Importance of Greek Religion

Greek religion was centered upon its gods, a family of immortal beings who lived upon Mount Olympus (Freeman 126). Each god or goddess was seen to have certain roles in nature, human emotion, or both (Bowra 43-44). For instance, Zeus, the head of the gods, was “a father figure, . . . the bringer of military victory, a symbol of sexual potency, the protector of justice, and the upholder of rulers as well as the god of thunder and lightning” (Freeman 128). However, aside from their remarkable powers, the Greek gods were distinctly human-like. They were shaped like humans in Greek art, and they were believed to behave like humans as well (Bowra 44; Cahill 235). Historian C. M. Bowra asserts that “they [were] able to live as men would like to live if they were not continually dogged by care for the morrow” or fear of death; Thomas Cahill notes that “they [had] power beyond the dreams of the world’s most powerful king, but they exercise[d] this power just the way he would—heavy-handedly, often mercilessly, even spitefully. And they [were] taken up with their own predictable domestic crises—who’s sleeping with whom, who’s getting back at whom, who’s belittling whom” (Bowra 45; Cahill 235). Since the gods were so unpredictable, the Greeks tried to appease them and influence their wills with a wide variety of rituals, most notably sacrifices (Freeman 134). However, nothing was guaranteed, and if one had angered the gods, one could expect retribution rather than forgiveness (Freeman 139; Cahill 238). Cahill notes that in Greek religion, “we must pay for our sins, whether these are conscious or not—and if the sins are big, we must pay big time” (238). Indeed, Thomas Africa notes, “Greek communities feared divine vengeance in the form of plague and disaster far more than any immediate threat of violence from a feud” (91). The gods did not easily forget infractions, often dragging out their punishment for generations (Freeman 133).

            Another prominent feature of Greek religion was its mythology. The Greek myths were a series of often-interconnected stories about “the exploits of gods and heroes” (Freeman 145). Some made clear the purpose and significance of certain rituals; others attempted to explain occurrences in nature that the Greeks could not scientifically understand; and a few seem to have mainly served to entertain (Bowra 103-106). In general, however, Greek mythology “explain[ed] present-day phenomena by reference to the dim and distant past” (Burckhardt 28).