CONTEMPORARY  FAITH

2. GREEK RELIGION

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Estimated year of creation: 2,500 BC

Headquarters / Capital in the world: Greece.

Number of faithful around the world: N / A.

God of Greek religion: Zeus.

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Main symbol of the Greek religion:

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Main books of Greek religion :

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The Iliad.

The odyssey.

The Epic Cycle.

The Homeric Hymns.

The Hesiodic Corpus: Theogony.

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Main deities of the Greek religion:

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The 12 main gods of the Greek religion are:

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1. Zeus: God of Heaven and Sovereign of Olympus

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In addition to being the God of Lightning, Zeus is also the supreme father of all deities and mortals that inhabit the earth. He is originally from the island of Crete , where at birth he was rescued from the jaws of his father, Cronos.

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Had it not been for the timely intervention of Rea (his mother), Zeus would have been eaten by his father, like the rest of his brothers. Rhea hid and raised Zeus until he became the maximum reference of the Greek Gods.

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2. Poseidon: god of the seas and oceans

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This deity has the power to control the fury of the waters, apart from causing earthquakes at will . He hails from the city of Rhodes, where he was raised by the Telquines (hybrid marine-land creatures).

The legend of the god Poseidon is very similar to that of his brother Zeus, he was hidden by his mother in a herd of lambs to prevent his father, Cronos, from devouring him.

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Poseidon joins forces with Zeus to defeat Cronos, and that is how he receives his famous trident , in addition to custody of the seas and oceans.

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3. Hades: god of the underworld

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Hades was the eldest of the male children of the Titan Cronos . He was eaten by his father, although he would later be rescued from death by Zeus. Joining forces with his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, they managed to defeat Cronos.

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Together they take over the universe and divide it among themselves, Hades was conferred the underworld, being relegated to a terrible loneliness, which led him to take the maiden Persephone (daughter of Zeus) into captivity, to force her to marry him. he.

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Often associated with evil, Hades can be seen as a noble god who always, confusing as it may seem, sought to maintain a proper balance between good and evil in the world.

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4. Hermes: the messenger of the Gods

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Hermes is the son of the God Zeus, for his eloquence and charisma he earned the title of protector of thieves and God of borders. Born on Olympus, like his father, he had informal relationships with a large number of women, thus leaving a vast offspring.

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His greatest feat is to have gone to the underworld, commissioned by Zeus, to negotiate with his uncle (Hades himself), so that he would release his sister Persephone, which he achieved thanks to his divine rhetoric.

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5. Hera: Queen of the Gods

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This deity was the elder sister of the almighty Zeus, and at the same time his wife. It is attributed the responsibility of watching over marital unions and births, in addition to providing special protection to all women.

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He was always of a noble and very human personality, despite his divinity. In honor of Goddess Hera, parties called "Matronalia" are held, which take place on the first day of March.

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6. Hephaestus: Hero of the Gods

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The artisans had their protector, Hephaestus. The God of fire and forge works. He is the son of the Goddess Hera and the almighty Zeus, although this is not too clear. There are versions where it is indicated that he is only Hera's son.

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Hephaestus, with the exception of the rest of the deities, was born without physical beauty, his appearance was so unpleasant at birth that his mother threw him from Olympus, and he was lame after the fall.

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He was rescued from the sea by the Goddess Tethys (Achilles' mother) and raised by her on the island of Lemons.

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7. Dionysus: god of wine and life

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In the strict sense of the word, Dionysus turns out to be a demigod. Born to Zeus with a mortal named Semele, this Greek god is also known as the sovereign of agriculture.

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The legend of Dionysus tells that he was born twice, the first in a mortal way and the second thanks to the divinity of his father.

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On one occasion Zeus assumed his true form, and the lightning that struck killed Semele and Dionysus. The almighty god took the child, and placing it on one of his thighs gave him life back.

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8. Athena: goddess of wisdom

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She is one of the main and most influential Goddesses of Olympus. The stories tell that it is born directly from the head of Zeus, once he swallowed his mother, Athena emerged with the help of Hephaestus, who opened the head of Zeus; hence her great abilities for science and strategy, gifts that also served her on the battlefield, where she was a ruthless warrior.

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The Goddess Athena, in counterpart to her brother Ares, represents just causes.

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9. Apollo: god of the Sun

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In the stories of Greek mythology, the god Apollo represents perfection and beauty. Of the sons of Zeus, Apollo was the most influential of them all.

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He was not only the God of the Sun, but also of diseases and healing, of plagues and the antidotes against them. This Deity is the perfect balance between healthy and unhealthy.

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Apollo played a momentous role during the Trojan War, when the King of this city denied the Gods the promised offerings, it was he who unleashed a deadly plague on Troy.

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But his greatest feat, without a doubt, is to have directed the arrow of Prince Paris towards the heel of Achilles, causing his death.

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10. Artemis: goddess of the hunt

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Artemis is Apollo's twin sister. This goddess represents relief for women during childbirth. Like his brother Apollo they are disowned by the goddess Hera, since both come from the infidelity of Zeus.

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As a child, among other cravings, she asked her father to grant her the gift of eternal virginity, which was fulfilled. For this reason, Artemis is a Goddess without any sexual desire.

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Many hunting companions, including the mortal Orion, attempted to steal his virginity. All of them, including Orion, ended up dead at the hands of the goddess.

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11. Ares: God of War

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Ares is the counterpart of his sister, the goddess Athena. This deity represents the purest and most visceral instinct of war, it is violence at its best. He is the founder of the city of Thebes, where the Spartans live.

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Despite being the God of War, Ares was repeatedly defeated by his sister Athena. Also known is the anecdote of when he was wounded by the hero Diomedes and had to return to Olympus to heal, leaving the Trojans without his help during the war.

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12. Aphrodite: goddess of beauty and love

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Lustful and full of passion, this is the Goddess Aphrodite. This deity rules over everything related to sex and reproduction. It is born a product of the sperm of the Greek titan Uranus, whose testicles were cut off by Cronos.

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She emerges from the sea directly as an adult, being desired by many men from the first moment.

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Fearing a conflict on Olympus, Zeus decides that it is Hephaestus who stays with Aphrodite, but the Goddess never wanted to be with him, and it would be Ares who would calm Aphrodite's intense sexual desires.

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Hephaestus, after the anger and disgrace represented by the adultery committed by Aphrodite, complained to the Gods of Olympus, but they ignored his claims, and were envious of Ares.

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Basic principles of Greek religion:

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The general characteristics of Greek religion proposed by R. Muth (Einführung in die griechische und romische Religion, Darmstadt, 1997, 2nd ed.) And collected here refer mainly to classical times:

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• The Greeks believed in polytheism, in the existence of anthropomorphic deities, of importance for the life of man.

• The myth had great importance in the religious life of the Greek given his anthropomorphic conception of the divinity.

• The gods of the Greeks demanded a cult, in which the Greeks could participate piously, although that inner attitude was not precise.

• The myth was also important for the cult because it based it (on the etiological sagas or myths).

• The life horizon of the Greeks was limited to the things of this world: questions about the Hereafter were answered in the Mysteries, like those of Demeter in Eleusis .

• There were local differences and there was also an evolution over time, in religious ideas, cults and rituals.

• There were hardly any priests, except in cults like those of the oracles.

• Due to the influence of philosophy and poetry, ethical aspects were introduced into religion; Note that poetry transmits religion, but at the same time revises it.

• In Greek religion only ethical ideas appear in the Mystery cults.

• Along with traditional polytheism, notions such as pantheism and monotheism appeared in Greek religion.

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Small description of the Greek religion.

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It is the set of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks that deal with their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and meaning of their own cults and ritual practices. They were part of the religion of Ancient Greece.

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For the Greeks, the gods were not outside the world, they had not created the universe or men, but they had created themselves. They had not always existed; They were not eternal, without beginning or end, but only immortal (birth without death). This immortality translated into a particular lifestyle. They fed on ambrosia (a delicious substance, nine times sweeter than honey, it was said), nectar and the smoke of sacrifices. Not blood ran in his veins, but another liquid: ichor. They were subject to fate and constantly intervened in human affairs. Born from one another and very numerous, the gods formed a family, a society, strongly hierarchical. The names of most of the deities appear on the tablets of the Mycenaean civilization, later in the texts of Homer and Hesiod. Its site and its function were already partly established. It seems that the Greek pantheon was already established in the 8th century BC. At the end of this century, Hesiod, a Boeotian poet, in his Theogony, presents an arrangement of the rites and myths relating to the birth of the divine world. Write a history of the succession of divine generations that at the end of the multiple conflicts for sovereignty leads to the placement of the Olympian gods around the figure of Zeus. It was, first of all, to give birth to the world (kosmos) from three powers: Chaos ("the void that occupies a hole"), Gea (the Earth) and Eros ("the renewal"), who gave, each, birth to other powers independently. From the union of Gea and Uranus were born the Titans (the youngest of whom was Cronus), the three Cyclops and the three Hecatonchires (those with one hundred hands). Of the sons of Gaea and Uranus who engendered divine powers, Cronos castrated his father, then reigned with Rhea over the other gods. So that none of his children would be king, after being born he swallowed them. Born to him, Zeus escaped his intentions. Once he grew up, he forced Crono to vomit his children, dethroned him and incited him, with his brother's generation, the Olympians, into a fight against the Titans. Henceforth, the gods were essentially organized around Zeus, ruler of Olympus (of the sky, of the ethereal region where the gods live), who divided the world with his brothers: Hades, the underworld and Poseidon, the sea. He distributed all honors (timai) among the Olympians and inaugurated a reign of peace and justice. Mythical accounts, like those of Hesiod, explain the cult practices (sacrifices, festivals and competitions) and the rites that accompanied social and political life. They justify the fundamental rules that govern the community, make them intelligible to men and ensure their permanence.

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Reference:

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http://elfestindehomero.blogspot.com/2014/05/caracteristicas-generales-de-la.html

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http://elfestindehomero.blogspot.com/search/label/Himnos%20Hom%C3%A9ricos

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https://psicologiaymente.com/cultura/dioses-griegos

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