2007-09-30 16:29:07 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
They believed in Different gods/goddess because there are so many nautral things, like Athena goddess of War and Wisdom or Hades god of the Underworld, or Posidon god of the sea......they believe in gods for every natural thing.....hope this helps
peace in christ
2007-09-30 16:32:58 · answer #1 · answered by Seth B 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
We have dieties that are shaped by our current perceptions of the world. Up til this last century we thought that gods lived in the sky. When we began looking into the sky we figured the gods must exist in a more non-physical sense.
But a lot of the Ancient Greek theology sounds like modern Christianity: A father-god head figure. A female matronly diety. Human/god characters who live among the earthlings.
2007-09-30 16:34:36 · answer #2 · answered by San Diego Art Nut 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why not? If they are all aspects of one God and they all lead to the same GOD, then the only difference is cultural.
The (ancient) Greeks worshipped God in the only way they knew how. Will the God of MY understanding hold that against them? No! How could He? They were following the only path to God they were aware of in their time.
So to answer your question, they believed in different Gods because that was their Way... Blessings!
2007-09-30 16:42:31 · answer #3 · answered by Native Spirit 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do Christians belive in one? They just do. They just do based on their hypotheses about how and why things are they way they are. Just like Christians and even Darwanists. They weren't wrong for thinking this way, it was just the way people thought back then. Just like hoe Christians aren't wrong for thinking the way they do, or Darwanists.
Greeks believed different things were the doings of different Gods.
2007-09-30 16:31:23 · answer #4 · answered by Megegie 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Hebrews originally believed in multiple Gods
2007-09-30 16:31:35 · answer #5 · answered by October 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Greeks believe in different gods and goddesses because that's really their way of life. They believe that paying great homage to their gods and goddesses will improve their way of living, particularly when it comes to wealth, revelry and fertility. Logically speaking, they believe in different gods and goddesses because each god or goddess is unique in terms of ability or capacity and power or strength. Even the all-knowing God who is Zeus (God of Olympus) has his own limitations. He is not completely perfect in all aspects. That's why greeks would tend to look for other gods and goddesses to satisfy their needs physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, socially and many other aspects in life. Thus, for those who like to reach perfection in terms of beauty, Zeus is considered powerless in this aspect. In this case, one must ask favor from Venus, the goddess of love and beauty to make this dream come into reality. This implies that these gods and goddesses are powerful only in their own little aspects not in terms of all aspects in life.
2007-09-30 16:47:00 · answer #6 · answered by skeptical 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the same reason why a majority of religions back then believed in different gods. When man was young, they feared nature, they had no way of knowing why things happened like storms, earthquakes, death, etc. so man began explaining these things by saying a god controlled it. There was a god of death, god of fertility, god of the sea, god of the hunt etc. It was the only way that early man had to explain things.
2007-09-30 16:34:13 · answer #7 · answered by Cat's Eye Angie 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Why are you using the past tense here? There are still Greeks (and Hellenophiles) who believe in the Hellenic Gods.
We believe in the existance of multiple Gods because it is something that MAKES MORE SENSE to us than a monolithic monotheistic perspective which has the SAME God saying "Love your enemy" and "I will make my arrows drunk with blood".......
The following is from the Mission Statement of a Hellenic Reconstructionist organization called Hellenion, which I am a member of:
What We Mean by Hellenic Pagan Reconstructionism
While the members of Hellenion are of course free to pursue whatever personal religions their hearts and souls commend them to, part of our mission is to provide fellowship and information for people wishing to honor the ancient gods of Hellas with the future intent of reconstructing public rites of the ancient pagan Hellenic religion.
As such, our concept of Pagan Reconstructionism entails:
--Reverence for the pre-Christian Hellenic deities and Mysteries.
--A connection with the ancestors, honoring Hestia as the goddess of hearth and home. Within a modern context, this means a concern for family, in its broadest sense, whether by related by blood, spirit, or kinship ties.
--A connection with the Hellenic past. We strive to be as historically (and mythologically) accurate as the state of the evidence allows. When gaps in the evidence, or the realities of modern life, make it necessary to create something new it should be:
--As consistent as possible with what we do know about the ancient Hellas and its colonies throughout the Mediterranean up until the point of the end of the Delphic Oracle in history.
--Clearly presented as a recent innovation. We frown on attempts to advertise something modern and invented as ancient and historical in order to give it an authority (and marketability!) it does not deserve.
--A balanced approach to understanding classical Hellenic religion which relies on both sound scholarship and poetic inspiration without mistaking one for the other.
--Inclusiveness. While we recognize the importance of an ethnic component in traditional Hellenic religion, we seek to reconstruct the religious culture of the ancients, not their society. Therefore, we do not rely on genealogy or geography to determine who is a Hellenic Pagan. Just as the Eleusinian Mysteries were open to those who could understand the Greek language, our group is open to all who worship in the ancient Hellenic tradition today.
--Respect for men and women regardless of ethnicity, color, creed, social status, sexual orientation, or physical ability.
--A moral code inspired by the Delphic maxims which emphasizes the following: know thyself, nothing in excess, and respect for oneself, others, and the gods.
2007-09-30 16:45:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A belief in some sort of God(s) is universal to every culture and time.
2007-09-30 16:35:45 · answer #9 · answered by great gig in the sky 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because there were many gods. They came, they left, who knows? Maybe they'll come back. Read ancient history. We are just like them, we just don't have the life span they do.
2007-09-30 16:34:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋