Do what degree did the ancient Greeks actually believe in their gods?

Question

Given all the human foilbles of the Greek gods, (lust, greed, adultery, arrogance, poor judgment, etc.), it's hard to believe any of the ancient Greeks could view them as divine. The Greeks must have known the gods were their own creations. So to what degree did the Greeks believe their own myths?

Answer 1

They had varying degrees of belief (like today), but few admitted it publicly (with no separation of church and state, many unbelievers could be taxed more or even convicted).
During the history of the Greek/Roman pantheon, various gods arose and grew in popularity like various Christian sects of today. Although back then they were referred to as cults, like the Cult of Adonis, but without the negative impression the word cult gives because they were polytheistic (everyone believed in multiple gods).
But to answer your question many people devoted their lives to the Gods (often at great personal cost, like the Vestal Virgins) proving that beleif in the Gods was deep.

Answer 2

I don't know, but it's an interesting question.

Socrates almost certainly did not. Among the charges brought against him in the trial was not believing in the Greek gods and creating new ones. However, he did believe that he had a "daemon" (a spirit, kinda-sorta like a guardian angel) that spoke to him as an inner voice when Socrates was about to make a mistake. According to Plato's "Apology," Socrates spoke of his daemon at his trial.

Aristophanes' satiric play "The Clouds" makes fun of Socrates' spiritual beliefs. The Clouds in his play are incorporeal beings that come down from the sky to visit Socrates. From what I gather, it's believed that Aristophanes was accurate about that.

So, from all that, it seems that in ancient Greece, you had to believe in the state-approved gods, and could end up with a belly-full of hemlock if you didn't (especially if you had a big mouth about it!). So it's possible that a large number of Greeks may not have believed in the gods, but acted as if they did so as not to be arrested. But that's only a guess.

Answer 3

Probably about the same as people today who believe in God, some do it for expediency, and some out of conviction. I remember seeing a movie about ancient Roman life when I was a kid (wish I could remember the name) and anyway, this actor, I think it was Peter Ustinov maybe, he was a fat guy anyway, and he was playing some politician who was about to sacrifice a chicken in the public square. His aide asked him if he really believed in this. He said (and I'll never forget it) "Privately, I don't believe in any of them, but publically, I believe in all of them." Political pigs were the same then as now, I'm afraid.

Answer 4

The more peasant community of Greece turned to the Gods for spiritual advice, and gave them offerings quite often. The gods were "out to get them" in their pagan religion, unlike the God of Christianity and Judaism who is considered merciful.

Religion was a way of life for people who worked in fields or were soldiers. However, more well-read and educated people probably had a harder time believing in the divinity of such gods

Answer 5

They wholeheartedly believed in them ; e.g. the Spartans would not go to war if it was in conflict with a religious festival . They were conspicuous by their absence at the battle of Marathon with the Greeks persevering against the Persians because of a conflict with one of their religious festivals .