Religion in Ancient Greece, Research Paper Example

Ancient Greek society inherently combined politics and religion in Greeks often referred to as the divine sphere.  The religious basis of each Greek polis is so profound, that the idea of a separable “religion” and “state” is meaningless in the ancient Greek context.  Many historians and philosophers believe that being a member of a polis was, for a Greek, inseparable from worshipping the god of that particular polis.  In other words, the values of the religion depended on the context of the polis.  This means that the widespread function of religion in the modern world, in which communal life is very secularised, and not thoroughly intertwined with all areas of public and social interactions, can be contrasted with that of ancient Greeks, where religion was just as much a part of governmental function.  Ancient Greek religion, then, cannot be simply regarded as religious; it is, instead, a cooperation of supernatural beliefs, cults (threskeia) and ritual practices.

Meanwhile, foundational scriptures like the Bible did not exist in ancient times; therefore, the aspects of Greek religion were predominantly understood through various sources such as literary texts, epigraphic documents and archaeological findings.  These include epic poems of Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey, Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, Homeric Hymns and Histories by Herodotus.  Although the Greeks did not define themselves as polytheists, their “religious system” was certainly a polytheistic one, since it was characterised by the plurality of recognised transcendent gods that the cults observed (Zaidman & Pantel, 1992).  Most of the gods were linked with a special area of activity or had a dominion over a certain aspect of nature, for instance, Aphrodite was associated with love, Athena with the use of technical skills and warfare, and Poseidon with power over the sea.  From these individual characteristics, each polis had a local god who was significant to the circumstances of that particular polis, as well as protecting and guiding its residents.  For example, since the Greeks were often in warfare, and Athena was seen as a protector of cities (Polias), fortified centres of many cities housed a temple and may paid their high respects.  Nonetheless, since the Greeks worshipped similar gods, all city-states would have also sought favour of the other gods.  According to Thales, everything for the Greeks was ‘full of gods.’  As the Greeks saw it, the divine simply manifested itself in diverse aspects, which is partly the reason for a different deity being worshipped by each separate polis.

The notable feature of Greek religion is that the Greeks did not view their gods as forgiving or “flawless”.  Instead, the gods were often portrayed through traditional tales as having human qualities and feelings.  Yet, the gods were immortal and possessed merely limited power and areas of knowledge; they were subject to fate; and they intervened constantly in the affairs of men.  Holy places, such as temples and sanctuaries, went to major gods and goddesses such as the Olympians.  According to Plato, “a city’s sacred acropolis ought to be dedicated to Zeus as king of the gods, to Athena as protector of the city and Hestia as goddess of the civic heart.”  Hesiod describes the gods as having total power over natural and social forces, and therefore, the Greeks believed that if they pleased the gods, good fortune would ensue, be it in harvest, politics or family affairs.  After all, the Greeks concluded that gods play an indispensable role in all areas of life, and they were interested in internal politics such as war, diplomacy and administration of the government.

The Greeks expressed their respect to the gods through rituals, which were often organised around a particular cult, and they varied greatly in form from one divinity, and one city, to another.  The forms of worship occur from the simplest individual dedication of first-fruits (aparkhai) or the poring of libation (sponde), prayer and sacrifice, to grandest civic festivals, which was a major public expense.  In Euripides’ Bacche, one such festival was the spring festival Anthesteria, which was held in honour of the god Dionysus.  The festival represented memorable turning points of the lives of young children and was based around the opening of new wine, which an act was accompanied by ritual where the community drank together.

Religious obligations were associated with “everyday activities” of all Greeks, and hence all facets of their government.  Most importantly, government decision making typically relied on divination such as omens and oracles; these means of communication through a deity was possible for the Greeks to seek advice and guidance for their daily life matters.  At the oracle, for instance, a special priest and priestess who could “interpret” the message, which were often mysterious and vague, and would pass on the message of the god’s answer to a question.  One of the most famous oracles was the temple of Apollo at Delphi, which played a highly important role in the life of ancient world; according to Herodotus, King Croesus of Lydia used the oracle as the consultation before their attack on the Persians. Therefore, it is clear that the polis and religion were entirely inseparable.

There was no more distinction between the sacred and secular in private life than there was in public life.  The polis was not the only arbiter of cults and religious practices.  Some associated solely to the oikos (household) or with family and descent-groups (genoe).  The rituals and beliefs surrounding critical points in a person’s life cycle, such as birth, marriage and death, were all part of ‘private (or family) religion’ and were all marked by rituals.  For example, according to an Attic Orator Isaeus, at birth, a newborn baby would be ceremonially carried around the hearth, and be made sacred to the household goddess Hestia.  Nevertheless, it is the government that exercised the most central power over religious matters.  For example, everyone appearing in court, or beginning a period of public office, had to bind themselves with sworn oath to the gods.  Demosthenes describes, that at the beginning of his year of duty, an Athenian juror had to swear by “Zeus, Poseidon and Demeter, and…to invoke destruction upon himself and household if he in anyway transgresses this oath, but he shall pray if he keeps his oath there may be many good things for him.”  In warfare, to begin an expedition or a battle without preliminary sacrifice was unthinkable by the Greeks; as Thucydides states that sacrifice by no means guaranteed success, but failure to sacrifice would inevitably lead to defeat.  While private religion was mainly concerned with health, wealth and the family, state religion was concentrated largely on politics of the polis as well as the unity of the people.  The Greeks gained much of their communal identity by participating in the religious practices, and the belief in common gods unified the people within the polis, or perhaps unified people as Greeks.

For the Greeks, the religious practices and supernatural beliefs formed a framework for living, but the interaction with the sacred went far beyond these basics. For the available sources, there exist a number of difficulties in trying to understand and interpret the different aspects of Greek religion, mainly due to the fact that the way in which the Greeks perceived the world is very different from the contemporary world.  Nevertheless, provided that the sources are being treated critically and not taken as literal truth, it is possible to see the divinities as a support of a civic aim of the polis, as well as a reflection of the values, characteristics and beliefs of the ancient Greeks.