Homeric Gods Summary Professor Anderson gave a lecture on Homeric gods. There are many ways to explain the start of the universe, but many people use religion to frame the world. The Greeks were one of many cultures to create hundreds of gods to help explain natural causes.
She started her lecture by explaining the historic evidence behind Greek’s beliefs. During Homer’s time, everyone was polytheistic except for the Jews. Because of this, the Jews had bad relations with the rest of the world. Also, she explained the way the that the Iliad and Odyssey were written. Homer used dactylic hexameter which consists of phrases of long-long or long-short-short syllables. This style made it easy for the story to be remember and told again. Furthermore, …show more content…
The first example she used was when Zeus lets Achilles defeat Agamemnon. The way Achilles and Agamemnon worshiped Zeus shows that men are terrified by the gods, and the way Zeus plays with their lives shows that the gods do not care about men. Also, men and important goddess were identified by their father’s name. Finally, the Iliad describes the brutality of war. For example, dead bodies were often left on the battle field for the birds and dogs to eat. By reading the Iliad and the Odyssey we can learn about the culture of Greece at the time they were …show more content…
During the Neolithic ages, there were small worship centers and statues of female bodies exemplifying pregnant bellies. Then, nomadic people started worshiping males sky gods and female earth gods. During the Greek times, there were cults which were localized worship groups. These cults had the same gods, but the gods were worshiped differently. The Greeks created religion to explain natural causes such as earthquakes and thunderstorms. Because gods explained different aspects of life, people often had sacrifices. People started sacrificing with other humans but changed to animals later. For each sacrifice, they used all black or all white animals and sacrificed on alters. Unlike most monotheistic religions, the Greeks tried to hid from the gods, and their religion did not center around self-salvation. Understanding the religion of the character’s in the Iliad and the Odyssey helps better understand their actions.
To continue, Professor Anderson talked about the two events in the Trojan War. The first event started the Trojan War and happened when Dilis did not show hospitality which shamed the gods. The gods in turn punished him with a war. The next event was when Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to please Athena; however, Athena did not appreciate his sacrifice, so Agamemnon was killed by his wife’s lover. These events further illustrate the religion of the Greeks. In order for the gods to be nice, the Greeks
She started her lecture by explaining the historic evidence behind Greek’s beliefs. During Homer’s time, everyone was polytheistic except for the Jews. Because of this, the Jews had bad relations with the rest of the world. Also, she explained the way the that the Iliad and Odyssey were written. Homer used dactylic hexameter which consists of phrases of long-long or long-short-short syllables. This style made it easy for the story to be remember and told again. Furthermore, …show more content…
The first example she used was when Zeus lets Achilles defeat Agamemnon. The way Achilles and Agamemnon worshiped Zeus shows that men are terrified by the gods, and the way Zeus plays with their lives shows that the gods do not care about men. Also, men and important goddess were identified by their father’s name. Finally, the Iliad describes the brutality of war. For example, dead bodies were often left on the battle field for the birds and dogs to eat. By reading the Iliad and the Odyssey we can learn about the culture of Greece at the time they were …show more content…
During the Neolithic ages, there were small worship centers and statues of female bodies exemplifying pregnant bellies. Then, nomadic people started worshiping males sky gods and female earth gods. During the Greek times, there were cults which were localized worship groups. These cults had the same gods, but the gods were worshiped differently. The Greeks created religion to explain natural causes such as earthquakes and thunderstorms. Because gods explained different aspects of life, people often had sacrifices. People started sacrificing with other humans but changed to animals later. For each sacrifice, they used all black or all white animals and sacrificed on alters. Unlike most monotheistic religions, the Greeks tried to hid from the gods, and their religion did not center around self-salvation. Understanding the religion of the character’s in the Iliad and the Odyssey helps better understand their actions.
To continue, Professor Anderson talked about the two events in the Trojan War. The first event started the Trojan War and happened when Dilis did not show hospitality which shamed the gods. The gods in turn punished him with a war. The next event was when Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to please Athena; however, Athena did not appreciate his sacrifice, so Agamemnon was killed by his wife’s lover. These events further illustrate the religion of the Greeks. In order for the gods to be nice, the Greeks