GREEK RELIGION

• Religion was fundamental to Greek society and affected every aspect of Greek life.

• Temples dedicated to gods and goddesses were the major buildings in Greek cities.

•Worship was practiced individually.

• Visiting a shrine, alter or temple to get help from the gods was often required for illness, bad harvests, upcoming battle, and joyous occasions.

• They believed in omens, curses, superstitions, the significance of dreams and the power of charms.

•Gods and goddesses were anthropomorphic meaning they possessed human characteristics, the good and the bad.

•Greeks believed their gods and goddesses controlled everything, including the movement of the stars to the failing of a harvest.

•They had gods who ruled the sky and the underworld, for childbirth and hunting, war and even metalwork.

12 Olympians

•Homer described the 12 main gods in Greek religion that were thought to live on Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.

• Zeus• Hera• Poseidon• Demeter• Hestia• Athena

• Apollo• Artemis• Hermes• Aphrodite• Hephaest

us• Ares

Internet/Text Book Activity1. Look up one of the 12 main gods and gather

information about how they came to be, what were they associated with, and a description of their characteristics.

2. Look up the story of Demeter and Persephone. Which natural phenomena does the story explain.

3. Words and Metaphors from Greek Myths: Look up the following terms/metaphors and explain their meaning:

Achilles HeelArachnidTantalizeWise as an Owl

ZeusFamily of Zeus• Zeus was the last child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Zeus

had five older siblings. Two brothers (Poseidon, Hades), and three sisters (Hestia, Hera, Demeter). Zeus married his own sister Hera, the goddess of marriage and monogamy, but was giving her plenty of reasons to be jealous, since Zeus was renowned of his numerous love affairs. As a result, Zeus fathered plenty of children.

Role and Responsibilities• Zeus had his golden throne on the highest summit of Mount

Olympus and was respected and awed by all Gods and mortals. All the kings boasted that they descended from Zeus.

• Zeus was the "Lord of Justice", punishing anyone who lied or broke an oath, but was fair and always striving to keep a balance of all things.Furthermore, Zeus was responsible for the weather and was shaping it according to his temper. But even Zeus' powers had their limits, for, however powerful as he was, he had neither the right nor the ability to intervene in the decisions of the Fates.

HeraThe Family of Hera• Hera was a child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea.

Hera had three brothers (Poseidon, Hades and Zeus) and two sisters (Hestia and Demeter). She was wife to Zeus, the King of the Gods.[ Hera’s children included Eilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, Ares, the Olympian god of war, Hebe, the goddess of youth and Hephaestus, the Olympian god of Metallurgy. According to some beliefs, Hephaestus was born without the intervention of Zeus.

Hera's troubled marriage with Zeus• Although Hera was one of the fairest goddesses in

Mount Olympus, Zeus was giving Hera plenty of reason to be suspicious and jealous; Hera therefore used to stay in high places in order to keep an eye on her husband's doings. There were times she would also interfer, causing harm to Zeus' mistresses, since Zeus himself was invincible.

PoseidonThe Personality of Poseidon and his Way of Life• Poseidon was considered to be the bad-tempered, moody and greedy god among the Olympians. Once insulted, he would revenge himself, like he did in the case of Odysseus, who brutally blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Poseidon loved to cross the oceans and seas with his golden chariot surrounded by dolphins.

The Powers of Poseidon • Poseidon was the Greek god responsible

for natural and supernatural events, mainly the ones associated to the sea world and was the savior of ships. He possessed a trident which was so powerful that it could shake the earth. Usually Poseidon preferred to stay with his wife Amphitrite beneath the ocean.

AphroditeBirth of Aphrodite• Aphrodite was created from the foam of the crystal waters of Paphos in the island of Cyprus, when the Titan Cronos slew his father, the major Titan Ouranos, and threw his genitals into the sea.

The Role of Aphrodite as a Goddess• Aphrodite was the most attractive goddess of Mount Olympus. She was the goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal Youth, arousing desire to gods and humans as well as birds and beasts. In addition, she was connected to the death/rebirth of nature and human beings.