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Zeus vs. God

lukethethird

lukethethird

unknown member
LegionOnomaMoi said:
I imagine the Greeks would be the most surprised, as their actual conception of deities differed drastically from the so-called Greek pantheon and the myths most of us grew up learning about that are called Greek. Most of what passes for "Greek mythology" was created in the 17th-19th centuries by armchair academics who couldn't conceive of the idea of a religion that had no real belief system and what might be identified as part of a cultural store of religious knowledge of myths and legends existed mostly for entertainment purposes, being freely altered and adapted both within the various religious traditions (that themselves changed from village to village or city to city as well as over time) and so created a kind of substitute bible-like store of myths out of Homeric epic and Greek authors (and did the same for the Romans too).
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The gospels could be included in that bible-like store of myths?
 
LegionOnomaMoi

LegionOnomaMoi

Veteran Member
Premium Member
lukethethird said:
The gospels could be included in that bible-like store of myths?
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No. For one thing, the bible wasn't freely adapted and defined locally. For another, it wasn't used for primarily entertainment purposes as were the stories now commonly described as Greek or Roman mythology. In the Greek and Roman empires religion was not about myths or beliefs but fundamentally something one did, and didn't exist independently of other spheres of life. The idea of the kinds of beliefs the Jews and early Christians subscribed to was so alien to the Romans that they only marginally accepted Jewish religion most of the time because they venerated ancient traditions and executed Christians as atheists, often incredulous at their (Christians') ludicrous refusal to make sacrifices to Roma or other cultic offerings due to some kind of belief system that was unrecognizable as religion.

"Was there ever such a thing as 'Greek Religion'? It may be an odd question to start this survey with, but it should be absolutely clear from the start that Greek religion as a monolithic entity never existed. When Greece emerged from the Dark Age around 800 B.C., different communities had developed in very different social, political, and economic ways, and this development was reflected also on the religious level. Every city had its own pantheon in which some gods were more important than others and some gods not even worshipped at all. Every city had its own mythology, its own religious calendar and festivals...
[R]eligion was such an integrated part of Greek life that the Greeks lacked a separate word for 'religion'. When Herodotus wants to describe religions of the neighboring peoples of Greece, he uses the term 'to worship the gods', sebesthai tous theous...for Herodotus, the problem of describing foreign religions could be reduced to the question 'which (other) gods do they worship and how'. In such an environment atheism was simply unthinkable. The term atheos did not originate before the fifth century and even then indicated only a lack of relations with the gods" (pp. 1-2)
Bremmer, J. N. (1994). Greek religion (Vol. 24). Cambridge University Press.
 
lukethethird

lukethethird

unknown member
LegionOnomaMoi said:
No. For one thing, the bible wasn't freely adapted and defined locally. For another, it wasn't used for primarily entertainment purposes as were the stories now commonly described as Greek or Roman mythology. In the Greek and Roman empires religion was not about myths or beliefs but fundamentally something one did, and didn't exist independently of other spheres of life. The idea of the kinds of beliefs the Jews and early Christians subscribed to was so alien to the Romans that they only marginally accepted Jewish religion most of the time because they venerated ancient traditions and executed Christians as atheists, often incredulous at their (Christians') ludicrous refusal to make sacrifices to Roma or other cultic offerings due to some kind of belief system that was unrecognizable as religion.

"Was there ever such a thing as 'Greek Religion'? It may be an odd question to start this survey with, but it should be absolutely clear from the start that Greek religion as a monolithic entity never existed. When Greece emerged from the Dark Age around 800 B.C., different communities had developed in very different social, political, and economic ways, and this development was reflected also on the religious level. Every city had its own pantheon in which some gods were more important than others and some gods not even worshipped at all. Every city had its own mythology, its own religious calendar and festivals...
[R]eligion was such an integrated part of Greek life that the Greeks lacked a separate word for 'religion'. When Herodotus wants to describe religions of the neighboring peoples of Greece, he uses the term 'to worship the gods', sebesthai tous theous...for Herodotus, the problem of describing foreign religions could be reduced to the question 'which (other) gods do they worship and how'. In such an environment atheism was simply unthinkable. The term atheos did not originate before the fifth century and even then indicated only a lack of relations with the gods" (pp. 1-2)
Bremmer, J. N. (1994). Greek religion (Vol. 24). Cambridge University Press.
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I don't know, it's not like Christ was the first nor the only dying and rising god.
 
Muffled

Muffled

Jesus in me
Mathematician said:
Well, Greeks and Romans refered to Zeus as God, so I suspect Christians, Muslims, and Jews would first have to refer to their god as Yahweh or Allah to not confuse individual's beliefs! :D

If they were all real? Interesting thought. I imagine some major clash of power!

Round 1: Jesus v. Zeus
Jesus starts out by walking across the Mediterranean to reach Zeus at Mt. Olympos. But oh no! Zeus has just flung one of his lightning bolts at Zeus, and because of water contact Jesus has now lost 30 HP. Wait, what is this? Oh my God/Gods/Goddesses! The Angels of Heaven are pinning Zeus down! And at ringside Mary has got Athena in a head-lock!
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In Greek it probably is the same word but in English Zeus gets god and Yahweh gets God.

I believe it would not be much of a context. Zeus would wield some lightning and Jesus would return it on Zeus's own head and Zeus would be toast.
 
G

GoodbyeDave

Well-Known Member
klubbhead024 said:
Suppose that the mythical Greek gods were as real as God is. What do you think the effect would be on people?
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They are real — I've met a couple. As for your "God", I think he's real, but no more the creator of the universe than I am.

A US classics professor told how a couple of students were mocking the ancient Greeks for seeking the advice of the Delphic oracle, when a Hindu said that they'd be fools not to, since it was the pronouncements of a god. He realised that the evidence for gods is experience, and the reality of Vishnu and Shiva implied the reality of Zeus and hera.
 
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