Peyton Christ Dr. Tanner HUM 2210 30 September, 2014 High and Mighty Gods Religion is one of the most controversial modern-day topics due to the relevancy it holds in the lives of so many people. Today, many people trust in God, or a higher power of their own to establish their purpose and destiny, similar to the Ancient Greek belief in their own gods. Greek gods were prevalent in everyday life, similar to religions today, but instead of merely a spiritual connection, they were said to use physical powers to help benefit others, based on who was favorable. Gods of the era could intervene in physical human situations to connect with their followers, for example Apollo answering Chryse’s prayers regarding his daughter being captured. Gods communicated …show more content…
Gods shared many flawed human characteristic traits, such as selfishness and greed. Since some gods resembled humans, this effected how they dealt with human affairs and behaviors that they disapproved of. The Greek gods had an enormous amount of power which meant their ways of divine intervention were very important to mortals, ultimately because it could affect ones fate. Twelve gods had control over every aspect of life such as Apollo who was king of the sun to Poseidon, king of the sea. In Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey,” Odysseus experienced the positive and negative effects of the mighty power these gods had. After the Cyclops whom is the son of Poseidon, informed Poseidon that Odysseus is the one who blinded him, he begs his father to make sure Odysseus does not return home or to have everyone he is with be killed throughout the rest of the journey. (Homer Book IX) Poseidon becomes enraged, and then proceeds to create two waves that crashed upon Odysseus. By the help of Leucothea, the White Goddess, Odysseus was able to survive which made Poseidon even angrier. Poseidon claimed how the rest of Odysseus journey would not be easy, implying that he could intervene at any time to effect Odysseus (Homer Book IX). Poseidon used his immortal powers to create a deathly fate for Odysseus because he was unsatisfied with the actions that Odysseus took. This illustrates the importance of gods in Ancient Greek times and represents just how powerful gods could