Greek Mythology played a monumental role in the structural development of ancient Greece, not only as a society, but as individuals. Surprisingly, their religion was not exactly one of originality. In fact, their religion was loosely based on earlier cultures’ religions. It bears many strikingly similar resemblances to some of the oldest recorded religions in history. Ancient Greek religion is a type of polytheism called “Monarchial Polytheism.” That is, they believe in several different gods and deities but there is a supreme ruler above all of them.
Each of these myths is very unique, and moreover, tells us much about the Greek Gods. The Greek myths in particular convey to us that Greek Gods and Goddesses looked and acted like humans, that they possessed astonishing powers, and that they interacted with humans mainly for personal purposes and sometimes to aid heroes. Firstly, Greek gods and goddesses were viewed as being to a great extent similar to men and women. To start, it is very interesting that the ancient Greeks created their Gods and Goddesses to have physical features which are exactly identical to a regular mortal; they had a head, two arms, legs, and retain the form of a human body. The proper term for this is called “anthropomorphism”, which means, “in the form of a human”.
Today we all have one god, because it is the way we were brought up, but there are many types of religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, etc. The Greek gods lived among the people on top of a huge mountain called Mt. Olympus. The Romans took over on the gods and gave them different names, but many of them had the same job or duty. There was a king of the gods and his name was Zeus he was god of the sky, and he had a wife and she was called Hera and her duty was to advise her king on the way to run things.
“Religious festivals were an important part of the social life of ancient Greek cities” (“Religion”). To worship their deity people held public and private ceremonies for them (“Religion”). They’re 12 major gods and goddesses: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Hestia (“Religion”). Even though they are the most worshipped deities, the Greeks worshipped Prometheus, the god of civilization and technology (“Technology”). “The term technology refers to the use of scientific knowledge to develop practical needs for controlling physical objects and... ... middle of paper ... ...a husband for Myrrhine” (Polio).
Other oracular shrines were located in Syria, Egypt, and Italy. It was the seat of the Delphic oracle, the most famous and most powerful of ancient Greece. The oracle originated in the worship of an earth-goddess, and later legend ascribed it to Gaea. It passed to Apollo; some stories say he won it by killing the Python, others that it descended to him peacefully through Themis and Phoebe. The Delphic oracle was the preeminent shrine of Apollo, but in winter, when Apollo was absent among the Hyperboreans, it was sacred to Dionysus, who was said to be buried there.
The main gods that were worshiped were the twelve Olympian Gods although there were others as well. The gods were in most cases given birth to like humans and were identified with one or several specific trades or other qualities that became the central idea or reason of why they were worshiped. The main gods lived on Mount Olympus, a mountain that was said to be found at the center of the earth. The Most well known of the Greek gods was Zeus. Zeus was the son of Rhea and Cronus who were the children of Gaea and Uranus .
Soon the Roman Empire would t... ... middle of paper ... ...e Roman god Mars. We use Cupid the God of Love as a symbol of St. Valentines Day. Some words used a lot in todays society like fortune comes from the Roman goddess Fortuna who was the Goddess of Fortunes. Many movies, books, and folk lore are in many ways influenced with mythology. One of the Disney company's movies was the story of Hercules the Ancient mythological warrior who was the son of Jupiter.
Both the Greeks and the Romans dedicated their temples to the gods, however, unlike temples today that are used for congregation, Greek and Roman temples were used differently. Greek temples were used as the home of a certain deity and as a place to worship the specific god that was housed there. The Romans used temples to praise a god for military victory or for a politician to show his increase of wealth and status by commissioning the construction of a temple. Roman Temples were also often used as a meeting place for people to express a multitude of social and political concerns whereas the Greek temples were typically used by one person at a time. Within the cella of both the Greek and Roman temples was an altar dedicated to the gods.
Athena The god Athena, back in time when Greece was making its mark in history as one of the great civilization of the Ancient World, there was a great deal of emphasis on the Gods and Goddesses. To the Greeks the world was governed by the Gods and they were the reason many things happened in the world, mostly things that where unexplainable. The goddess Athena was one of the many gods or goddesses that played a large role in Greek mythology. Even though Athena was the patron saint of Athens she supported other Greeks outside of Athens, such as, Achilles, Orestes, and especially Odysseus. Athena is know to be the goddess of war, guardian of cities, patroness of arts and crafts, and promoter of wisdom (Classical).
These individual gods specialized in his/her own field and they were the explanations for the many events that occurred around ancient Greece. This was important to the ancient civilizations; in fact, the ancient Greeks even built individual temples for the more important gods and goddesses. In these temples, the specified god or goddess was worshipped and treated like loyalty. But, the Greeks were not the only ones who observed this religion. Ancient Romans also followed in Greek’s footsteps, believing in multiple, similar gods and goddesses.