Hellenism Ancient Greece

Since ancient civilizations people have been trying to explain what goes on after death. Throughout history, many cultures have had different theories about what happens. Two distinguished ideas of where people go after death are the underworld and Hell. The idea of the underworld came from the Greeks and Romans. A few famous works by the Greeks and Romans that talk about the underworld are The Iliad, The Aeneid, and, The Odyssey. A famous work that discusses Hell is Dante's Inferno. Hell is an accepted part of the Christianity religion and taught all over the world. The two beliefs are very similar but some distinct differences can be seen.

gods and what they did. It is also about the myths and legends of Greece.

Ancient Greece has been a religion- centered culture since the earliest period of habitation in Greece, the Pre-Mycenaean/Mycenaean period. Also through to the Dark Ages to the Classical period. It is a religiously centered civilization, and did have significant changes in the how it was incorporated into people’s daily lives. Religion is important to know about the Ancient Greeks because through it we are able to understand how they lived their lives.

“ The religion of Greek people is an important aspect of the Greek culture.”(Religion in Greece Source:www.greeka.com) Greek religion was a form of polytheism, which meant that they believed in many deities. Because religion was not built around a book, they expressed it in many forms. Greek theatre was performed on many different occasions, including special occasions. Greek religion was both private and

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

In ancient Greece, around 500 B.C.E, the culture was revolving around gods and goddesses. The lifestyles and actions of the people of Greece had an interdependence with the common belief of Hellenism. By understanding that many Greeks looked to their gods and goddesses in most aspects of their life, we can better understand how Greek culture worked as a whole. This can be seen specifically in Athens Greece. In Athens they looked to the Goddess Athena in particular because she was their patron Goddess. During this time a sculptor, named Phidias, sculpted a grand statue called the Athena Parthenos. The Athena Parthenos was viewed as an actual incarnation of the Goddess Athena, and symbolize victory in wars that ultimately create peace and harmony.

Greeks thought about their gods more often than most people do nowadays. Over the course of the day the Greeks would think about the gods often. if they wanted something such as death of an enemy or a good harvest he would give a offering to a temple of the of the gods domain in which he wanted help in.

Throughout the Iliad of Homer there can be seen many features of the Greek religion. The

Throughout the ancient world, there were many civilizations that had many things in common, but as well many differences. The ancient civilization of Greece and the ancient civilization of India are not truly connected in a specific or direct way, yet there are many similar aspects within each culture. For example, Greece centered their culture around philosophy and politics. Greece also believed in the upanishads and mysticism. While India focused “more on the specifics of ritual and sacrifice” for priests and gods, and India also had the Caste system (Document 2).

Towering mountains. Bright blue seas. Glittering white temples dedicated to the gods. Though Ancient Greece was made up of many different regions and colonies, these 3 things were almost always in view. The ancient Greeks worshiped many different gods and goddesses that each controlled something in the mortal world. What was different about their gods and goddesses was that they were very human like. They looked like mortals, had thoughts like mortals, and they even quarreled with each other like we do. Ancient Greek religion is also known as Greek Mythology, Classical Religion, and Classical Mythology. Though whatever people call it, decisions made in Ancient Greece were heavily influenced by their religion.

Where do we go when we die? This is a question that most people—spiritual or not—ask themselves at least once within their lifetime. In reality, this question is likely to never be answered, but is nevertheless an exciting area for study. Every culture, every religion and every individual person has some type of theory or belief on what happens to us after our bodies meet their final rest, and the ancient Greeks were no exception to this. The ancient Greek view on life after death is the most interesting to study, and belongs to perhaps one of the most influential belief systems to emerge within the ancient world. Rife with mythology and magic, the beliefs of the afterlife that were held by the ancient Greek people included the idea of a heaven vs. hell, reincarnation and the notion of ‘katabasis’, and were so powerful they paved the way for future religions’ ideologies.

In Ancient Greece the people honored and believe in the deities. Myths, poems, and epics

There has long been a fashion among critics and historians, including Sir James Frazier and Graham Hancock, to insist upon taking the account of Odysseus' voyage to Hades in Book XI of the Odyssey at near face-value as a description of people and places familiar to a Greek audience of Homer's day. Both linguistics and comparative history have been employed to discover exactly how accurately this originally oral epic conveys this gritty realism. Something, however, is not right with this purely empiric approach. What is missing is an examination through the lens of ancient religious practices. Surely a literary work so teeming with deities-wise Athena, spiteful Poseidon, impish

Poseidon, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Zeus; these are all gods and goddesses from Hellenic (Ancient Greek) mythology who have been worshipped and prayed to by the people of Hellas for millennia, although not today, but the gods used to be the centre of life in Hellas. The Hellenes would pray to, worship, sacrifice animals to, give up wine and food to and revere the gods due to their power and authority over them. Hoplite: Torch of Prometheus, by Michael Pritsos, takes place in the eighteenth year of the Peloponnesian War (413 BC) in Hellas. The main character, Maxites, is the adopted son of king Diocrates of a fictional polis named Devanum. Through hardships, near death experiences, nightmares and visions, conversations with the gods and the

In the period of Ancient Greece or Classical Greece, the teachings of this time would help future regions to grow into powerful structures as they would hear of the stories belonging to their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their religious practices.