Introduction to Ancient Greek Religion

Ancient Greek Religion was made up of more than one God, this is known as a polytheistic religion. This contrasts greatly with the Christian religion today which only has one God and so is a monotheistic religion. The Gods were seen as being superior to the human race mainly due to their immortality so the Gods fittingly inhabited mount Olympus while the humans were very much concerned with the earth and nature. The Gods were made up of Gods and Goddesses and were depicted by the humans in their own image. Each God was given a role that affected the lives of the Greeks and every God was meant to be worshipped equally in order to avoid punishment from the neglected God/Goddesses. This had the effect of fear on the Ancient Greeks and made them respect the Gods even more. The ancient Greek religion was not strictly polytheistic because the king of the Gods was Zeus, he is pictured to the right and was the God of the sky. Zeus presided over everything and was the supreme ruler.

The other main Gods were: Aphrodite; Goddess of love, Apollo; God of music, healing, guidance, purity and light, Athena; Goddess of war and wisdom, Hades; God of the underworld, Demeter; Goddess of harvest, Poseidon; God of the sea, Hera, Hestia, Hermes, Hephaestus, Ares and Artemis.