fandomhigh | Greco-Roman Archaeology

Daniel smiled at the class. "Good morning," he said. "Following on from Roman religion, let's look at one of it's strongest influences... Greek religion.

The Ancient Greeks were also polytheistic. They believed that these gods and goddesses controlled everything, from the waves in the ocean to the winner of a race. Each god or goddess controlled one or two major aspects of life. Greeks built temples in every town for one god or goddess. Temples were large and beautiful buildings where Greeks went to pray or sacrifice animals. The sacrificed animals were considered gifts to the gods. Greeks were especially likely to sacrifice animals at festivals in honor of the gods. The festivals included plays, music, dancing, and then a parade to the temple where they made their sacrifices and had a feast. One temple still standing today is the Parthenon, built in honor of Athena, who was the goddess of wisdom and war.

What else can anyone tell me about the Ancient Greeks and religion?

"For homework, I'm going to assign you each a god found in either the Greek or Roman pantheon.... sometimes both. I want you to write me at least one hundred words on them for Tuesday, please.

Sonia Belmont - Minerva
Thomasina Coverley - Janus
Phoebe Halliwell - Proserpina
Medusa St Clair - Pan
Kara Thrace - Apollo

Any questions?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"The Ancients believed that not all Gods were benevolent and forgiving. Their belief structure required there to be balance, so there were benevolent Gods and well and angry ones. They wanted to keep all of the Gods pleased so that they only got visits or blessings from the benevolent ones."

Daniel nodded, smiling. "Does anyone know the story of Prometheus?"

"Prometheus was a god long before Zeus took the Throne of Eternity. He fought for Zeus against the devising Kronos (Cronos), but Prometheus never had true respect for Zeus. He feared that the new Olympians had no compassion for each other or the mortals on the earth below. To show his disdain, Prometheus prepared two sacrifices and, in an attempt to belittle father Zeus, he made one sacrifice of fat and bones and the other of the finest meat. The trick was, Prometheus had wrapped the fat in such a way that it looked to be the most sincere tribute of the two. Zeus saw through the trick and magnanimously controlled his anger. He warned Prometheus but did not punish him."

"But what happened later? Zeus no longer controlled his anger, did he?"

"Dispite Zeus’ warning, Prometheus took pity on the primitive mortals and again, he deceived Zeus. Prometheus gave the mortals all sorts of gifts: brickwork, woodworking, telling the seasons by the stars, numbers, the alphabet (for remembering things), yoked oxen, carriages, saddles, ships and sails. He also gave other gifts: healing drugs, seercraft, signs in the sky, the mining of precious metals, animal sacrifice and all art.

To compound his crime, Prometheus had stolen fire from Zeus and given it to the mortals in their dark caves. The gift of divine fire unleashed a flood of inventiveness, productivity and, most of all, respect for the immortal gods in the rapidly developing mortals. Within no time (by Immortal standards), culture, art, and literacy permeated the land around Mount Olympus. When Zeus realized the deception that Prometheus had fostered, he was furious. He had Hephaistos shackle Prometheus to the side of a crag, high in the Caucasus mountains. There Prometheus would hang until the fury of Zeus subsided."

Daniel smiled. "Well done, Phoebe.

Now," he turned to the rest of the class. "Linking on to what Ms Halliwell's just told us, does anyone know the story of Pandora?"

Phoebe bites her lip and starts writing about pandora in her notebook in order to not comment again.

Sonia tentatively raises her hand.

"Er...Pandora vas a creation of Zeus, made to enact his vengeance on men and Prometheus, for stealing the fire. All of the gods endowed Pandora with gifts and charms- from Athena, there vere lovely robes; from the Graces, a golden crown. Last, Zeus gave her a beautiful box as part of her dowry- for he intended her to marry Epimethus, the brother of Prometheus. Zeus had given her strict instructions to never open the box, but she did, and war, disease, hatred, greed...all of the ills of the world- were released from the box. Hope was all that remained in the box."

Daniel turns to look at Sonia, nodding as she talks. "Thank you, Sonia. Do you have anything else to add about Greek religion?"

She thinks for a moment. "Anything in particular, do you mean, or general observation?"

"Let's start with a general observation."

Greco-Roman Archaeology

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