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. In order to fully understand how similar the mythological systems of religions have been throughout the years, you must look back towards the earliest of recorded civilizations. Polytheism dates back to the Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian religions, around the 4th millennium BC and possibly before that. The Mesopotamian people were “polytheistic yet they were henotheistic also.” They had a structural hierarchy of deities, with certain gods being superior to others. The early Mesopotamian gods just like the ancient Greek gods, “bore many similarities to humans and were anthropomorphic.” Not only did they look like humans, they also often acted like humans. They would eat, sleep, and even consume alcohol which actually led to them feeling the effects of being drunk. Another thing that both religions have in common is the fact that most of the gods and goddesses of the Mesopotamian religion were related to each other. It was a sort of “family” of deities. Their gods were labeled much in the same manner as the Greek gods. They had the 4 creator gods: god of the sky, who was also the God of Gods and ruler of their heaven, then the god of storms, the god of the earth, and the god of ... ... middle of paper ... ...nto the Christian and Muslim eras on to around 800 CE. The patron of this particular city was the God Enlil. “Enlil legitimized the rule of kings and presided over pacts.” Several of the ancient kings of Mesopotamia sent offerings and prayed at this shrine. The two most popular and famous Patron-cities of ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. Works Cited Gordon, Cyrus. The Ancient Near East. 3rd Edition, Revised. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., New York, 1965. Bottero, Jean.(2001). Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bottero, Jean.(2001)37. Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Nagle, D. Brendan. The Ancient World: Readings in Social and Cultural History. Prentice Hall 2001 Mark, Joshua J. 22 February, 2011. Mesopotamian Religion.http://www.ancient.eu.com/Mesopotamian_Religion/
T, Hurley et al. HTA Ancient History Study Guide. (2007) [Australia] History Teachers Association of NSW.
Wallenfels, Ronald and Sasson, Jack M. The Ancient Near East (New York, Detroit, San Francisco, London, Boston, Woodbridge CT.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, The Gale Group 2000)
Hause, S., & Maltby, W. (2001). The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia and Israel. Essentials of Western Civilization (pp.7-15). California: Wadsworth.
Bailkey, Nels M. Readings in Ancient History: Thought and Experience from Gilganesh to St. Augustine. Third edition. Lexington, MA: D.C.Heath and Co., 1987.
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
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).
Mesopotamian and Egyptian religions shared two key similarities: polytheism and priestly authority. The religions in Mesopotamia and Egypt were both polytheistic. Their religions were polytheistic because Mesopotamians and Egyptians could not explain many things in that occurred in their lives. Therefore, they assumed that there are different gods for everything. This means that the religion had many gods for different things. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, priests were part of the upper class and were very important in the daily lives of civilians. Priests were part of the upper class because they were thought to have the ability to communicate with the gods. In Mesopotamia, the priests held the highest authority in the religious structure. Egyptian priests were not as powerful in government as Mesopotamian priests were, but they still had significant power. Egypt’s highest religious and military leader was encapsulated in the position of pharaoh. The pharaoh was at the top of all social classes and was considered to be a god-like figure.
The ancient Greeks practiced a religion that was in effect, a building block to many ensuing pagan religions. This religion revolved around their reverence to the gods. Essentially, the Greeks worshipped numerous gods, making their religion polytheistic. They believed that exercising the opportunity to choose between a wide array of gods to worship offered them a great sense of freedom that they treasured. After all, the Greeks were known for their intellectual distinction of which their means of worship played a huge part. Each city-state, or polis, thus had an affiliated god who protected and guided its residents. Within a given polis, the belief in common gods unified the people. Ultimately, the Greeks yearned for this unity and order in the universe, which is a characteristic that is not unlike that of people today. It might seem contradictory that they believed in many gods and sought organization at the same time, for larger numbers are inherently unstable. But, to the god-fearing Greeks, each god represented a different facet of life that together upheld an organized universe if each of these gods was properly appeased. To satisfy these gods, the Greeks participated in activities such as prayer and sacrifice and erected divine temples and centers for oracles in honor of specific gods. There is evidence of this institutionalization early on in the reign of the Olympian gods, thus forming the Olympian religion.
The people thought of all the gods to be wise and would seek their guidance in certain situations. Their religious beliefs brought this respect, and in some ways fear, to honor the gods so they would be gracious in return. “Religious beliefs instilled fear of the gods, who could alter the landscape, and desire to appease them” (Bulliet, 19). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods were human like in form, but that if they were to be unhappy by something the people did, they could alter anything in their lives, and in some cases even kill
vol. 31, New Haven, Conn., Department of Antiquities of the Government of Iraq and the American Schools of Oriental Research, p. 133 (# 56). 1965,
The Mesopotamian people believed in a higher being, like most civilizations have for centuries. Their belief system consisted of many gods, each representing an aspect of Mesopotamian life. From the Epic of Gilgamesh we learn that they believed that the gods are the creators of everything around them. This is seen in this epic with the creation of Enkindu, by the goddess of creation, Aruru. We also can conclude that the god of the heavens, Anu, ruled the gods. The Mesopotamian people also had gods for death, love, and even cattle. The Mesopotamian people used the gods to explain just about every aspect of their life. Their gods were all-powerful, and could grant people godly features. For example, Gilgamesh embarks on a quest for eternal life from the gods when his fear of death becomes a reality with the death of Enkindu.
Nagle, Brendan D. (1979). The Ancient World: A Cultural and Social History. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
How did people revere their gods differently among three civilizations? Did they worship with the same general intent? What were gods’ role(s) in people’s lives? A brief exploration into the religions of Egypt, Greece, and the Hebrew people may bring insight to these questions. Although the main idea of higher beings remains constant throughout societies’ religion, their form of presence in people’s lives varies. I will present the relationship between the leaders and the gods, as well as resemblance to monotheism and systems of government.
Nagle, Brendan D. The Ancient World: A Cultural and Social History. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1979.
Bowman, John. Exploration in the World of the Ancients. New York: Facts on File, 2005.