Greeks:
The ancient Greeks were polytheists, as all the animists... but the Greek god-devils never existed, only in the imagination of the novelists, as in the case of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey... the heroes of his novels were deified as Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite...and afterwards, the Romans copied them changing their names to Jupiter, Apollo, Venus...
These god-devils had marital and extramarital sex relations, and many feuds and intrigues... they were no God, but "devils", "idols" (psalm 96:5)... they committed all the possible sins...
The central god figure was a female,, "Mother Earth", known as Demeter, or Aphrodite in Corinth, Artemis in Ephesus, and Hera, the sister and wife of Zeus.
In addition of Mother Earth, other natural forces were deified: The sun, sky, moon, other planets, the storms, fertility, death... and Zeus became the king of gods, after many intrigues and fights...
The "priests" interpreted the wills of the gods, communicated with them, and appease the gods with prayers, rituals and magic acts... but the "family altar" was the usual place of worship for both the Greek and Roman families.
The Greeks did believe in a life after death: For the heroes, a special place of happiness, the Elysian Fields, was reserved; the souls condemned for being evil were sent to eternal punishment, in Hades; the soul judged to be good, was sent to the realm of the Blessed.
"Mystery Cults" in Greece:
They were popular at the times of Jesus... Christianity took nothing from the gods-devils, but it was influenced by these Mystery Cults and by the Greek philosophy.
A Mystery Cult claimed to introduce men to a closer, more intimate relationship with the gods, by means of secret rituals and prayers... they were "secret", and each one had a preparation and an initial rite, with dramatic performances that insured the initiate would never forget the experience...2 were most popular:
The "Orphic Mystery": With severe ascetic life, wearing white robes, abstaining from meats, and living a celibate life, to secure a place in Heaven.
The "Dionysian Mystery": Was most sensual, with nightly orgies to the god of wine, Dionysius, intoxication by wine, convulsive dancing, hallucinations, sexual pleasures... a divine madness!.
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1st December 2006, 07:05 PM
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