Greek Religion - Information about ancient mythology
The Greek religion consists of a collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece. Greeks did not have a term for the Greek religion and based their beliefs on the fact that the gods exercise authority over the fortunes of human beings and demand recognition as a condition for salvation. The Greeks spoke of their religious doings as “ta thei,a” which means “things having to do with gods.” The Greek religion was based on the concept that the gods existed so it was unnecessary for people to state that they believed in the gods. However, in the Greek religion, a person could show themselves to be more or less aware of the gods, which was termed “nomizein.” To nomizein the gods was to acknowledge their place in the scheme of things and to act appropriately by giving them due respect. Greeks all recognized the twelve major gods (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Athena, Hermes, Dionysos, and Demeter). However, in different locations these gods had such different histories with the local peoples as often to make them rather distinct gods or goddesses. There was no single true way to live in dealing with the gods. Each individual city was responsible for its own temples and sacrifices, but it fell to the wealthy to sponsor the festivals, processions, choruses, dramas, and games held in honor of the gods.
Individuals had a great deal of freedom in dealing with the gods in the Greek religion. After a very striking experience, they could bestow a new title upon a god, or declare some particular site as sacred. The lines between divinity and humanity were in some ways clearly defined, in other ways misleading. Setting aside the complicated genealogies in which gods sired children upon human women and goddesses gave birth to the children of human lovers, after death historical individuals could receive cultic honors for their deeds during life. Even during life, victors at the Olympics, were considered to have acquired extraordinary power, and on the strength of their glory, would be chosen as generals in times of war. All in all, there was no “dogma” or “theology” in the Greek religion, no nonconformity, hypocrisy, or possibility of division. Such a variety in Greek religion reflects the long, complicated history of the people of Greece.
Greek religion spans a period from Minoan and Mycenean periods to the days of Hellenistic Greece and its ultimate conquest by the Roman Empire. Religious ideas continued to develop over this time; by the time of the earliest major monument of literature, the Iliad attributed to Homer, a consensus had already developed about who the major Olympian gods were. However, changes to the rule remained possible; the Iliad seems to have been unaware of Dionysus, a god whose worship apparently spread after it was written, and who became important enough to be named one of the twelve chief Olympian deities, thus removing Hestia, the ancient goddess of the hearth.
For more information about the ancient Greek religion and the peoples and beliefs of ancient Greece, do some research online or visit your local library.