Ancient Greece History and Religion - Essay Example

Greek Ancient religion Name Institution Introduction The aspect and concept of religion amongst different sects and communities or group of people is, and has always been, a very controversial topic. People worshipped in different forms and dimensions according to their own beliefs and affiliations (Clark, 2009, p.6). The traditional forms of worship that go way back into time are of particular interest in this case. In the contemporary and modern world however, these forms of religion that were practiced in the past have to some extent lost their flare with the new generation. However, they still continue to retain their relevance as they form as base upon which the modern religious activities are conducted. Greece is one of the countries which have a rich heritage of religious backgrounds where the Greek religion was categorized of worship of deities. However, sometimes the Greek worshippers were at longer head with these gods as they thought that these gods were aloof and reserved. This paper aims at exploring the Greek ancient religious practices through taking an illumination into the way they treated their religious gods, their expectations of these gods and the reason why this mode of religious practice failed. Hellenismos – Greek religion The Greek religion is one of the most controversial religions in the world. It is imperative to take note here that the religious activities, doctrines and practices that were practiced by the Greece rubbed off among other societies that were close to the Greek society. The major components of the Greek religion were in the recognition and worship of the gods in form of public religion and practices of cult. The gods of Greece The Greeks had a number of deities whom they exalted and worshipped. These deities, known as gods, were characterized according to how the people viewed life and tried to solve the challenges that faced them in different facets. The major and recognized gods and goddesses of Greece are outlined in the following discussion. The most recognized god was Zeus. Zeus was considered to be the father and the immortal with powers over all the other gods. He was the controller of the skies and of thunder. Others were Apollo, Poseidon who was the god of the sea, Athena, Artemis, Heracles and Hades, the ruler of the underworld. Features of the Greek religion The Greek religion, like many other religions of the world, had its own unique and distinct features that placed it at its own level. From the way the Greeks worshipped their gods to the number of the gods and goddesses present in this land, their worship and dedication was unparalled. The Greeks had a god or a goddess for every occasion. They had a god of war, a goddess of fertility, god of the skies, god of prosperity among other gods (Powell 1988, p. 2). These gods were worshipped when the occasion demanded it. For instance, when the nation was heading to war, offerings and prayers would be offered to the god of war as a way of asking for help and victory in battle. When couples were joining each other in conjugal, they offered prayers and even burnt offerings to the goddess of fertility in the hope that the goddess would bless them with a child. The mode of honoring these gods was through giving them offerings inside their temples. Another way of doing such was through offering them special pieces of art as well as pottery. This was done as a way of supplicating them so that they could in turn offer the people a service in one way or another. The practices and these ceremonies were conducted as shall be outlined in the following paragraphs. Ceremonies were common in the ancient Greek religion. The worshippers performed their sacrifices and their rituals to their gods on altars that were built and designed purposefully for that reason. According to the Greek custom, these altars were usually personalized and custom made for a specific god. Most times, the altars contained the inscription or the actual image of the god or the goddess who was being worshipped or whose sacrifice was being made to upon that altar (Parker 2005, p. 6). Offals, and libations, mostly of expensive wines were done at the foot of these altars. Other items and gifts such as precious commodities, silver and gold as well as food and drink were also left at the altar for the gods to consume. On the sacrificial front, the Greek people offered offerings of domestic animals which were killed at the altar. These animals were sacrificed there and there was a follow up with hymns, prayers and supplications. The way they conducted these sacrifices was that the animals were killed, part of the animals burnt for the gods and the remainder offered to the people to eat. Greek expectations of their gods The Greek expectations of their gods were very high. After they offered their offerings to these gods, they expected these gods to favor them by giving unto them what they had prayed and sought from them. For instance, if they offered burnt offerings to the god of war before they went to face an adversely in war, they expected to come back home as victors. The same case applied to the god of harvest. Offerings, prayers and hymn were conducted at the beginning of each planting season and the people expected the gods to give them a bounty harvest. The newly- wed couple believed that if they offered the burnt offerings to the gods, the goddess of fertility would rewards their effort by giving them a child (Reeder, 1995, p.3). Sometimes, they conducted special ceremonial activities and offerings as a way of wooing the goddess to ensure that they gave birth to male children. Asklepios cult Asklepios cult is one of the cult that was very widespread in Greece. The Asklepios cult worshipped Asklepios, the god of medicine and healing (Theoi website 2013, p 1). The main perpetrators of the cult were Asklepiades, who were an ancient society of doctors were among the most devoted in the praying to this god. The cult was spread all over the country. The Asklepiades, the devotees of Asklepios were tasked with making sure that Asklepios received the honors due to him so that they could pray to have him heal a certain person. The fall out of the gods. Like many other ancient religions, the Greek religion also came to a lapse and eventually a collapse later on as people started losing their trust in the religion. The factors leading to this loss of trust were numerous. These factors have been outlined in the discourse that follows. The emergence of new religions that were more popular and were taking the world by storm became one of the major reasons for the collapse of the Greek ancient religion. People in Greece started adopting other religions that they felt were more inclined towards the cohesion of the rapidly developing Greek society. The nation became more and more democratic, with the grip religious leaders and religion had on people being loosened. People began to explore other areas. According to Dillon and Garland (1994, p. 8), the people who lived in Athens, the Greece capital felt that the gods were not taking care of their problems and issues as they used to do any more. The citizens of the nation felt that the gods had gone aloof upon them, choosing to ignore them and concentrate in their own immortal affairs. Rumours had it that the gods themselves had become so proud and so greedy that they were fighting upon themselves for the domination of the underworld. For this reason, they neglected mankind. The Greece warriors lost their battles one after the other, plagues hit the country hard and people died from mysterious and inexplicable diseases even after they offered these burnt offerings to their gods. In the end, the people of Greece decided to disengage themselves from worshipping these gods or even offering them burnt offerings. They feared the worst but nothing happened, bringing a era of the gods to rest and an era of freedom from these gods to conception. Conclusion From the above discussion of the Greece ancient modes of worship, it has been made evident that the Greece was a very dedicated lot when it came to serving their gods. They used all manners of ways to ensure that their gods were kept pleased so that in turn these gods would provide for the Greek worshippers according to the level of their needs. However, the consistent failures resulting from misfortunes even after the sacrifices were made led to the doubt in the heart of people as has been observed. People stopped believing in these gods and the gods did not hit back at them. This made the people conclude that the gods have gone aloof as has been observed, making the people establish and embrace other forms of worship that was different from the ancient Greece worship. The fall of the gods marked the end of one chapter of Greek worship life which had been there for a long time and the opening of another chapter of freedom of worship among the citizens. References Clark, C. A 2009. ‘To kneel or not to kneel,’ Journal of religion and society’, No. 5, pp. 6-18. Dillon, M. & Garland, L 2010. Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Socrates, Taylor & Francis e-Library, Milton Park. Reeder, E. D 1995. Pandora: Women in Ancient Greece, Princeton University Press, Princeton. Parker, R 2005. Polytheism and Society at Athens, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Powell, A. 1988. ‘Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 B.C’, Oxford University Press, Oxford, London. Theoi website 2013. Asklepios cult, retrieved April 9, 2013 from http://www.theoi.com/Cult/AsklepiosCult.html Read More