Nature of the Olympian Gods

Question 1

Who are the 12 gods and what do they do?

Answer 1

-Zeus: king, order & justice
-Athena: wisdom, craft, heroes
-Aphrodite: beauty and love
-Hera: marriage
-Demeter: agriculture
-Apollo: music, prophecy, sun
-Dionysus/Hestia: theatre/ hearth
-Hermes: messengers, travellers
-Ares: war
-Hephaestus: blacksmiths
-Artemis: archery, maidens
-Poseidon: sea, horses

Question 2

Hades

Answer 2

not included because he doesn’t live on Olympus

Question 3

Persephone

Answer 3

sometimes included due to her role in Eleusinian Mysteries but she lives with Hades for 1/2 year

Question 4

Dionysus and Hestia

Answer 4

can be changed around but both are important in religious life

Question 5

What sort of religion did the Ancient Greeks follow?

Answer 5

Polytheistic

Question 6

Where are the Gods found?

Answer 6

on Mount Olympus
-> Panhellenic belief in them all

Question 7

Who are the two writers involved in the belief of the gods?

Answer 7

Homer and Hesiod

both responsible for how Greeks interact/saw their religion - how they percieved the gods during the 8th/7th centuries BC

• major impact on Greek attitudes to Olympus

Question 8

Herodotus on Homer and Hesiod

Answer 8

In his Histories, wrote about the influence of them

“composed theogonies and described the gods for the Greeks”

Question 9

What are the Homeric hymns?

Answer 9

inform us what Greeks thought about the gods around 700BC focusing on their creation

• not composed by Homer but in his style
• explain cause for god’s cults or their aetiology
• focus on births

Question 10

Homer

Answer 10

8th or 7th century

cultural figurehead

Iliad & Odyssey set in mythical world of heroes
-> deities play important role as Olympians involve themselves in mortal affairs
-> portrayed as very powerful & as governed by personal impulse & desire (pick faves whom they support & influence) –> cause harm to enemies (e.g Athena helps Ach. in battle against Hector)
-> also used for light relief to contrast with the severity of mortals situations (e.g end of Bk 1 Iliad)

-divine immortality often contrasted with human morality (biggest contrast = death)

gods often inhabit physical realm and at core element of story

Question 11

Hesiod

Answer 11

c. 700BCE

in Works and Days, he gives advice about when to perform agricultural tasks and how to lead a morally good life (require support of the gods)

emphasises the power of Zeus and Right

gives advice on how to worship the gods
-> understand these customs hardly changed over time (influence)

Through Works and Days and the Theogony (creation of gods) shows origin of gods, why they deserve worship and how mortals should treat them

Question 12

What is anthropomorphism?

Answer 12

attribution of human characteristics and emotions to non-human forms

Question 13

Who are usually depicted as anthropomorphic?

Answer 13

the gods
-> but they are depicted as having powers that go significantly beyond those of humans (eternal life and immune power distinguishes them)
- immortal and should not be near death

-> they have human emotions and appearance

e.g Athena on the Panathenaic Amphora

Question 14

Examples of the gods displaying human characteristics

Answer 14

Judgement of Paris
-Eris = jealous

Pandora’s Box
-Zeus = vengeful

Eros + Psyche
-Aphrodite = jealous

Question 15

Dr Emma Aston on anthropomorphism

Answer 15

-gods resembled human beings which allowed for strong belief in contact with gods in mortal form

-gods and mortals could have children together (e.g. Aeneas)

-Greeks wanted to worship physical beings -> allowed for meeting

-mortals might be terrified to see a god in front of them -> gods can disguise themselves

Question 16

Gods in myth

Answer 16

have emotions and needs of humans (jealousy, love, hatred, desire, hunger)

anthropomorphic in appearance and character
-> behave according to these feelings in myth

e.g foundation of EM myth (Hades = passion for Persephone)

Question 17

Hesiod on Zeus’ power

Answer 17

“easily makes strong, and easily he oppresses strong”

-> shows that gods power and authority stretches beyond anything mortals can achieve

Question 18

Zeus and human emotions

Answer 18

Zeus is often the arbitrator but he also falls victim to emotions (particularly passion - e.g Leda love )

Question 19

Gods and favourites

Answer 19

Gods have clear faves and preferences which is seen in Homer and Hesiod’s work (e.g Poseidon hates Odysseus but Athena loves him)

Question 20

What is the reciprocal relationship between gods and mortals?

Answer 20

gods delighted in being honoured properly and helped/ valued mortals in return -> gods tend to punish mortals who don’t worship them at all

gods help with every aspect of life as long as they are honoured by the mortals (who deserve it - if they are not protected then they must not deserve it)

Question 21

Example of the gods helping mortals

Answer 21

when Hector is about to die in the Iliad, Zeus is sad due to the number of sacrifices he made

Question 22

What areas of life would the gods help with?

Answer 22

all aspects

Personal - marriage, health

Public - war and city foundations

Question 23

What is a votive offering?

Answer 23

a dedication to a god by an individual as part of a ‘contract’ or vow made between mortal and deity

Question 24

What was the help of the gods based on?

Answer 24

based on honour not love

-> rewarded for continuous piety and worship of gods (divine favour not based on one-off)

Question 25

What are the 4 main ways to honour a god?

Answer 25

• votive offering
• libation
• sacrifice
• prayer

Question 26

Why are the gods worshipped?

Answer 26

they deserve it and mortals worshipped because they deserve it

• if mortals are not protected they must not deserve it

Question 27

How important is the reciprocal relationship?

Answer 27

Integral to the belief in the gods and to the relationship bet. gods and mortals

(“do ut es”)

Works and Days tells how best to honour gods

Question 28

What is an epithet?

Answer 28

an adjective that accompanies someone’s name, which denotes a quality or characteristic about the character

e.g Zeus: king, marketplace, property

Question 29

What is the reason for epithets?

Answer 29

gods did not have singular responsibilities and using epithets helped to narrow down the specific reason they were being asked for help

had variety of different areas of influence

Question 30

What did mortals do with the epithets?

Answer 30

a common approach was to be to pray to groups of gods

pray to all gods related to events so you don’t get punished by the other gods
-> conscious decision for Greeks/ a concern (56 evidence consultations at the oracle of Delphi were about religious matters)

epithets focused on role you were worshipping

Question 31

Epithets and oracles

Answer 31

variety of epithets proved to be a challenge so they asked the oracle

openness of rel. = problem for pious individuals

Question 32

Robert Parker on epithets

Answer 32

“the tendency of Greeks to appeal to a plurality of gods, to recruit a team, appears in this area of life more clearly than others”

-> so as to not offend any other gods

Question 33

What is the agora?

Answer 33

MARKETPLACE

• common in Greek cities where economic, political, social and religious events took place

Question 34

Zeus epithets

Answer 34

Zeus Agoraios (of the agora) - oversight of buying and selling goods, admin, deals sealed with oaths - pol. social and economic

Zeus Phratrios (phrantry) - each Athenian belonged to smaller clan and Zeus and Athena Phratria overlooked sacrifices made to them

Zeus Philios - god of individual and household well-being, prosperity and purification (property, marriage, childbirth)

Zeus Herkeios (of fence/courtyard) - protector of families (family cults)

Question 35

What is a phrantry?

Answer 35

A BROTHERHOOD

• subdivision of the old tribes of Athens which was carried over into the new democratic system after 508/7

Question 36

What are hero cults?

Answer 36

transformation of the death ritual which attracted a large number of people, making the tomb an important place.
-> create a community/centre of culture

Question 37

What did you need to do to become a hero?

Answer 37

achieve something unusual

+ve - Heracles
-ve - Cleomedes who killed 60 children

Question 38

Erkroth on the hero

Answer 38

“a hero can be defined as a person who lived and died, either in myth or real life, this being the main distinction between a god and a hero”

Question 39

What was the pantheon not?

Answer 39

A closed entity, but rather permeable with deities joining at different points and v. blurred distinctions between gods, demigods (heroes, nymphs, fate, muses) and mortals

Question 40

To be a recipient of a hero cult…

Answer 40

-had to be dead
-done something unusual
-ambivolance (e.g Oedipus)

Question 41

Levels of hero cult worship

Answer 41

Can be personal, local or Panhellenic

Question 42

Link between tragedy and hero cults

Answer 42

tragedies draw on the emotions from hero cults

Question 43

Examples of hero cults

Answer 43

Cleomedes:
- not a good hero but did something unusual (killed 60 children)

Hercules:
- 12 labours
- good hero

Achilles:
- not a good hero
- strength is massive

Question 44

How popular were hero cults?

Answer 44

widespread in Greece
-> Heracles most popular hero and particularly honoured at Olympia (but still all over Greco-Roman world)

Question 45

local hero cults

Answer 45

many people only worshipped at one specific location e.g Pelops -> inspired Olympic Games and worshiped at Olympia

Pausanians and Theogenes hero

Question 46

Heroic status given

Answer 46

famous heroes are often worshipped and much liked by the Greeks

Achilles given heroic status by Homer

Heracles and Asclepius were mortals who died and then became heroes - show fluidity

Question 47

Difference between heroes and mortals

Answer 47

heroes worshipped in a way that went beyond usual rituals around burial and extended to official level

Question 48

Panhellenic worship

Answer 48

all places that followed Hellenic culture (Olympian gods)

-Zeus at Olympia

-Pythian Apollo at Delphi

-Athena at securities (unite people)

-Homer and Hesiod inshrined how the gods behaved to Greek world

• sanctions offered places for Greeks to come together (religion brought them together)
• Olympian gods were all across Greek world

-Heracles at sanctuary in Olympia - athletes during the games

Question 49

Local worship

Answer 49

• all polis’ have local culture (at least 1500 polis’ in Greece)
  -> each have own way of doing Greek religion (festivals etc.)

-smaller sanctuaries (e.g Athena in Athens)

-Zeus Phratrios

-Athena @ Athens

-Athenian deme Erchia -> heroes Epops, Leucaspis and Menecleius = nowhere else

• localised deities

-interpretation of gods can be quite flexible

Question 50

Personal worship

Answer 50

• everybody/ Greeks thought Homer as their fave author and would have known his work -> pride (cultural figurehead)

-Zeus, Apollo, Hestia etc. protect home and religion there

-Heracles often worshiped at home

-mysteries, healing cults and oracular consultation

Question 51

Panathenaic amphora

Answer 51

PRESCRIBED SOURCE

Athena
-she is huge (large size shows she is more than just human - power greater than humans)

grandeur and superiority

Homeric Hymn 11 supports depiction

-extravagant clothing (important)

-armed and ready for action (tells us that the Greeks believed their gods actively got involved in the lives of mortals)