Greek Gods and Religion

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Greek Gods and Religion
Science and Religion in Schools Project - Unit 3b
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Who were the Greek gods?

• A pantheon of gods and goddesses living on Mount
  Olympus
• Zeus, the supreme god, was god of the sky
• Poseidon was god of the sea and
• Hades was god of the underworld

The other Olympians were Aphrodite (Love), Apollo
(Prophecy), Ares (War), Artemis (The Hunt),
Athena (Arts and Crafts), Demeter (Agriculture),
Dionysus (Wine), Hephaestus (Fire), Hera
(Marriage), and Hermes (Messenger of the Gods),
There were also lesser gods like Eros, heroes
like Achilles and mythical beings like the Muses,
Centaurs and Satyrs.
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Family Tree
The Olympians are in yellow
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What were they like?

• The gods lived in a central stronghold on Mount
  Olympus ruled over by Zeus rather like a kingdom.
  Each god had a function or job. They fought
  battles,and granted favours to mortals but could
  also bring disaster.

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How did the gods interactwith the world?

• Each of the gods was connected with
• particular aspects of life. For example,
• the goddess Athene was connected
• with childbirth, the production of olives
• and the crafts. In Athens, where ceramics was a
  major industry, she was regarded as caring for
  all the workers in the city and the community as
  a whole. So the gods offered protection and
  guidance.

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Greek beliefs about creation

• Although Zeus is the main god he was not a
  creator god and there are no real myths of
  creation from ancient Greece. Instead the more
  naturalistic explanations of creation by Greek
  philosophers were commonly accepted. Man was
  believed to have been made from clay by the minor
  craftsman god Prometheus.

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Greek beliefs about the universe

• The gods (immortal) and humans (mortal) lived in
  different realms. There was, however, a land of
  perfect happiness at the ends of the earth where
  favoured mortals lived for ever. It was called
  Elysium. But there was also the underworld, the
  world of the dead, ruled over by Hades.

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Greek myths

• Homers epic poem the Iliad tells the story of
  Achilles and the Trojan war while his Odyssey
  is about Odysseus. These Greek heroes win glory
  by adventure and war. They show us what potential
  there is for the human mind and spirit to explore
  far beyond the limitations of ordinary, everyday
  experience.

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Greek Gods and Religion
Science and Religion in Schools Project - Unit 3b