Throughout history religion has played an important role influencing various societies. Religious

The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods and heroes during their time. Each one had a sole purpose in a mortal’s lifetime. Greek mythology had a huge impact on religion in Ancient Greece. The Greeks performed rituals in order to honor their gods. Mythology affected the Ancient Greeks in many ways. The origins of mythology, the influences of mythology through a human’s lifetime and lessons taught in the ancient myths will be examined.

The ancient Greeks were known for many reasons; developing and creating a democracy, scientific and philosophic thought, and their humanistic point of view. The Greeks had a combination of beliefs and “cults of gods and goddesses.” Although they did not have any prophets or scriptures, many Greeks created a place for their religious emotions in “the sacred ceremonies of mystic cults.” Unlike other civilizations, the Greeks did not have a formal priest that lead religious or political content. In place of a formal priest, their religious rituals were directed by citizens that were selected to perform as priests. As a part of their belief system, they attempted to satisfy the gods and asked oracles to “divine the future” through prayers, offerings, and ritual purification. The view of after death differed from Mesopotamians and Egyptians. Their view of after death was the belief that if the person was ran by their own physical aspirations, “the soul would be liberated after death.”

This paper will compare and contrast these two civilizations concerning two of the major elements of society: government and religion. These two areas are important when examining the impact of a particular civilization, because they provide two different perspectives on a particular culture. While the examination of politics allows the power and influence of culture to be understood, the analysis of religion allows the cultural influence of people to be traced. In this paper, the similarities and differences between the governments and religions of Ancient Greece and Rome will be examined, as well as the impact that these civilizations had on one another. Finally, this paper will discuss the impact that these civilizations have had on

In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in its citizens’ daily lives. During this time, they participated in animal sacrifices and offerings, created myths to explain the beginning of the human race and gave reverence to their gods by building temples which controlled the urban landscape. They also participated in local festivals and sporting and artistic competitions. Religion was never out of the presence of ancient Greece’s citizens. While they may have made up their own mind on the terms of their religious beliefs, some may have been completely confused if these gods actually existed. There were certain fundamental beliefs that must have been sufficiently widespread, in order for the Greek government to function. In ancient Greece, gods existed, they influenced human concerns, and they welcomed and responded to acts of godliness and worship.

In Roman religion it was crucial “to serve the gods and ensure goodwill” (The Roman Republic). The English word “Religion” comes from the Latin word “Religio” (Overview of Religion). Latin was the ancient language of Rome, but for the Roman’s the translation meant something very different from what we understand it as today. To the Romans, “Religio” translated to “ the fear of gods” (Overview of Religion). Romans invested much of their time serving the gods, performing rituals and sacrifices in honor of them. On the contrary Greek religion did not prefer to execute rituals as much as the Romans. Greeks were more lenient when honoring the gods. They did not have a theological dogma: a part of theology dealing with truths of faith concerning God and God's work. Their many gods had different purposes and works they performed. The Greeks relied more on the verbal spread of the religion rather than having a written form. Although different, both religions had forms of praising and honoring their gods. Greek and Roman religion have many differences and similarities that impacted each group of people.

Ancient Greeks worshipped lots of different gods. They believed many gods appeared in human form and were provided with superhuman strength. The Greeks usually worshipped in sanctuaries located within the city or the country. A sanctuary was a well-defined sacred space set apart usually by an enclosure wall. They also worshipped in temples. Temples benefited from their natural surroundings, helping the expression of character divinities. The Greeks also had a Christian Orthodox church they used. The Greek religion had a total of twelve gods, each representing a certain aspect of human behavior. Religion was always present. The Greeks had rituals, myths, and temples with the beliefs being widespread so the Greek government could function. Each god did a different thing, with different powers. Each were always needed, and their powers were always necessary. They usually all got along unless one was made mad.

As civilization has progressed through the ages, many religions have arisen and taken hold around the world, two if the most interesting, being the religious beliefs of the ancient Mesopotamian and the Greeks. These two religions were practiced in different areas and at different times and, therefore, show that religion has played a critical role in every society and civilization. No matter how it is organized or what type of god is worshiped, a society would be nothing without some kind of deity to organize it. In comparing the religious beliefs of the Mesopotamian and the Ancient Greeks religious components highlighted including the style of worship, the temples

Some features of the institution of law which we take for granted today, which were absent in ancient Athens, include traits of peace and equality. It is worth noting that Athenians based their daily lives and societal structure off of their values of honour and victory. The desire to achieve these brought out a more aggressive nature in Athenians, as the only way to achieve honour was to achieve victory, which consequently meant a constant inner turmoil for Athens, as David Cohen specifically states in regard to the nature of Athenian men in terms of their desire for victory, “the vice of these men is that their desire for victory or honour is excessive and leads them to commit injustice in pursuit of them.” This is proven to be true through

The purpose of the work is to inform the audience of Greek religion and all that it entitles. In the article Cartwright describes the deities as well as the rituals for worship and celebrations. It also describes how people made a living out of the beliefs such as oracles and mystics. The work is written for anyone interested in learning more about ancient Greece. It has great significance to my topic because it depicts the important aspects of the religion. The strengths are how descriptive it is and how it touches on the most important topics. It's weaknesses are how short each section is.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, today I am here to present to you why my client, Socrates of Athens, is in fact an innocent man in the charges pressed by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. I will first list the reasons for his upbringing in this court, then I will prove them to be invalid and self contradictory based on the words of his accusers themselves, and following this discrediting of charges I will explain what my client's true intentions are because it seem that reason why we are really here today is primarily based on the fact that my client’s accusers have misconstrued the love and respect that Socrates has for Athens.

Greek Religion and its Effects on Society, Government, and Social Habits Cameron Montesano Boulder Creek High School Abstract The topic of this paper is Greek religion. The purpose of research is to gain more knowledge of the history of Greek religion as well as how it has affected future religions and societies. All research done for this project has been done online, the majority of sources coming from azlibrary.gov which is one of the most trustable sites I’ve come across.

Greek Mythology played a monumental role in the structural development of ancient Greece, not only as a society, but as individuals. Surprisingly, their religion was not exactly one of originality. In fact, their religion was loosely based on earlier cultures’ religions. It bears many strikingly similar resemblances to some of the oldest recorded religions in history. Ancient Greek religion is a type of polytheism called “Monarchial Polytheism.” That is, they believe in several different gods and deities but there is a supreme ruler above all of them. In order to fully understand how similar the mythological systems of religions have been throughout the years, you must look back towards the earliest of recorded civilizations. Polytheism

Faith in deities’ gave people the feeling of purpose and helped them understand the world around them. Praying also gave individuals the sense of satisfaction and security. The spiritual beliefs of the ancient Greeks towards gods and goddesses was a major portion of their civilization and it had a vast impact on them. Greek deities’ had many characteristics of humans. Like humans they showed emotion, had ambitions, thrived for lust, had pride and more.

Religion was a big thing in ancient Greece. It was personal but also present everywhere in Greece. The Greeks were polytheistic which means a belief in many gods. Each god that the Greeks believed in was in charge of an emotion or some piece of nature. The main gods lived in Mount Olympus. The main gods and goddesses were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hestia, Demeter, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus. Athens was named after the goddess Athena who is the goddess of war, arts, crafts, and wisdom. During this time goddesses were dominant so Greek woman had a big influence on religion. Since women were more soft spoken and had a higher voice than men they would whisper to the gods or sing softly to them. Women in ancient Greece were seen as oracles because of this.

My understanding of the culture of the Ancient Greece has drastically deepen through studying Sophocles’, The Theban Plays (Oedipus Rex). In-class discussions as well as researching on my own developed new ideas whilst expanding on pre-existing ideas. I found the in-class discussion to be informative, as we explored topics on religion, effects of time and place, and correlating factors of cultures. The class debated whether the emphasis of gods as truth-seers had any relation in whatever shape or form to how gods are perceived as nowadays. We concluded that religion can be seen a broad spectrum in which different people follow. Different religions provide a vast amount of beliefs and rules to follow, however from past experience many people