By the end of the 12 th century B.C. the Mycenaean's had vanished and Greece entered an undocumented dark age Mainland Greece was depopulated by up to 90% as Greeks fled into the central highlands, or across the seas. This depopulation had enormous impacts on Greek social organization, economy and material culture. Burial remains indicate a world that remained cut off from the rest of the civilized world, Egypt and the near east, and even contact between each other. Some villages may have had chiefs, but a chiefs home and material possessions differed little from those of his neighbors This time developed in the Greeks a presumption of political and economic equality among self sufficient households.
Religion and ritual were woven into the fabric of Greek life, but the Greeks were suspicious of their gods and did not necessarily see them as a positive force. The gods were capricious, possessing all of the failings of human beings while wielding super human power and delighting in interfering in human affairs. For the Greeks, the gods were to be appeased and propitiated but never trusted fully. Although Greeks relied far more on the power of the individual human spirit than on divine intervention, they did also develop the idea of hubris (excessive pride) to discourage men from becoming too proud of their own accomplishments. Hubris attracted the attention of the gods, and threatened them, the gods would punish such a man with relish.
Greek Religion vs. Modern Religion It is difficult to make generalizations about Greek religion. Like so much of Greek culture, Greek religion was a decentralized affair. Unlike monotheistic religions, Greek religion was not unified by a single god or holy text or bible. Though several Greek cults and priesthoods produced holy texts, in a polytheistic culture, it would be inaccurate to assume that the beliefs of one group held true for all of Greece. The closest things the Greeks had to a Bible were the Iliad and the Odyssey. Yet the Greeks did not enshrine these epics and other Homeric myths as divine revelation. Instead, they looked to these tales for inspiration as they created myths and rituals suited to the specific needs of their communities.
Greek Religion vs. Modern Religion Some facets of Greek religion seem strange as when the boys of Sparta were brutally beaten with flails during a rite of passage in which they tried to steal honey cakes from the shrine of Artemis. Other facets seem quite familiar. The Eleusinian notion of the afterlife as a place of peace and happiness sounds a lot like the Christian notion of heaven. Still other facets seem familiar, yet are quite different. The Athenian boule, what we would call a congress, was considered a religious institution as much as a political one.
Foundations of Greek Religion Yet despite these differences, Greek religion was unified by a cast of characters - gods, heroes and men. All Greeks agree on the general outlines and stories of these characters, but the specific details vary from city to city and Greek to Greek. These divergences in details seem to serve two main purposes. The first is to lay claim to a god or hero. For example, at least six islands claimed to be the birth place of Zeus and had their own unique myths and festivals to commemorate their special relationship to the god. Another reason Greek religion might diverge would be to explain or legitimize customs.
Foundations of Greek Religion For example, the Athenians claimed to have received their custom of trial by jury from the Goddess Athena, who held the trial of the mythical hero Orestes in Athens, ending the cycle of vengeance and bloodshed which had destroyed the Mycenaean royal family. The Athenians believed this story. The Spartans, who had no such trial system, and who held the Athenians in contempt, probably did not. Yet, beneath these differences, the core of Greek religion remains the same. While Spartans and Athenians might disagree on how Orestes' story ends, they all agree on how it began.
Foundations of Greek Religion While half a dozen islands might claim to be the birthplace of Zeus, they all agree Zeus was nursed on an island. Our two main sources for this universal Greek mythology are Homer and Hesiod. Aside from the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Greeks attributed several hymns to the various deities to Homer. These hymns provide brief scenes from the lives of the gods, from the birth of Hermes to Aphrodite's stormy love affair with Anchises. Beyond these, there seem to have been other, older myths floating around Greece. Around 800 BC, the poet Hesiod attempted to wrap all of these myths into a single coherent creation story.
Foundations of Greek Religion The result is Hesiod's 'Theogony'. Between the hymns and epics of Homer and Hesiod's 'Theogony', we can construct a general outline of Greek mythology. Hesiod's 'Theogony': Creation of Earth Let us start at the beginning. The Greek gods are anthropomorphic, meaning that they take on the shapes and characteristics of men. As such, it is not surprising that Hesiod's account of the creation of the gods reads like a family tree with new gods being born just as humans are: from sex. According to Hesiod, in the beginning there was chaos - a gaping nothingness.
Hesiod's 'Theogony': Creation of Earth From this chaos was born the basic stuff of the universe, among which was sex. Through sex, the rest of the universe was created - the sea, the heavens and the earth. Then mountains and rivers, then hills and streams and so on. This is the first generation of gods - the stuff of the universe. Thus, the world was created, yet nothing was happening. Ouranos, the heaven, lay upon Gaia, the earth, and would not remove his penis from her. This was a static world. It was as if the stage was set but the action had not yet begun. Pregnant with a dozen children, Gaia groaned in pain.
Hesiod's 'Theogony': Creation of Earth The Titans Desperate for relief, Gaia gave her son, Cronos (whose name means time) a sickle. Cronos cut off Ouranos' penis and threw it into the sea. From the foam was born Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Freed from their mother's womb, the Titans burst forth and took dominion of the world. This is the second generation of gods. Like Ouranos and Gaia, The Titans aren't so much gods of things as the things themselves with a name.
The Titans Where the last generation of gods were physical objects - the earth and the sky - the Titans were forces of motion and change within the natural world. Cronos earned his name, Time, by getting the universe rolling. Hyperion was the god of light, and fathered Selene (the moon), Helios (the sun) and Eos (the dawn). Memnosune was the goddess of memory and gave birth to the nine muses who inspire poets. Perhaps the most famous of the Titans was Prometheus, literally foresight, who would prove to be a great help to mankind. Yet, all was not well among the Titans.
The Titans A prophecy told Cronos that a son of his would one day overthrow him. Cronos responded by eating his children as soon as they were born. His wife, Rhea, understandably distraught at this situation, cried to her mother, Gaia. Gaia and Rhea conspired to hide the infant Zeus from Cronos. When Zeus was born, Rhea fed Cronos a rock wrapped in a blanket and hid the infant Zeus on an island. Apparently, Cronos is not that smart.
The Olympians The Olympians were the third generation of gods and unlike previous gods were anthropomorphic Once Zeus was fully grown, he attacked and defeated his father. Cronos spat out Zeus' brothers and sisters, and the third generation of gods was born - the Olympians, named after their holy seat on mount Olympus. Unlike the first two generations of gods, the Olympians are completely anthropomorphic. They are the gods of things, not the things themselves. It's the difference between worshipping the ocean and worshiping the master of the ocean. The Titans objected to the rule of these upstart Olympians and attempted to overthrow them.
The Olympians Yet, they were betrayed by Prometheus, who told Zeus how to defeat his fellow Titans. The Titans were thrown down and chained deep below the netherworld in Tartarus. No longer free to do as it liked, nature had to bow to the will of the all too human Olympians. After their victory over the Titans, the children of Cronos and Rhea divided the world amongst themselves. The three brothers took the main domains: Zeus was named lord of the sky and king of the gods. He was the god of storms, of kings, of laws and of Xenia.
The Olympians Poseidon was lord of the sea and because the Greeks thought the earth floated on the sea, also the god of earthquakes. He is also the god of horses, for some reason. The third brother, Hades, was given lordship of the underworld. He never really liked his brothers nor they he, and his jealousy of them makes him one of the most cruel and heartless of the gods. No one ever sacrifices to Hades, knowing he cannot be moved. Instead, Greeks concerned with the afterlife prayed to one of Hades' two wives.
The Olympians For good wishes for the afterlife, they sacrificed to Persephone, goddess of spring and lover of life. For evil wishes, Greeks sacrificed to Hekate, a 3- headed goddess of dark magic. With the three brothers satisfied, their three sisters took lesser domains: There was Hera, goddess of wives and families. Hestia, goddess of the hearth. Demeter, goddess of fertility and the harvest.