Ancient Greece and Their Beliefs and Religion

Ancient Greece and their Beliefs and Religion

The Greek Orthodox Church was started many, many years ago. However, The Ancient Greeks, the ones that everyone knows about, were around a lot earlier than the founders of the Greek Orthodox Church. Their religion played a big part in their every day life. The Ancient Greek philosophy focused on reason and inquiry. Where as, religion, focused on their beliefs of their gods/goddesses.

Philosophers before Socrates began their scientific interests in biology, mathematics, and astronomy. They also did not believe in the mythological explanations of how things worked here on earth. Philosophy was first connected with practical life by Pythagoras of Samos, from whom philosophy received its name: "the love of wisdom" (Moford). Regarding the world as perfect harmony, dependent on number, he aimed at inducing humankind likewise to lead a happy/ perfect life. His doctrine was adopted and extended by a large following of Pythagoreans. Socrates questioned the previous philosophers continuously on what they had believed and found out (“The Greek”). He had started all of his beliefs from scratch. Socrates ended up being executed for corrupting the young of Athens and for disbelieving in the gods of the city.

The Greeks believed in hundreds of gods and goddesses. The Greeks also believed that even Zeus, the mightiest of all gods, was subject to the powerful force of Destiny or Fate. The Delphic Oracle told Lyidan inquirers that "no one, not even the god, can escape his appointed fate.” Religion was a very important aspect of Greek society and culture, with the sacrifices and regular worships of Gods surviving to unify the people in a common goal to please the Gods (O’ Connell). The Greeks also placed a big amount of their faith in the idea that an afterlife awaited them after their death. They firmly believed that this life was not the only reality in which the soul lives, but after this lifetime, a whole new and different one awaited them. Greek religion centered on the belief that the soul moved onto another life, such as Heaven or Hell.

The Gods were admired and feared, being distinguished from man by their immortality. The Greeks believed that the Gods controlled natural and social forces and resided on Mount Olympus. The Greeks were an earth-based culture as were most early forms of Paganism, holding a high respect for nature and the earth (O’Connell). To reflect this love of nature, the Greeks placed different Gods in charge of different aspects of life. The Greeks believed that the Gods were pre-eminently social beings, upholding an organized universe. The Gods were often depicted as humans as the Romans and other early forms of Paganism did (O’ Connell).