Deity Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Greek==== {{multiple image | align = right | perrow=2 <!-- Image 1 --> | image1 = Stater Zeus Lampsacus CdM.jpg | width1 = 200 | alt1 = | caption1 = [[Zeus]], the king of the gods in [[ancient Greek religion]], shown on a gold [[stater]] from [[Lampsacus]] ({{circa}} 360β340 BCE) <!-- Image 2 --> | image2 = Poseidon Penteskouphia Louvre CA452.jpg | width2 = 207 | alt2 = | caption2 = Corinthian [[Black-figure pottery|black-figure]] plaque of [[Poseidon]], the Greek god of the seas ({{circa}} 550β525 BCE) <!-- Image 3 --> | image3 = Aphrodite swan BM D2.jpg | width3 = 200 | alt3 = | caption3 = Attic [[White ground technique|white-ground]] red-figured ''[[kylix (drinking cup)|kylix]]'' of [[Aphrodite]], the Greek goddess of love, riding a swan ({{circa}} 46β470 BCE) <!-- Image 4 --> | image4 = Bust Athena Velletri Glyptothek Munich 213.jpg | width4 = 205 | alt4 = | caption4 = Bust of [[Athena]], the Greek goddess of wisdom, copy after a votive statue of Kresilas in Athens ({{circa|425}} BCE) }} {{Main|List of Greek mythological figures|Greek mythology|Ancient Greek religion|Twelve Olympians}} The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] revered both gods and goddesses.<ref name="Martin">{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Thomas R.|title=Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times |date=2013|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0-300-16005-5|pages=39β40|edition=2nd|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iyFaMmr4hFwC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> These continued to be revered through the early centuries of the common era, and many of the Greek deities inspired and were adopted as part of much larger pantheon of Roman deities.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|91β97}} The Greek religion was polytheistic, but had no centralized church, nor any sacred texts.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|91β97}} The deities were largely associated with myths and they represented natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior.<ref name="Martin"/><ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|91β97}} Several Greek deities probably trace back to more ancient Indo-European traditions, since the gods and goddesses found in distant cultures are mythologically comparable and are [[cognate]]s.<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230β231}}<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|15β19}} [[Eos]], the Greek goddess of the dawn, for instance, is cognate to Indic ''[[Ushas]]'', Roman ''[[Aurora (mythology)|Aurora]]'' and Latvian ''[[Auseklis]]''.<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230β232}} [[Zeus]], the Greek king of gods, is cognate to Latin ''[[Jupiter (mythology)|IΕ«piter]]'', Old German ''[[TΓ½r|Ziu]]'', and Indic ''[[Dyaus Pita|Dyaus]]'', with whom he shares similar mythologies.<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230β232}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=West|first1=Martin Litchfield|author-link=Martin Litchfield West|title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-928075-9|pages=166β173|edition=1st}}</ref> Other deities, such as [[Aphrodite]], originated from the [[Near East]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breitenberger|first1=Barbara|title=Aphrodite and Eros: The Development of Greek Erotic Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-96823-2|pages=8β12|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=PSFePRxm1jAC|page=10}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cyrino|first1=Monica S.|title=Aphrodite|date=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-77523-6|pages=59β52|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7gyVn5GjXPkCAphrodite}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Puhvel|first1=Jaan|title=Comparative Mythology|date=1989|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore, MD|isbn=978-0-8018-3938-2|page=27|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marcovich|first1=Miroslav|title=From Ishtar to Aphrodite|journal=Journal of Aesthetic Education|date=1996|volume=39|issue=2|pages=43β59|doi=10.2307/3333191|jstor=3333191}}</ref> Greek deities varied locally, but many shared panhellenic themes, celebrated similar festivals, rites, and ritual grammar.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Flensted-Jensen|first1=Pernille|title=Further Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis|date=2000|publisher=Steiner|location=Stuttgart|isbn=978-3-515-07607-4|pages=9β12|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=uK8szXLlvjoC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> The most important deities in the Greek pantheon were the [[Twelve Olympians]]: Zeus, [[Hera]], [[Poseidon]], [[Athena]], [[Apollo]], [[Artemis]], Aphrodite, [[Hermes]], [[Demeter]], [[Dionysus]], [[Hephaestus]], and [[Ares]].<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|125β170}} Other important Greek deities included [[Hestia]], [[Hades]] and [[Heracles]].<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96β97}} These deities later inspired the ''Dii Consentes'' galaxy of Roman deities.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96β97}} Besides the Olympians, the Greeks also worshipped various local deities.<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|170β181}}<ref name="Pollard">{{cite web|last1=Pollard|first1=John Ricard Thornhill|last2=Adkins|first2=A.W.H.|title=Greek religion|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|date=19 September 1998|archive-date=9 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309201523/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion|url-status=live}}</ref> Among these were the goat-legged god [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]] (the guardian of shepherds and their flocks), [[Nymph]]s ([[List of nature deities|nature spirits]] associated with particular landforms), [[Naiad]]s (who dwelled in springs), [[Dryad]]s (who were spirits of the trees), [[Nereid]]s (who inhabited the sea), river gods, [[satyr]]s (a class of lustful male nature spirits), and others. The dark powers of the underworld were represented by the [[Erinyes]] (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives.<ref name="Pollard"/> The Greek deities, like those in many other Indo-European traditions, were anthropomorphic. [[Walter Burkert]] describes them as "persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts".<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|182}} They had fantastic abilities and powers; each had some unique expertise and, in some aspects, a specific and flawed personality.<ref name="Campbell"/>{{rp|52}} They were not omnipotent and could be injured in some circumstances.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoll|first1=Heinrich Wilhelm|title=Handbook of the religion and mythology of the Greeks|date=1852|page=3|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UWoBAAAAQAAJ&pg=4}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Greek deities led to cults, were used politically and inspired [[votive offerings]] for favors such as bountiful crops, healthy family, victory in war, or peace for a loved one recently deceased.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|94β95}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Garland|first1=Robert|title=Introducing New Gods: The Politics of Athenian Religion|date=1992|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-2766-4|pages=1β9|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7Ne-bCX_DaUC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page