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Beliefs
and ritual observances of the ancient Greeks, who became
the first Western civilization about 2000 BC. It consists
mainly of a body of diverse stories and legends about a
variety of gods. Greek mythology had become fully developed
by about the 700's BC. Greek mythology has several distinguishing
characteristics. The Greek gods resembled humans in form
and showed human feelings. Unlike ancient religions did
not involve special revelations or spiritual teachings.
It also varied widely in practice and belief, with no formal
structure, such as a church government, and no written code,
such as a sacred book. Greek mythology probably developed
from the primitive religions of the people of Crete, an
island in the Aegean Sea where the region's first civilization
arose about 3000 BC. These people believed that all natural
objects had spirits, and that certain objects, or fetishes,
had special magical powers. Over time, these beliefs developed
into a set of legends involving natural objects, animals,
and gods with a human form. Some of these legends survived
as part of classical Greek mythology. |
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Various
beliefs, rituals, and other observances concerning the supernatural
held or practiced by the ancient Romans from the legendary
period until Christianity finally completely supplanted
the native religions of the Roman Empire at the start of
the Middle Ages. The original religion of the early Romans
was so modified by the addition of numerous and conflicting
beliefs in later times, and by the assimilation of a vast
amount of Greek mythology, that it cannot be reconstructed
precisely. Because extensive changes in the religion had
already taken place before the literary tradition began,
its origins were in most cases unknown to the early Roman
writers on religion and in their works they frequently employed
Greek beliefs to fill gaps in the Roman tradition. The absorption
of neighboring native gods took place as the Roman state
conquered the surrounding territory. The Romans commonly
granted the local gods of the conquered territory the same
honors as the earlier gods who had been regarded as peculiar
to the Roman state. In many instances the newly acquired
deities were formally invited to take up their abode in
new sanctuaries at Rome. Moreover, the growth of the city
attracted foreigners, who were allowed to continue the worship
of their own gods. The important Roman deities were eventually
identified with the more anthropomorphic Greek gods and
goddesses, whose attributes and myths were also taken over.
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