Greek religion was multiform. In fact, one could say that every Greek community had its own religion. On the other hand, there are enough common denominators among all these local religions to allow us to speak of it in the singular as “Greek religion.” We will take a look here at the most important characteristics.
Greek religion was polytheistic: there was supposed to exist an enormous range of supernatural beings, from the Olympians such as Zeus, Athena, or Apollo, to many “lesser” gods and half-gods (the so-called heroes, mortals usually from a mythic or legendary past, who were deified after their death). Also, nature was inhabited by countless nymphs, river gods, and sprites. The Greek lived in a crowded universe. Such a polytheistic pantheon is dynamic: new gods can be added to it, and others can drop out of it. The gods were usually visualized anthropomorphically, and that is also the way they are portrayed in statues or other images. But they can appear in other guises too.
There is no revelation, no Bible or Qu’ran, not even any central texts: of course, every Greek knew the epics by Homer, and these would have influenced people’s religious ideas, but they were not sacred texts. Mythology, the stories Greeks told about their prehistory and that were basic to their worldview, had no sacred status either. This means there was no orthodoxy, no teachings that you had to adhere to. One could not deny the existence of
The supernatural and had to abide by a number of simple rules of proper human behavior, but otherwise one was free in what exactly to believe and what not to believe—and, apart from social pressure, free to partake in any ritual or not to do so. Thus, ancient Greek religion is flexible and tolerant, but also quite diffuse. We can see in the sources that individual believers had some difficulty in finding their way: for instance, in some specific circumstances, what god to sacrifice and pray to? This was typically one of the questions that individuals, and communities, put to oracles or to other diviners; it was best to ask the supernatural itself. People also turned to the supernatural to learn what mistakes had been made in the past (which had incurred divine displeasure) or what would be the best choice to make in some present or future pursuit. However important oracles might be, they had no official religious authority. Indeed, there was no clear religious authority in the Greek world. There was no priesthood in the sense of a specific caste that possessed unique knowledge and was set apart by some ordination rite, and monopolized all religious rituals. Greek priests and priestesses were usually chosen by lot or by election to fulfill their office for a specific period of time, often a year or some relatively short religious cycle.
Religious rituals consisted of a number of standard elements: the central element was the offering, the giving of gifts to the gods, especially sacrifice, the slaughter of an animal at or on an open air altar, usually cattle, sheep, goats or pigs, and sometimes fowl. In exceptional cases, the entire carcass of the animal was burned, a so-called holocaust, but usually only the shanks or thigh bones; the remainder of the animal was prepared and eaten on the spot, or divided up and taken home as a meal. In this way, a sacrifice implied a common festive meal for those who participate in the sacrifice: a household, a religious sodality, or the whole community. Other offerings were vegetable foodstuff; liquids such as wine, oil, and milk; and perfumes and incense to be deposited, poured out, or burned. Of course, one could also give any other object. This was done according to the principle of reciprocity: you hoped the gods would reward you for your generosity, by fending off evil and promoting your welfare. In a well-known Latin formula, this is expressed as do ut des (I give so that you will give to me). In the case of votive offerings, the believer asked the god for some favor first, and promised something in return, a votive gift, because it had been promised beforehand with what in Latin is called a votum. A votive gift can consist of arms and armor (possibly the spoils of war), textiles, jewelry or other precious gifts, works of art, land, slaves, cattle, or anything else that was suitable. A special category, which was quite common, comprised representations of the above: miniature weapons, a statuette of an animal, and so on. Some representations carried inscriptions, and some portrayed the believer in the very act of making an offering. Thus there was considerable latitude in gift giving. But the general idea was always the same: humans gave the most they could spare (which might be precious little, but that did not matter), and the gods would reciprocate—maybe not immediately, but in the long run they would help and protect the mortals, who could not survive without this divine goodwill.
When offering something to the god, people prayed: a spoken prayer or a sung hymn. Recitation, song, and stylized movement and gestures are typically heightened forms of communication that are components of rituals the world over. In Greek cults, processions and music and dance were very important parts of the action. Often, these performances were turned into competitions, agones: the singers or dancers were divided into different
Groups who had to compete for the title of the “best.” When Greeks could turn something into an agon, they did not hesitate. Of course, when everybody was stimulated to outperform the others, the gods were assured of believers who gave them the best they were capable of. We could consider song and dance as offerings as well: one expended one’s energy for the gods. This might also hold good for the many other competitions that took place in a religious context: competitions between instrumentalists, elocutionists, authors of dramatic poetry, and of course athletes. Performances and games must have been meant for the gods, otherwise it is difficult to see why they always formed part of a religious festival. Obviously, this did not preclude humans from enjoying them to the full as well. All such competitions, from the grandiose Panhellenic Olympic Games at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia to the competitions at a local village festival, drew a crowd. That benefited the sanctuary and the community: an influx of people meant fame and income. It honored the god, as did the competitions themselves.
Rituals largely played out at sanctuaries. A sanctuary was any bit of land set aside for the supernatural. It could be a tiny patch of woodland, or a huge walled area with elaborate architectural features, especially a temple. Temples were no churches, synagogues, or mosques: they were not there for the believers to come together and worship. The temple was where the god lived. You could go there, and depending on the local rules, you could go in, or look inside from the doorway. There would be a statue of the god and offerings and votive gifts. But the action took place somewhere else, or instance, around an altar positioned in front of the temple.
We have to rid ourselves of the image that ruins, neoclassical architecture, history painting, and cinematic reconstructions have implanted in our minds: that ancient sanctuaries were serene places with white marble buildings surrounded by greenery against the backdrop of a blue sea and a blue sky. Ancient Greek architecture was painted in the primary colors, and the statues were colored to look as realistic as possible. The temples were hung with war trophies, floral decorations, and inscribed boards, and surrounded by altars, inscriptions, and votive offerings. There were shelves with the smaller gifts: row upon row of small terra-cotta figurines. The altars smoked, and the soil round them was soaked with blood. People crowded round, their dress as colorful as the sanctuary itself. Here, one fulfilled one’s religious duties, but it was also a funfair and a market place. Here there were always things to do and things to see.
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