I do not think he wanted to adventure too deeply into divine intervention because I would argue he wanted others to read his writings. This may be far-fetched because most of his documentation derives from Greek events, but he goes into a great deal in describing other cities about his travels. In Book 2 Herodotus travels to Egypt and had the privilege in discovering various distinctions of similarities between Greek and Egyptian gods. He documents that Dionysus was originally created in Egypt and his story was changed and altered when passing knowledge onto the Greeks [Histories, Book 2, 34-36]. Through the differences of culture Herodotus seems to positively include that most of what people believed in were fundamentally the same [Histories, …show more content…
tells us what he thinks or accepts that gods do, not what they are, (Mikalson, Religious Beliefs of Herodotus, pg. 139).” Herodotus stays true to the stories of his Greek roots but ventures further into the Egyptian culture and beliefs of worshipping gods to indicate that the Greeks have been influenced. It is safe to say that Herodotus keeps these stories at heart for his own writings, giving a more spiritual emphasis on the subject matter, altogether. The objective he seems to connect that heroes and villains whose needs show the result of their lack of logic to shows true in their flaws. The best evidence for the latter may be his introductory theories of the origins and development of Greek religion. I think Herodotus offers some of the greatest information on what some Greeks thought to be the origin of their religion. His recurring theme is heroes and villains whose selfish needs showcase a lack of 'human reason.' But, his mythological stories and tales provide us with information …show more content…
Philosophy that included Stoicism and some forms of Platonism used language that suggest to conceive a transcendent single god. Heraclitus mentions, “god is day-night, summer-winter, war-peace, satiety-hunger, finding him behind, and through, the perpetual tension of opposites in the world as we know it.” Then Parmenides says, “God is the universe, which in it’s totality is one and immoveable, [The World of Herodotus, The Gods, pg. 181].” But Ancient Greek theology was polytheistic, or assumed that there were many gods and goddesses. There was a hierarchy of deities, with Zeus, the king of the gods, having a level of control over all the others, although he was not omnipotent. Some deities had dominion over certain aspects of nature. For instance, Zeus was the sky-god, sending thunder and lightning, Poseidon ruled over the sea and earthquakes, Hades projected his remarkable power throughout the realms of death and the Underworld, and Helios controlled the sun. Other deities ruled over abstract concepts of nature such as love, good- will, weather, etc. [Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History,