Elements of The Religious
Beliefs of The Ancient
Greeks

The purpose of this article is not to present the story of Greek religion in all its depth, for this would be difficult if not impossible, and would become a very voluminous study in view of the magnitude of the subject and the fact that so many books have been written on the subject. The purpose, rather, is to give a brief picture of the evolution which took place throughout the centuries as the restless spirit of the Greeks sought to lead their deities beyond the mere dimensions of man and to place them on the supreme pedestal of morality and justice. Another purpose of the article is to give along general lines the mystical nature which simple worship began to assume when the Greek more and more preoccupied himself with the soul and the perishable and the immutability of matter, and the mystery of death which he strove to discern. In the pages that follow, the religious faith of the Greeks is divided, for the convenience of the reader, into three major periods, the Pre-Homeric which includes the Minoan and the Mycenaean religions, the Homeric as this is described in the two epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, and the more developed of which sections deal with the worship of Apollo, the Eleusinian Mysteries, Dionysian worship, and Orphism, which will be treated in greater detail. [ p. 107]

Pre-Homeric Religion
One could call this the Cretan-Mycenaean religion. It coincides with the Bronze Age of Greece, and fundamentally one can say that just as Cretan-Mycenaean art is original and independent so also is its faith, even in the case when it was inspired by another religion--mostly Egyptian, it possesses its own individual [p. 101] vitality which makes it substantially different from any other.

As in the case of nearly all primitive races, the oldest inhabitants of Crete lived in caves. When the caves were abandoned for better shelters, they continued to use the caves as burial places and sites for worship. Famous caves of these kinds in the island are found at Kamares and in the village of Patso.

But each religion had certain instruments or symbols which were an essential part of the sacred rites or ceremonies. The principal object of devotion in Minoan religion were the sacred horns, the double axe, and the votary tables of various shapes. The sacred horns are represented as horn-shaped protuberances, turning upwards and joined by a fluted base. Of its origins nothing is known. The only thing we do know is that they were the place of consecration for the sacred objects which were always set between the horns.

The double axe was the symbol of Minoan worship which is encountered everywhere, much in the way the cross is in Christianity.

There exists a Carian word 'labrys' signifying double axe, and Zeus Labraneus or the god with the double axe was worshipped at Labranda in Caria. The same deity may well have been worshipped in Crete since the Cretans had ties with the Carians. But such an explanation, under closer scrutiny, does not seem to apply, for nowhere to date has a masculine deity been found holding a double axe. The symbol is found in the hands of priests, in various depictions, and in the hands of priestesses.

What in fact could the double axe signify and what was its use, if it did not represent thunder, the symbol of Zeus? Could it have been an instrument used to slay the animals that were offered as sacrifices? As such, it could have assumed a more important role in Cretan worship. Such an interpretation is supported today by many scholars. But over and above the sacred horns and the double axe, the Minoan Cretans, as nearly all peoples of the dawn of their civilizations, worshipped nature and natural phenomena, for the changes were indeed strange to them. In the early stages, at least, they could not explain why and when the soil produced its fruit and when it was dry and unproductive, because they had not yet systematically studied the seasons, and were not sure the Spring would return and nature would again yield its fruits and crops if they did not supplicate her. Thus they began to worship nature and in their imaginations, nature assumed the form of the Great Mother whereas vegetation which was so essential to their livelihood was seen as a divine child, a young god who was born and died and resurrected each year.

The relationship between the two deities, the Mother and the divine child, was not clear. At times it resembled a love affair that was not always entirely consummated either because the youthful god had died a little before or a little after the wedding with the goddess, and other times the relationship was of a maternal nature. Similar faiths are encountered both in Egyptian and Anatolian religions. But next to the young deity in Minoan religion, there existed also a young goddess who would die and be resurrected each year. Ariadne, daughter of Minos, according to a widely accepted theory, was the goddess of the moon and the trees which also die every year. The young god assumed the name of Belchanus and Hyacinth, and sometimes appeared as a tamer of wild beasts and other times as a frail youth or flower.

The form of the goddess was not always the same. Some times she is seen at the top of a [p. 102] mountain peak between two lions as the mistress of beasts, 'the revered lady of the animals' [Potnia] Artemis, and other times she was depicted seated beneath a tufted tree, and again at times in a standing position holding snakes in her hands or with a serpent entwined round her. The snake in this instance represented the underworld and protected the home.

Some times on the other hand, especially in the seals and precious stones, the goddess appears with doves hovering about her or perching on her head or shoulders.

In contrast with other countries, in Minoan Crete there were no large temples or idols built to the gods. There existed however small palace or countryside chapels or sacred precincts with very small idols or statuettes. These miniature statues, beautiful and very stylized, were portable and could be conveniently placed anywhere even in the dwellings of the faithful, much in the way icons are today.

The Cretans believed that humans could also become incarnate with the goddess or god either permanently or temporarily. Thus we see that in the rites, kings, princesses or queens could play the part of the deities and receive libations and the worship of the faithful who saw in their persons the deities in the flesh and bone. They even believed that the gods could assume the shape of animals and to appear to the believers as beasts such as oxen or bulls, wild goats, birds, or even snakes. Specially sacred was the bull so handsome and powerful who could fertilize an entire herd. He was identified with the heavens and the sun whereas the cow was identified with the moon. Thus the wedding of the bull and the cow was a wedding of the sun and moon. With the passing of the centuries the king and queen of Knossos began to play the role of the sacred marriage [bull-cow, sun-moon]. In fact, the name of the queen, Pasiphae [verdant], indicates her association with the sun, whereas the fruit of their marriage, the Minotaur, was known also as Asterion, symbolizing again the union of the sun and moon. From this sacred marriage of the king and queen of Knossos representing the religious cycle of Crete, there grew the legend of Pasiphae who had asked Daedalus to build a special [p. 103] wooden image of a cow by which she could be possessed by the bull-god. Even in the event that Minotaur died and the bull itself which was the special sacrificial beast died, this would not seem strange nor unprecedented, for in the East where in all likelihood lay the origins of the Cretan cult, the bull of the heavens also died as did the bull Apis of the Egyptians.

In addition to these deities who are for the most part unknown to us and about whom we can make only assumptions, and who no doubt contributed to the creation of the myths of the later gods, especially Athena, Aphrodite and Artemis, of great significance in Crete was the sacred tree which was none other than the olive. The ageless olive which yields its precious fruit from its ancient branches which also provided oil for the Cretans, the basic staple with grain, made a lasting impression on the primitive worshipper who soon looked upon the olive as divine. But the olive was not the only tree that was sacred, for some deciduous trees were also considered divine. These trees were regarded with sadness when the leaves were shed in the autumn, and on the other hand were looked upon with joy attended by wild spring celebrations to welcome the new blooming.

As pointed out above, certain instruments of worship were essential to Cretan religious practices such as the horns, the double axe, and the tables. In addition there was the large earthen dish [kernos] made with many wells or hollows with the largest hollow in the centre. This stone was used as a votive offering of all the agricultural products to the goddess whom they honoured with the sacrifice. The custom still survives in Crete today where the priest blesses the new crop. For liquid offerings they use the 'rhyton' or deep horn-shaped cup or a cup sometimes shaped like the head of a bull, a lion, or a triton, or even of a human being.

The dance was an important part of the ritual. Very common are depictions of women dancing bare-breasted beneath trees, raising their arms in supplication to the goddess to bring her back near them with the return of the Spring.

Bull vaulting [tavrokathapsia] was also part of the religious ritual which took place in the spring when nature returned to life. The vaulting was based on the sanctity of the bull which also was associated with fertility.

In the games, women also participated, thus the celebrations assumed a kind of erotic nature [bull-Pasiphae]. In the bull vaulting the beast was never slain. The athletes or worshippers were without weapons and performed their physical feats of prowess. Later, at the end of the bull vaulting, the beast was sacrificed to the goddess and the Spring festivities were continued with [see-sawing] acrobatics beneath the sacred trees and with parades with music and singing after the reaping of the corn.

But the religious faith of the Minoans was not limited to the worship of divinities alone. From most remote times, in the Neolithic Age, it appears that there grew a belief in a kind of life after death. Thus we find that the dead were buried in the hollows of rocks or in tholos-type tombs together with the items necessary for after life such as food, water, and weapons. At the same time, the Cretans who believed that the dead 'lived' at least as long as the body lasted, began slowly to evolve a worship of the dead, a primitive practice initially, that grew into a more complicated religious belief in time, until finally the Cretans began to identify the dead with the underground deities and to believe that with appropriate prayer and sacrificial offerings they could influence favourably the fertility of the earth. [p. 104]

Mycenaean religion was influenced by the Minoan but differed basically from it. The Greek-speaking tribes that settled in the area of Mycenae before or around about 1900 B.C. had brought with them their own gods, a number of whom later became known as the Olympian deities. We thus find in a tablet at Pylos dating in the 14th or 13th Century B.C., the names of Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, and Hermes, and elsewhere the names of Athena and Artemis. But the Mycenaeans had relationships with the Minoans and received from the latter their religious practices especially in its liturgical or ritual and formal aspects, adopting at the same time certain divinities who did not conflict with their own beliefs. In this way, they first adopted the Minoan goddess of vegetation and fertility, then the 'mistress of the beasts' who in each hand held an animal or bird. This goddess of wild nature not only protected animal life but also destroyed it.

Another deity of the Mycenaean Pantheon was the goddess of war. This deity was not anthropomorphic, rather, it was a palladium or statuette with chief characteristic a figure-eight shield with a head projecting from its top end. Why the Mycenaeans visualized the patron of war as a goddess rather than a god is still inexplicable. But that which can be said almost certainly is that this deity can be identified with the 'Potnia Athena' or 'Mistress Athena' of the tablets. Representations of the deities Poseidon, Zeus, and Hermes have not yet been found, but in all probability the Mycenaeans did not depict them.

Of the other Minoan divinities, it appears that the Mycenaeans rejected the snake goddess who it would seem was completely alien to their religious beliefs. [p. 105]

As with the Minoans, the Mycenaeans did not build large temples for the worship of their gods. On the contrary, they built small sacred sanctuaries on mountainous or hilly sites which they decorated with sacred horns. They also had open-air precincts surrounded by a low wall containing trees of the sacred grove.

In the latter stages of Mycenaean history the archons built in their palaces a special chamber which was set aside for their religious needs.

Mycenaean worship was simple. Prayers and votive offerings of small statuettes or idols were the usual means of expressing their faith. But there also existed the wild orgiastic dances in which both men and women participated and in which the goddess was called upon to heed the prayers of the faithful for fertility and a good crop from the earth and the flocks.

Their sacred utensils were not unlike those of the Minoans, and in all probability Mycenae had imported both the ritual and the formal worship of the island of Crete. The only symbol which they did not adopt was the double-headed axe. In the early centuries of Mycenae this may have had some ritual significance, but ultimately however it was confined to its utilitarian uses, an instrument for slaughtering the sacrificial beast in the votive offering to the gods.

From all appearances, in contrast to the Minoan state, the Mycenaean ruler was not the chief priest nor did he ever represent the god. This is also the case with the queen. Priests and priestesses presided over the religious rites. The priestesses, as in Crete, were barebreasted.

In short, Mycenaean religion was less complicated and intricate then the Minoan and it appears that large and great festivals, other than dances in which all the faithful took part, were not the practice. It is almost certain that no bull vaulting or acrobatics were performed.

Parallel with the worship of the gods there existed at Mycenae the worship of the dead. This worship evolved from the Mycenaean through the Classical period. Finds in the tholos tomb of Menidi, the burial pits of Mycenae and the royal tombs of that city uncovered by Schliemann would indicate that occasionally [especially in the tomb of Clytemnestra and the covered burial vaults of Mycenae] before the burial of kings or the chieftains, these sites were used as sacred sanctuaries for the worship of earlier heroes before the practice of burying royalty in them.

The worship of both heroes and the dead was performed in the same manner, and therefore would indicate that the hero cult began initially as the worship of the dead, the only difference being that respect for the dead was a family practice whereas that of the heroes was popular practice.

The significance given by the Greeks to hero worship can be gauged from the fact that when the purification of Delos took place with the removal of the dead to Rheneia, two tombs dating back to Mycenaean times were not touched and worship at the sites continued. These graves were situated in the sacred precinct of Delos. It is said that the one located near the temple of Artemis was the tomb of the hyperborean maidens Ope and Arge, and the other of the hyperborean virgins Laodice and Hyperoche. All four maidens were closely associated with Artemis, Apollo, and the tree cult. [pp. 101-106]

The Birth of the Myth
One of the questions that has preoccupied scholars of Greek religion is the birth of the myths. There are two schools of thought regarding these origins. One maintains with convincing argument that the myths and their formulation took place in great part in the Mycenaean period. But the other school of thought believes these myths to be of a later date. The former argues that all or at least most of the myths were associated with Mycenaean cities whose histories antedates that of Mycenae. Tiryns, for example, is the birthplace of Heracles, and he led the cattle of Gerones to Tiryns and not to Mycenae. And he lived there as a vassal of Eurystheus, King of Mycenae which would indicate that Tiryns was more ancient and was supplanted by Mycenae just as the latter was subsequently overthrown by Argos. The same scholars maintain that the most brilliant center of Mycenaean times was the city which gave its name to the first civilization in continental Greece. And so Mycenae was the center for the birth of nearly all myths. Attica, Athens, Tiryns, Lacedaemon, Thebes, Pylos, Orchomenus, and Calydon were secondary centers. The scholars of this school of thought thus argue that the myths originated when golden Mycenae flourished. And they conclude that, if the myths were of a later date, if they were not of Mycenaean origin, why then should Mycenae have been the foremost of cities:? And furthermore, why would the myths have been associated with Mycenae if in fact they had not been created and had not evolved in the Mycenaean period?

The fact that the outstanding centers of Mycenaean civilization were also great centers of myth making, according to the second school of thought which denies such origin of myths, led scholars to hastily conclude that heroic mythology has Mycenaean beginnings, but the myth making, they point out, presupposes a stage of evolution in which to develop in the hearts and minds of men. Therefore, the myths are of a later date than Mycenae, and as an argument they cite the example of Odysseus who although he was aware that Oedipus was a patricide, did not know that he had children with his mother, and that the Iliad does not refer to Iphigenia and Electra as daughters of Agamemnon.

The opponents of the theory that the myths are of Mycenaean origin conclude that just as with the Olympian cult of religion, neither the theogony nor heroic mythology is a Mycenaean tradition, but is a creation of the post-Mycenaean centuries.

Which of the two theories is closer to the truth? In all probability the first school of thought has the most valid arguments, but one should add that with the passage of time the myths change, evolve, and adapt themselves to the realities of the later centuries. [p. 107]

Homeric Religion
In the Homeric Age with its anthropomorphism, the gods, at least as they appear in the Iliad and Odyssey, are very different indeed, for their duties have been neatly arranged and they comprised a well-knit community which was a reflection of the community of human beings. The gods dwelt in a lofty citadel of Olympus where Zeus had his palace. Life was pleasant and carefree as in all royal palaces with continuous feasts and entertainment. Whenever he wished, Zeus would summon the gods to visit him, and he ruled over them, as did Agamemnon, with an iron hand for many were stubborn or reluctant vassals of the lord of all gods who often disobeyed the divine orders and many times pursued selfish ends. Moreover, each deity had his own genealogical tree and altogether the gods made up a single family, some of whom had as fathers the defeated Titans, whereas before them and during the first dynasty of the gods, there existed the first rulers, the creators of the universe.

The gods were identified by mortals with the site of worship and were supplicated by the faithful at the time of sacrifice. And the gods presented themselves either in the shape of a bird, a Cretan-Mycenaean belief, or by a rustling of the leaves of trees, also a Cretan-Mycenaean tradition. But the gods had not yet acquired the moral supremacy and grandeur they were to possess later. They were still fickle and some times even malicious. They were moreover distinguished from human beings by their immortality, and they were placed at a level which man could never hope to reach. The gods were more powerful and wiser than mortals, and could do anything at will, unlike man who always encountered difficulties in his path. They lived an ïeasyÍ life without the worries that plagued man from the time of his birth until the grave.

Homer distinguishes three classes of people in his epics, gods, kings and heroes, and the masses. This division is very marked, especially as regards the third class. The kings oftentimes clashed with the gods, but the common people were of another breed. Only kings and heroes were brave, whereas the masses merely participated in the wars. The boundaries between the classes were strictly drawn by the unwritten law and any violation [p. 108] of this law was considered impudent ['hybris'] which brought in its wake divine punishment ['Nemesis'].

The gods perpetually interfered in the affairs of mortals but it was the gods who had granted the natural, intellectual and material gifts to mankind. Prosperity and misfortune were the works of the gods and the life and death of each human being was in their hands.

Yet Homer was a rationalist, and he found a way to explain why certain things were so improbable in the natural order of things. Thus we find in his works a faith in Fate ['Moira'] which was a power and force even greater than that of the gods. Homer uses four words to express this supreme force: 'Ate', 'Moira', 'Moros', and 'Aesa'. The words do not define a god but some other force, especially the last three terms which should be literally translated in their original meanings, signifying 'piece', 'share', and 'lot'. When something untoward occurs, man would not always say that it was the will of the gods, but could blame his 'lot', or destiny, his 'share' of misfortune or disaster, or good fortune, happiness, and prosperity. Some times man would receive more than his share of luck, and this would be known as 'supershare', or more than his lot, or even more than the god which meant in fact that it occurred despite the will of the gods. Such an attitude had a double significance for man since it flattered him on the one hand in knowing that he had individual power and strength, and on the other, it did not detract from his faith in the gods since it was destiny which was above the deities, and therefore the gods could not be held responsible for man's unhappiness or bad lock.

Death is the inescapable lot of man. It is one of his two shares, life on the one hand, and death on the other. From this simple thought or idea which is in reality a fear of the unknown, there came about a fatalism. And this belief in fate was stretched so far by Homer that often times man's responsibilities for certain acts would be excused and accounted for by 'Ate' [eyeless fate] which had blinded them. 'Ate' here is identified with 'Moira' or fate since in the lot of man 'Ate' is also included.

The relationships between the gods and mortals in Homer is dependent upon the class of people. The man of the people is lower on the scale than the aristocrat, and the latter in turn is lower than the gods. The man of the people never believed that the gods could possibly envy him or his lot. But the aristocrat was in a different category, and when he met with misfortune he was apt to say that the gods envied him his lot.

Homer did not ignore ancestor worship and the honours due to the dead on the part of the living. In Book XI, Odysseus, following the instructions of Circe, visits the land of the Cimmerians and . . . . 'Here, Perimedes and Eurylochus held fast the destined sacrifice, while I scooped with my sword the soil, opening a trench ell-broad on every side, then poured around libation consecrate to all the dead, first, milk with honey mixed, then luscious wine, then water, sprinkling, last, meal over all. This done, adoring the unreal forms and shadows of the dead, I vowed to slay [returned to Ithaca] in my own abode, an heifer barren yet, fairest and best of all my herds, and to enrich the pile with delicacies, such as please the shades. But in particular, to Tiresias I vowed a sable ram, largest and best of all my flocks. When thus I had implored with vows and prayer, the nations of the dead, piercing the victims next, I turned them both to bleed into the trench. Then swarming came from Erebus the shades of the deceased, brides, youths unwedded, seniors long with woe oppressed, and [p. 109] tender girls yet new to grief. Came also many a warrior by the spear in battle pierced, with armour gore-distained, and all the multitude around the foss stalked shrieking dreadful. And I with pale horror was seized. I next importunate, my people urged, flaying the victims which I myself had slain, to burn them, and to supplicate in prayer, illustrious Pluto and dread Persephone. Then down I sat, and with drawn and cutting sword chased the ghosts, nor suffered them to approach the blood till with Tiresias I should first confer'.

Having seen and spoken to Tiresias, with his mother, and many heroes, Odysseus concludes, ' . . . but the threatening surging dead gathered round and gave off a terrible groan and I turned pale with fear lest the divine Persephone send the monstrous Gorges to cast me out from Hades, and so I set out on my barque'. Poetic License one may say, but Homer here makes Odysseus speak with the dead shades and at the same time describes the sacred rites involved when appeasing the dead or when wishing to ask for something from the departed.

Homer, or at least the Homeric age, remoulded the myths which had been inherited from the past, but did so on a rationalistic and anthropomorphic basis. The other life was replaced by an eternal sleep and caused man to doubt the omens which the gods were wont to send.

'The anthropomorphism of Homer', the distinguished scholar Nielson wrote, 'gave rise to the first criticism of religion and was of colossal significance for the evolution of the Greek intellect. Man bowed his head in fear and awe under the forceful power of the gods, but the Greeks were liberated from their religious chains by Homer who humanized the gods. Henceforward they could with their own measure and with their own efforts find order and continuity in the world. Greek science was an offshoot of this period. The Ionian rhapsode had laid the path for the Ionian natural philosopher to follow, the philosopher who built his new world on the shattered remnants of the old.' [pp. 108-110]