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Sacred Places

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The Sacredness of Mount Olympus � PAGE * MERGEFORMAT �1�

Sacred places represent the essential spirit of human kind, and at some point in time, was part of a significant event, ceremony, or spiritual worship. People venture to sacred places to satisfy the human spirit 's desire for communion with themselves and their collective humanity. Sacred sites are the most loved and visited places on planet earth. When one arrives at a spiritual destination they find themselves closer to their individual realities. These places have the power to awaken the soul and enlighten the mind. Though some places today, such as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, exist today as sacred places, they usually carry a different significance from those of mythological …show more content…

The figurative home for the 12 gods has deeper meaning now, and faces heavy challenges to preserve it.

According to Greek mythology the summit, shut from sight of men on earth by clouds, is home of the Olympian gods. Later the name Olympus was given to the remote heavenly palace of the gods, and only the twelve most important Greek gods lived there. The leader of the Greek gods Zeus lived there (he was the ruler of the heavens and earth). His queen Hera lived there along with their children Ares, Hermes, Apollo, Hephaestus, Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis. Zeus 's brothers Poseidon and Hades also lived there while ruling the seas and the underworld. The Olympians lived in majestic splendor similar to human beings in both their physical appearance and character traits. The gods would feast on ambrosia and nectar and took delight in mortal loves, sometimes even producing children, whom were known to be demigods, since they were half god and half mortal.

Sometime during the 6th century B.C. the Olympian gods began to yield in importance to the mystery cults. Their beliefs changed again at the rise of Christianity. The Olympic Games started on Mount Olympus, held every four years as a celebration to honor Zeus. There the athletic games and contests of choral poetry and dance were invented. The games where held from 776 B.C. to A.D. 393. They originated on the plain of Olympia in Elis, and in the town of Olympia.

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