GREEK RELIGION. As considered in this article, a term to express the relations in which the Greek stood to his gods. Such relations are, of course, conditioned by the beliefs held at va rious times as to the nature, power, and at tributes of these gods, and these beliefs in turn are expressed in forms of worship, in literature, and in life. In the developed civilization of Greece, this religion is a complex organism made up of various elements which the complete ab sence of a system of theology has left unharmo nized, so that few conceptions are sharply and consistently defined, while many of the details are hopelessly blurred. In spite, however, of this lack of precision, there is a certain unity in these religious views, and, as presented in litera ture and art, the Greek polytheism has proved a powerful factor in the development of modern civilization. So far, indeed, as the literature is concerned, it must be admitted that it presents to us rather the mythology than the religion of the Greeks; that is to say, it gives less promi nence to the belief in the gods as divinities than to the stories about them, in which the strictly religious clement usually occupies hut a small place. The nature and growth of myth is treated in the article on MYTHOLOGY, and the chief myths relating to the gods and heroes are to be found in the separate articles devoted to them.
The Greek was a deeply religious person. He had a strong sense of his weakness, as compared with the powers of nature by which he was sur rounded, and gladly owned his dependence upon the divine beings by which he believed those powers were controlled. The perception of the uncertainty of human fortune and its apparently arbitrary course undoubtedly led to fear of the might which could produce such sudden alterna tions of prosperity and adversity; yet it would be a mistake to regard thiS as the determining principle in the attitude of the Greeks toward their gods. In general, the relations between gods and men were friendly, and the wrath of the gods was directed against those who overstepped the limits assigned to human activities, and by overweening pride, reckless ambition, or even im moderate prosperity, excited the divine envy, and brought Nemesis upon themselves. The words of Ilerodotus, "The god suffers none but himself to be proud," are the concise expression of a thought which is to be found throughout the whole range of Greek literature. While, therefore, fear was not prominent, there was a very distinct sense of human limitation; and the gods, as the single source of all that came to men, were approached with offerings and prayers either to win their. favor for the future or in thanksgiving for the past. In front of every door stood the conical stone of Apollo Agyieus, and often a terminal figure of Hermes; in the court was the altar of Zeus Herkeios; at the hearth Hestia was wor shiped; while kitchen, storerooms, and bed chamber had their appropriate divinities. From
birth to death there were few events in the life of a Greek when the gods were not remembered. And if this is true of the individual, much more is it true of the State. On the favor of the gods depended its existence; consequently their festi vals were celebrated with devout regularity under the care of high officials, while rich offerings marked the public thankfulness for unexpected deliverance or unusual prosperity. Thus the .Athenian victories over the Persians were com memorated by the erection of the colossal bronze Athena on the Acropolis and a group of statues at Delphi, while the zenith of the Athenian Em pire saw the erection of the Parthenon and Propylcca on the Acropolis, as well as new temples at Eleusis, Rhammis, and Sunium. The limits of this article prevent a more detailed statement, but any careful study of Greek private life and public institutions will show how closely religion was connected with both. Yet, in spite of this, sacerdotalism is almost unknown. At the seats of the Mysteries or the oracles, such as Eleusis or Delphi, the priests were of course powerful, but in general they were merely official represent atives of the community, chosen like other offi cials, or sometimes allowed to purchase their position. Even where the office was hereditary or confined to a certain family, it was not re garded as conferring on its possessor any peculiar knowledge as to the will of the gods. or special power to constrain them. The need of an inter mediary between the worshiper and the god was not felt, nor was the exact performance of a complicated ritual required. It is sometimes said that the religion of the Greeks NvE6 inde pendent of morality, and it must be admitted that many of the stories of the gods present them in a most unfavorable light. It may also be granted that the morality of the Greeks was not derived from their religion; but whatever the source of the ideas, they were early brought under the protection of the gods, who were deemed the special guardians of the unwritten laws by which human conduct was to be guided. The literature shows plainly that the effect of this was to lead the loftier minds to a higher conception of tile gods themselves, and to a rejection of the earlier legends which attributed to them acts offensive to a more developed moral sense. At the same time the absence of any belief in a revelation intrusted to a chosen few prevented the formation of any canonical system, and thus it is that, while the general attitude toward the gods remained much the same, there was a great diversity in many details. It is, therefore, very difficult to formu late briefly the Greek religious belief, as state ments that are true for one time or place or social condition may be quite misleading if applied to another. The following characteristics may, how ever, be fairly said to belong to that religion during the greater part of the independent na tional life.