greek gods Essay

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Worshiping The Greek Gods And Goddesses
The ancient Greeks were highly religious people and took their beliefs very seriously.
They chose their actions very carefully so they would not offend their gods because they believed their gods could see everything. They did everything they could to honour the greek gods in order to have a good life. Through research one discovers that the ancient Greeks had a unique religion that affected almost every aspect of their daily life.
The greeks worshiped twelve gods who ruled the universe from the top of Mount
Olympus. They are described as human beings, who were born and grew into this world in perfect form with superhuman strength that were non aging, immortal, and roamed through the skies.Each of these gods have specific identities that we know them by. They all have different personalities, human weaknesses, and represent different aspects of human life.
They were a mixture of old Minoan beliefs and Central Asian gods that the European invaders brought to Greece in 2000BC. Tablets in the early Mycenaean Greek of 1200BC seem to show that some of the Olympians including Zeus, Poseidon, and Hera, were being worshiped in the Late Bronze Age (3000­1500BC).
The Greek gods are all related in some way. Zeus is the thunder­wielding king and father of the gods. He is the lord of the sky and the ruler of heaven and earth. His two brothers, Hades and Poseidon reign over the underworld and the sea. He has two sisters;
Hestia ( the virgin goddess of hearth and home) and Hera, Zeus’s wife. She is the queen of the gods and goddess of marriage and childbirth. Their two sons Ares ( the god of war) and
Hephaestus who is told to be lame and ugly is the god of fire and forge. Zeus has other children without Hera : Athena, born with no mother is the virgin goddess of reason and the patron goddess of athens. Apollo son of Leto is god of music and prophecy. His twin sister is
Artemis the hunter, lady of the wild things, and protector of the young. Aphrodite, daughter of

Dion, is the goddess of love, desire and beauty. Lastly Hermes, son of Maia, is the messenger god. He is famous for his winged sandals and is known to be the fastest and cleverest of all the gods.
Many people think that the ancient Greek religion consist from people telling stories.
They used gods to explain the things about the world they couldn't understand. For example, if there was a lightning storm they would explain that by saying the god Zeus is angry. The
Greeks believed in order to control natural forces like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions they had to keep the gods happy. If there was disruption in their city they would think that they or their rulers did something wrong to deserve it. They believed that there are powerful gods that control what happens to you to teach people to behave. They were taught in order to have good things happen to them they have to be a good person, and bad things will happen to bad people. They thought in order to have some control of the gods they can do it through sacrifice, prayer, and living a good life.
The ancient Greeks believed in many gods. They liked the idea of being able to choose between a wide variety of gods to worship because it gave them a sense of freedom, even though the twelve gods demanded worship from all their people.Those who failed to honour any one of the twelve with sacrifice and libation were punished. Unlike the christian god the gods were not forgiving and flawless. They made mistakes, felt pain, and had anger and a temper like everyone else. This religion is flexible, it has no moral code and guiding work of scripture
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