Ancient Greek Religion Essay

The ancient Greeks with their brilliant and imaginative spirit created a complete order of things that functioned harmoniously in the infinite world that contained them. Although its exact origins are lost in time, Greek religion is thought to date from about the 2d millenium B.C., when the culture of Aryan invaders fused with those of the Aegean and Minoan peoples who had inhabited the region of Greece from Neolithic times [1]. The beginning and the genesis of this world occupied the ancient Greeks in much the same way it did the early people of every civilization. Greek religion was at the beginning a blend of Minoan, Egyptian, Asian, and other elements, but it subsequently evolved along with Greek thought.

Gods and mortals show displeasure when confronted by Hades. Most Greek myths situate him near to water at the edges of the earth, or the deepest depths of the underground. In this way, most of Greek society ignore or try to avoid him. Hades doesn’t get involved in Olympus festivities and doesn’t interfere in the normal world. Hades expresses reluctance to show his face in public. He leaves the Underworld wearing a headgear that makes him invisible (Taylor). Rarely worshipped by humans, Greek society believes Hades brings unluckiness to whoever speaks his name. Worshipping the God of the Dead didn’t sound good to most of Greek society. Worshippers of Hades, who went to Eleusis, a temple, were outcasts and often shunned by the “normal” worshippers because they didn’t conform to the proper Greek culture. As a result, followers of Hades worship in secret, usually in obscure locations where no one can

The underworld in Greek mythology was not a lively place, for it was where all the dead souls went. When a person died, the soul would be sent to Hades, a more formal name for the underworld. "The dead would go to Hades because there was no annihilation in the Greek mythology. The dead are dead because they have a flavorless and unhappy existence".

The aim of my report is to explain how the view of the afterlife in Ancient Greece has shaped works of art, books and the mentality of people. In order to do this I am going to explore how ancient Greek people saw the underworld as well as Roman people and the Renaissance period. Because Greeks saw the underworld as a dark, dreadful and gloomy place, many of the works that refer to it, either in Roman times or the Renaissance, are influenced by this view. In particular works like the Odyssey by Homer or The Phaedo by Plato, explained to a certain level the structure of the afterlife in ancient Greece. These two pieces of literature severely influenced works like the book VI of the Aeneid by Virgil where he depicts the underworld referencing to the Greek point of view. But a deeper description of the underworld is given by Dante in his Divine Comedy where he uses Virgil as his guide, from the depths of hell to the Purgatory while Beatrice, Dante’s ideal woman, guides him through heaven. All these time periods shared the idea of the underworld as being a place where souls pay the sins they committed during their lives.

"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece. Department of Greek and Roman Art. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm>.

Hades is the gloomy god of death. He rules over the underworld and everything under the ground, including the buried dead and everything that is buried with them. This included coins and other treasure.

He is described as “loathsome”, “pitiless”, and “monstrous” by both Homer and Hesiod. Since Hades was allowed to have powers also on earth, people who were still alive were hesitant to swear and oath in his name, in fear that he would come for them. Hades is represented by two symbols, including a royal scepter and a cornucopia. His sacred animal and plants are a Screeching- Owl, an Asphodel, a mint, and a white poplar. Hades is a man of great fear, with a captivating overall, history, family, and life in the underworld.

Once upon a time, Odysseus and Penelope had decided to go on a honeymoon after he got back to Ithaca. His son had stayed to watch over the town while he and Penelope had gone to be alone in peace for once. While Telemachus was watching over Ithaca, Odysseus got into an argument with Zeus.

The Greeks would either cremate or bury the body based on what the person wanted. After they cremate or bury the person other Greeks would go to the site, sacrifice things, and leave trinkets. They did this to help the spirit with their journey to the Underworld. This goes back to what I said earlier about how what the Greeks did at funerals had everything to do with what they thought the gods would

Greek mythology was an ancient, polytheistic religion in Greece, meaning it was a belief based on many gods and goddesses. It is often referred to as unrealistic and nonfiction because these stories of their gods and goddesses are considered “myths”, which are traditional stories that are usually false. However, there are many gods and goddesses that share their own individual importance to their culture and Greece itself. These supernatural figures often play a significant role in the afterlife, love, and other everyday activities. The god of the dead and the afterlife of those less fortunate is known as Hades.

The temples and monuments of both ancient Greek, Roman, and Minoan cultures encompass the religious ideals of their time periods. Often times, these religious sanctuaries would outlast the religions altogether, leaving them standing as a monumental icon of the importance of religion within classical art and archaeology. These monuments could be shrines with altars inside, such as the Parthenon. They could contain religious votives for the afterlife, like the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus. They could also be the religious shrine themselves, such as with Aphrodite of Knidos, who is the goddess of love and fertility. Or they could be shrines of familial protection, like the lararium from the house of Vetti in Pompeii. During antiquity, many of these

Although Greek religion is no longer popular because of it 's diversity compared to religion today, it had a great standing back in Ancient Greece; Many aspects played a role in creating it 's foundation such as the deities, worship and rituals, and mystics and oracles.

“Greek and Roman Perceptions of the Afterlife in Homers Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid. McNair’s Scholars Journal 11.1 (2007): 5-13. Print.

The afterlife is described in many cultures, dating back thousands of years. It is no different in Greek culture. As with the other cultures, the ancient Greek perspective on the afterlife shares similarities with the other views of life after death, but also contains its differences. The traditions, values, beliefs and culture of different people across the world shaped multiple views on the afterlife. The conception of the Greek underworld can be traced to the culture of the people at the time and shifts in perspective can be explained by shifts in beliefs and values.

Just as seen as seen in the story of Antigone “remembrance of the dead was a very important civic and religious duty, not simply a personal concern (Ancient EU 10).” Death and burial were the most important part of a life, because they are a right of passage to the underworld. Memories of a person would have to be maintained so that the dead could be continually remembered and respected in order for their souls to continue to exist in the afterlife (Ancient EU 4). One that was forgotten has to stay in Asphodel forever. The way a person was buried also showed that person’s status in society. So by that standard, burial did not only determine how a person was treated in the underworld, but also how that person was remembered and that person’s social standing. Burial was one of the most important parts of how you were treated in the