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Religious Rituals In Ancient Greece

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The citizens of ancient Greece were not ones without their own problems. States fought against one-another. Outside invaders would threaten the peace and comfort of ancient Greece. Although, times of crisis would happen on a grander scale, citizens would face problems in their daily life. National sporting’s and artistic competitions would be held. Festivals would occur to please the gods. Those that were in a time of need would turn their gaze to the gods for advice. Oracles would seek information about what the future holds. Sports, entertainment, war and politics all included religious rituals. How did these rituals occur and what was the meaning behind it all? To begin, how do we define a ritual? According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary …show more content…

Zeus was the supreme god, father of the Olympian gods and ruler of mankind. Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty and eternal youth. Apollo, the god of the sun, light, music and prophecy. Ares, the god of war, defense and the figure behind all kind of violence. Artemis, the goddess of hunt, the moon, and protector of woman and the young. Athena, goddess of wisdom, skill and war. Demeter, goddess of agriculture and vegetation. Dionysus, god of wine, joy, theatre and a lover of peace. Hades, god and ruler of the Underworld. Hephaestus, god of metallurgy and smith of the gods. Hera, goddess of marriage, family, and protector of married women. Hermes, the god of trade, eloquence and was a luck-brining messenger. Hestia, goddess of the hearth, home and family. Lastly, there was Poseidon, god of the seas, horses and earthquakes (Hatzitsinidou, Evangelia). I would like to add that the gods have many titles that can differentiate between …show more content…

We start at the beginning, looking at people and their problems in life. There’s uncontrollable elements, such as being born into slavery, having a family member become sick from a disease, war between city-states, natural powers such as floods and tornados come and in a flash destroy homes. There’s many more unexplainable occurrences that can happen to a person. And as an individual or a society, we try and give reasoning to why such an event happens. Reasoning calms our mind and explains the unexplainable. Do we control our own fate, or is it the gods? The Greeks certainly believed the latter. Rituals form and take shape to try and explain that which we don’t know, or understand. Festivals and games take place to honor the gods so that the bonds would strengthen between them and mortals. Greeks pray and sacrifice in hopes that their gods will hear and help them in their cause. Myths go hand in hand with rituals, for rituals sprung forth to honor the

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