Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
The role of gods in ancient Greek society
Ancient mesopotamia religion beliefs
Mesopotamia history
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The role of gods in ancient Greek society
Ancient mesopotamia religion beliefs
Mesopotamia history
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The role of gods in ancient Greek society
The main gods then created less powerful gods who ruled different aspects of the Earth like Utu and Nanna, gods of the sun and moon, respectively. Not knowing much on how the world worked, religion filled in the blanks for people living in Mesopotamia. Their gods had divine ruling and conducted every natural action -- including forces of nature, life and death, good and evil etc. Ziggurat, a local temple, was where everyone met to praise the gods.
They also worshipped many gods and had an elaborate system; when examining their beliefs and their deities, it resembles more of a fairy tale or fable-like quality. They worshipped many gods and prayed for things that we pray about today, but they believed their fate in the afterlife was doomed. In comparison with Egyptians, I personally would have preferred the outlook of the Greeks for the reason being that they must have put more emphasis on enjoying their earthly life. I could not imagine going through life as the Egyptians did in dedicating their life to prepare for a promised eternal life in death. Although I am a Christian, I struggle with my faith and what we do not know or what we cannot see, especially in hard times; the Egyptians were confident in their life after
1. The Illiad is a classical epic poem in the form of a long narrative poem. 2. Unitarianism is the belief that there is one God who created all things, while expansion is the belief that the world is constantly growing and changing. This is in contrast to the traditional view of the world in which there are many gods and the world is static.
Ancient civilizations were mostly built upon religions and philosophy due to lack of knowledge. For example, ancient Egyptians or Mesopotamians were polytheistic and they had thousands of gods. In a modern world, it may sound absurd to have thousands of gods each of whom has special abilities and functions for the people. Although both the Egyptians and Mesopotamians were polytheistic, one of the most significant difference between the two population was that the Mesopotamians did never believe in after-life. They considered the gods as ones that love and respects their people.
The god and goddess were used as a means to explain the environment in which humankind lived, the natural phenomena they witnessed and the passing of time through the days, months, and seasons. They were highly respected. Temples and coliseums were built in their honor. The Olympics were held in honor of the major god , Zeus. The citizens would have statues in certain places and they go and pray to each different god for their troubles.
In the ancient times many cultures were polytheistic, this meant they worshipped multiple gods. One of the most famous culture to have multiple gods was Greece. Greek mythology is now widely known and studied. The Greek gods are now longer worshipped but they are a source of much fascination for many people. Most say there are 12 major gods of Olympus, however there is some debate about which gods they are.
A lot of time and money was spent building temples for their sacred gods. Temples in Ancient Greek society can be considered a major impact on society. The temples were a place of sacrifices and religious ceremonies. Somebody had to build the temples, and this created jobs for the citizens of Greece. It wasn’t a very stable job, but it was honorable to be trusted to build the sacred temples where the gods would reside.
They associated each of their gods with a different aspect of life or nature. For example Zeus was the king of the gods, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, Dionysus was the god of wine, and the list goes on. The ancient Greeks erected massive temples to these gods for worship. Each god or goddess had his or her own temple for sacrifices or offerings. They Greeks believed sacrifice was necessary to appease the gods and keep everyday life fruitful and peaceful.
We can also learn about what was viewed as immoral or of little value. In addition, reviewing the Greek myths allows us to determine that the Greek society was generally a patriarchal society and agricultural and war were strong elements that shaped the ancient Greek society. Greek mythology and religion were integral parts of the ancient Greek society. The Greeks followed a polytheist religion in which multiple gods represented various aspects of the nature as well as skills practiced by mankind. From myths we can see that the Greeks worshipped the gods in the myths as they believed that humans were created by gods and the gods still walked amongst them so this would significantly alter mankind’s
General Ancient Greek religious beliefs affected Ancient Greek hospitality, order, and submission to the gods and goddesses. The Ancient Greeks often sent prayers to the gods. They sacrificed many things to them. They worshipped them in their everyday lives ("Greek Religion" 3). The Ancient Greeks also believed in destiny.
In the Odyssey, I feel as if the Gods role was to function more as spiritual guides and as support for the human of choice. An example being Athena reuniting Odessyus and his son after 20 years, Hermes warning Odysseus of Circes witchcraft, and Circes giving him directions. Yet, I also feel as if they punish for poor behavior as well.
With people not knowing how things naturally occurring, they would blame small things like droughts to over abundance of water on the gods. Also with the reoccurring natural disasters were to the blame of the gods. Incidents that had to do with weather were from Zeus. Weather is what controlled a person’s life according to the books of research. “Zeus was the king of the Olympian gods and the supreme deity in Greek religion.
The relationships between the Greek gods and mortals have always been complicated. The gods can be generous and supportive, but also harsh and destructive towards the humans. They claim to be all powerful beings with unlimited power and influence, but in truth, they are far more human than they are perceived. They meddle with human lives, not because they are wise, but because of their own selfish reasons. In Homer’s
‘Ancient Greeks’ of all periods have had a vast pantheon of gods for worship. The need to justify their emotions and to follow a moral code for their behaviour lead to anthropomorphism. While polytheism was created to concentrate each sphere of influence with its own deity. The Greeks experienced love, hate, anger, sadness and happiness among other emotions.
The system of government was based on philosophy rather than belief of something higher like gods. The Greeks believed in the ability of men to think rationally and govern based on reason. Greece believed more in what they could see. The Greeks government was run through the citizens, it was voted on who would rule; it was not like India where the rulers were based on patriarchy. Some might argue that Ancient India and Greece were more similar rather than different, however Greece and India were more different than they were similar.