, but he was most susceptible to the power of Eros – love, which often got the objects of his desire in a lot of trouble with his wife, Hera. Zeus wa... ... middle of paper ... ...ede - History for Kids - Homework Help for Middle School. Web. 19 June 2011. Cunningham, Lawrence S., and John J. . Reich. Culture and Values. 7th ed. Vol. 1. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. Print. Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. "Greek Gods and Religious Practices | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Metmuseum.org. Web. 19 June 2011. Hunt, J.M. "Greek Mythology Zeus Lovers." SDSU College of Education: Home Page. Web. 19 June 2011. "Information on Zeus the Greek God." Zeus Publications Is Australia's Leading Book Publishing Company and Booksellers. Web. 19 June 2011. "Major Religions Ranked by Size." World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics. Web. 19 June 2011. "Moral." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 19 Jun. 2011.
There is no doubt in mythology that the king of gods, Zeus, is the most supreme and powerful, ruling the sky. He controls the thunderbolt, a symbol of power feared by both gods and mortals. The Greeks and Romans honored Zeus above all other gods. He is without mistake, the god of all gods. Their stories of Zeus are plenty; his designs have molded mythology from his birth. Zeus' victory in outwitting his intelligent wife, Metis, by swallowing her pregnant, was the gateway used by the Greeks and Romans to show Zeus as the greatest god to come since his father and grandfather. However, as the stories of the gods and goddesses unfold, the Greeks and Roman's interpretation of Zeus' characteristics are different. Zeus is always upheld as the king of gods, but his other personal attributes to his godly rein are conflicting. Zeus' characteristics of fearfulness of female deities, cunningness and use of trickery, and lust in Ovid's Metamorphoses compared to the Theogony are opposed due to Hesiod's true respect of Zeus versus Ovid's lack of respect of Jupiter in Roman mythology.
My research paper will investigate the Greek God Apollo. The reason I chose Apollo was I have never had a chance to look into other Gods or Goddess’ other than Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The next seven paragraphs are paraphrased depictions, stories and relational information directly related to the god Apollo The information was compiled by author: Atsma, Aaron J., on the website: Theoi.com. Theoi Project Copyright © 2000 – 2011. 12 May 2014. Each paragraph is a separate encyclopedia reference and is noted in the following footnotes reference.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995
What ancient religion contains infidelity, incest, and life-time long punishments of which were almost, if not, are unbearable? Welcome to Greek Mythology! The Ancient Greeks envisioned higher powers, such as titans, gods and many other mystical wonders to account for every unexplainable thing they saw. As a result, a series of tales of betrayal, humiliation and entrancements sprouted from the imagination of the Ancient Greeks. The international bestseller, Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths, by Bernard Evslin, engages it’s readers, while telling the narratives of the Greek Gods.
People idolized these beings and built stunning life-like sculptures of them. Zeus was the most important of all the Greek gods and also king of Mount Olympus. He became a king after overthrowing his father, who was a titan and feared that his children would become more powerful than him. He is very well known for being deceiving, and a trickster.
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. "Athena." Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1973. Print.
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.
Ingri and Edgar Parin D’alaure’s. Book of Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Dowbleday Dell Publishing Group, 1962.
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.
8. Hamby, Zachary. Greek mythology for teens: Classic myths in today's world. Waco, TX: Prufrock P, 2011.
Lawrence S. Cunningham, John J. Reich. Culture and values: a survey of the humanities. USA:Wadsworth Publishing. 2009. PRINT.
To begin with, the ancient Greeks explained the creation of the universe, in particular the Earth and its elements, by a system of anthropomorphism in which their gods are human-like and are representatives of these elements. For example, Zeus is the god of heaven while Hades is the underworld lord (Hesiod, p.145). Unlike the Christians’ god who is “flawless”, the ancient Greeks’ divinities are portrayed as humans and are far from perfect. Their gods behave like ordinary people except they are immortal and have supernatural powers. Like any human being, the Greeks’ gods have love, jealousy, sadness, etc. For instance, in Euripides’ Bacchae, Zeus falls in love with Semele, which makes Hera becomes jealous and tries to kill Semele and Dionysus (Euripides, p.209). The Greeks even have a physically imperfect god, Hephaestus. This is to say that the gods’ attitude toward mortals is affected by how people treat them as the Greeks’ gods have emotions like humans.
There once was a god named Zeus, the god of all gods, his people praised him and feared him
Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was depicted as a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance; he was regale and was almost always shown ready to throw a lightning bolt (pantheon/zeus).