What is the History of the Greek gods?

Question

I don't mean their story, I mean where and how their story came about. Tracing religion's roots is difficult, but if you have any ACTUAL leads or accounts of them please share them. I know how to use wikipedia btw, again not looking FOR their storys looking for their origin.

Answer 1

From http://www.clearleadinc.com/site/greek-religion.html --

"The Greek religion is based on anthropomorphic polytheism, it comprises multiple divinities having human forms and feelings. This article gives you insight on the origin of Greek religion, Greek mythology, Greek Gods, and the various forms of Greek worship.

Early Greek religion is a blend of the Achaean, Dorian, Minoan, Egyptian and the Asian cultures. It dates back to the period of the Aryan invasion during 2d millennium B.C. The Aryans mingled with the Aegean (Pelasgians) and the Minoan cultures to create the present day Greek culture. The civilization that resulted from the amalgamation flourished between 1600 B.C. and 1400 B.C. and was known as the Minoan-Mycenean civilization. Greek religion emerged as an amalgamation of various civilizations and races, Zeus, Demeter and Hestia were initially Gods of the Indo-European invaders, Rhea was a Minoan Goddess, God Athena belonged to Mycenean, Hera and Hermes were borrowed from Aegean, God Apollo came from Ionian, Aphrodite was Cyprus, Dionysus and Ares belonged to the Thrace."

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Many of the Greek god's were created and evolved over time differently. Many were borrowed and later incorporated into myths. Aphrodite is very similar to a god in ancient Sumeria. (makes more sense why the Greeks have two love gods). You really need to choose a specific god and trace his or her origins. Many came from different places.
However, I recently read a book called "You don't know much about Mythology" by Kenneth C. Davis and it explains, though not in incredible detail. I think it's not a bad place to start though. He lists many references. Besides, it only about 10 bucks.

Answer 3

Prairie said what I was about to, I studied Ancient Greece and Rome and like all religions, it was born of the beliefs of the stone age people that inhabited the area. As the civilizaion organized, so did the religion. The Greeks and Romans tended to just incorporate the gods/godesses of other religions or see the other deities in their own. It changed over time and is why each of the deities has so many things attributed to them.

Answer 4

Greek myths are stories that were verbally passed down for generations until somebody decided to write them down. In most cases there are many different myths involving the same characters that contradict other myths. (Eg. the many different explanations for Hepheastus's bum leg) They are basically stories that explain the details of life that are hard to explain or that the Greeks (or Romans, Egyptians etc) did not understand. (example Zeus throws lightning, Cupid makes people fall in love etc.) There are no ACTUAL leads or accounts because these stories are 1000's of years old and even the written documents that we do have are skewed by the original authors intentions. THEY ARE NOT REAL.

Answer 5

1/3 of the angels came to earth with Lucifer. they saw the women were pretty and took up wives. these that came to earth were the "fallen ones" or Nephilim.

The " Fallen Ones" took up wives and gave offspring. These offspring were a mix of man and angel so they had super powers more or less. These consisted of those like Goliath, Zeus, Rah, etc. All the Gods of Egypt.

This is why G_D lead his people out of Egypt and gave them the Bible (in time). This is also why He says to worship no other god, for He is the only one and all the rest are the Fallen Ones.

The Nephilim, the Fallen Ones, are demonic and are shape shifters. They are the ones you see with UFOs, they are the ones you see in ancient carvings with the big hats, to hide their tall skull. Their bloodline comes down into what we know today as the Illuminati.

This is from my studies on the topic, been my studies since last July.

Answer 6

This might help, I am not sure.
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/religionmythology/Beliefs_Mythology_Religion.htm

I suspect you are going to need to do a web search or go to a decent library.
I have a few old textbooks but they are in a box in the back of a closet. Sorry.

you will likely be searching under archaeology and history.