The Religious Authority Of The Ancient Greece

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Civil religion has an entirely different characterization in the generations of the ancient Greeks than what it is considered in modern America. For the ancient Greeks civil religion was a control of religion through the use of imperialistic practices to afford better spiritual health of the state by subjecting its people to orthopraxy specified by the religious authority. The practice of civic religion in ancient Greece comes in many forms that range from law imposing a consequence to transgression, electing priesthoods to the most common of citizens and even religion personal to each household. Many aspects of ancient Greece reflect the integration of state and religion this aspect is even displayed in the layout of the state’s buildings.
For the religion to be civic the people would also be obliged to worship specific divinities, even though they were allowed worship external to the state gods, the people needed to be sure whether those deities were accepted by the state so as not to take away from the recognized deities. The theme of religion was so imbedded that even though some offices of priesthood were appointed, the majority of them were elected with no other qualification than absence of blemish or citizenship. These offices would need to be conducted in such a manner as to not bring pollution to the temple of the gods, which would be seen as a type of blasphemy. Making one person’s religious practices the entire states business and creating an amalgamation of religion and state.
A prime example of the lack of division between religion and state is the office of the Archons. The offices were appointed by the Areopagus, a board of ex-archons. These offices were separated into different classifications and were responsibl...

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... the citizens.” The control of a state’s citizens by invoking the wills of the gods is what is at heart of a civic religion because the ancient Greeks recognized there unity in their community. They knew as a culture they were strong together and their religion was an extension of this ideal.
Through the practice of state rituals and festivals, enforcing laws of piety and making the gods relatable to their citizens the ancient Greeks successfully employed religion in their everyday lives. Whether they were going to war, opening an assembly session, or seeking to be healed they always consulted with the gods first. Religion was not a trip to church on Sunday or a prayer before a meal. Religion was the powers and energies that an ancient Greek person encountered daily. Their religion was who they were as a people, so heavily rooted it was what caused their existence.

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