History does not know a more common and well-known pagan faith than the religion of Ancient Greece. The Greeks are a skilled people: they managed to borrow ideas from the Egyptians and make them more famous throughout the world. In addition, to come up with such a history of the Pantheon of the gods, down to character traits, is not an easy task. Although our ancestors - the Slavs - had their own pagan beliefs, we know Greek myths much better.
Pantheon of the Gods of Ancient Greece
The religion of ancient Greece, like other pagan beliefs, suggests the existence of many gods. Who does not know the almighty thunderer Zeus - the supreme god, who achieved the throne by throwing his father Kronos into the bottomless Tartarus. Zeus's wife was Hera, the patroness of the family hearth and a happy marriage. According to legend, their relationship with Zeus began long before the marriage, and after the wedding, Hera repeatedly arranged scenes of jealousy for her husband, and also severely punished Zeus' mistresses. Poseidon was called the lord of the water element and the ocean, portraying him as a large man.physique with a huge trident in his hand. In the underworld, where they fell after death, Hades sat. The religion of Ancient Greece could not do without the goddess of love and beauty - Aphrodite, whose authority both people and gods obeyed. Myths tell about the birth of Aphrodite from the foam of the sea near the island of Cyprus. From the head of Zeus, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, was born, who was not subject to Aphrodite. The sun god Helios rode the sun chariot to the morning sky every morning, symbolizing the beginning of a new day. The most beautiful of the divine beings, the Greeks considered the god of arts Apollo. Hunting was an integral part of the nutrition of ancient peoples, and accordingly there was a deity that symbolized this activity - Artemis.
The god of winemaking and the forces of nature Dionysus helped the Greeks to have fun and celebrate, in whose honor they often organized various fun. How would the gods live without messengers who brought the latest information. The limping Hermes managed everywhere: to announce the beginning of the Olympic Games, and to tell fresh rumors on Olympus, and to patronize athletes, shepherds and speakers, and also to defend fair trade. Greek mythology even explained the change of seasons. It turns out that the only daughter of the goddess of nature Demeter Persephone was stolen by Hades to his underworld kingdom. Once, having seen a beautiful girl, Hades fell in love and, passing by on a chariot, grabbed her and dragged her underground with him. Demeter's suffering was reflected in nature: she withered, nothing grew, a drought began, and hunger spread among people. Godsworried and decided to ask Hades for the return of Persephone. Since then, the daughter lives with her mother for six months and nature blooms and bears fruit (spring and summer), and then for six months the girl returns to the kingdom of Hades and nature freezes (autumn and winter).
Praise the gods
The religion of Ancient Greece consisted not only in legends and myths. The Greeks even came up with a place of residence for the gods: they all lived on Mount Olympus, at the foot of which they made sacrifices. The ancient Greeks loved their gods, depicting them as beautiful, ideal in their opinion, strong. How many temples were erected in their honor, the construction of which took more than a dozen years and financial efforts? Remember at least the temple of Artemis in Ephesus - one of the wonders of the world, a building with a huge number of columns and beautiful precious halls. The statue of Olympian Zeus - another wonder of the world, created from ivory and gold, unfortunately, has not survived to this day.
The Greeks believed in the gods and thus tried to appease them. Although very little is mentioned about one of the deities, his power was unlimited, to which even Zeus obeyed. His name is Rock: the Greeks believed that the fate of people and gods was decided not by the gods at all, but by some other force, perhaps the chaos that Rock ruled.
Even after the conquest by the Romans, the civilization of Ancient Greece did not lose heart, but managed to maintain its faith. The Romans, having come to their land, completely adopted the customs and religion of the Greeks.
