What+were+the+Greek+God's+like?

This information has come from: Findlay, Marion __Classical Mythology,__Longman, New Zealand, 1999.

the gods resembled humans in other ways. they ate (ambrosia), drank(nectar), slept, made love, producced children and had human emotions like anger, compassion, jealousy, lust and spite [the desire for utu].
 * The Nature of the Gods**

All of them were more powerful than humans, but some, like Zeus, were more powerful than others. Some had more influence than others did in certain areas, like Ares in warfare or Aphrodite in love affairs.

Some of the gods had very strong local attachments. Even in classical times, people could point out the caves on Crete where Zeus was born and hidden as a baby, or the place where Aphrodite came ashore, newly born from the sea, or Hades seized and carried off Persephone.

All this made the Greek gods much less frightening than the original spirits or monsters had been. Their human emotions and activities implied that they would understand human prayers for help, their greater powers meant that they were able to help if they wished, and their capacity for thought suggested that they might be persuaded [talked around] by reason [or reasonable words].

But the gods were still to be feared. It was obvious to the early Greeks, as it still is to us today, that people who tried to lead virtuous[good] lives often not only failed to prosper [do well] but even suffered great hardship and sorrow [had bad things happen to them in their lives]. This was while the greedy and ruthless often did very well.
 * Why the gods were feared.**

So the early gods, created in human image, were not concerned about living good lives themselves nor about human virtue or vice [ vice= doing things that humans might think immoral like gambling, drinking, and having sex outside of marriage.]

The gods did whatever they wanted to do and whatever they could get away with; their only guide was their own whims [impulses] and their only restriction the power of a stronger divinity [god].

In the early tales they are regularly capricious [inconsistent/ change their minds a lot], cruel and irresponsible.

But although the gods were not good they were not evil either, and can best be described as amoral [without human morals]. To humans they might be friendly and helpful, indifferent and uncaring, or actively hostile and destructive [trying to cause a human harm] and their attitude could change at any time.

The gods were not impressed by people who tried to be honest or kind, but it was possible to win their friendship - or at least avert their displeasure [side step annoying them] by regularly offering them sacrifices and prayers, and though these did not guarantee favour [that you were on the right side of a god] they were the best insurance against harm.

In the early stories people who tried to be good did not impress the gods, who weren't particularly bothered by human crimes like assault, theft or even most kinds of murder. They might get offended if they were ignored and were not offered the sacrifices they thought were their due, but the only 'sin' they really got upset about was human pride or arrogance, HUBRIS.
 * The 'sin' of hubris**

It was unforgivable for humans to try to equal or outdo the gods in any respect, and just as bad to boast about doing so. The myths are full of tales of people who try to overstep the boundaries between the human and the divine and are viciously punished.

At the time the myths were created it was believed that the gods caused most things which happened to humans, so as well as trying to avert their displeasure [side step annoying a god] people prayed for active assistance from a god or gods who had power in a particular sphere. Farmers prayed Demeter and Dionysos for fertility, women to Hera for matters connected with pregnancy and childbirth. but it was recognised that even if the god was friendly he or she might be unable to help if prevented from doing so by a greater power.
 * Why pray to the gods?**

No god was all-powerful; even the greatest god, Zeus, was subject to the laws of FATE and some things like human mortality could in general not be altered.

But a god could change the length or quality of a person's life: the great hero Achilles had to die but was given the gift of choosing a short glorious life or a long life as an obscure unknown.

The ancient Greeks were **polytheistic,** meaning there were many gods and goddesses in the Classical pantheon [ancient Greek line up of gods in their belief system]. Monotheism means belief in only one god.
 * Polytheism and religious tolerance**

...Whenever the Greeks came into contact with gods similar to their own in other societies, they accepted them into the family or thought of them as their own figures under different names. Their sky god Zeus as easily merged with the Egyptian Ammon and the Roman Jupiter.

The tales of the gods, even when they were eventually written down, were never put in the category of dogma, and there were no sacred writings in which people had to believe, so they were free to believe what they like about their immortals [gods].

The only requirements for Greek religion were belief that the gods existed and the making of regular offerings -by the private [individual] and by the state for the public good. This ready acceptance of other people's gods couple with a lack of dogma meant Greek religion displayed a remarkable degree of tolerance.

The early Greek myths were highly entertaining stories often with important messages for humankind, but the need for moral behaviour was seldom included in those messages.
 * The development of moral standards**

As Greek society pondered [thought about] and developed ethical standards about what was right and wrong, **thinking people were troubled by the bad example set by the gods.** The philosopher Socrates in the fifth century BC devoted himself to the study of morality and the right conduct of life, and in the fourth century BC Plato moved towards the idea of a single divine being, with all the other gods representing various aspects of this being. This one god was not only virtuous himself but wanted humans to live similarly good lives.

...**Variations in the stories** You should also remember as you read that the tales were handed down by word of mouth for many years, in different parts of the Greek world where cults of the gods took different forms, and local pride insisted on giving local heroes a prominent place.

This meant that there were many variations, both large and small, in the materials handled by the first writers, and later poets often provided their own variations to emphasise their own messages.

...You are certain to meet with other versions [of the myths]. You will also notice that sometimes there are odd discrepancies [differences] in time. But as the myths were never regarded as sacred writings which had to believed, and they were never all told at once, [or in the same way] variety or time discrepancies never bothered the Greeks...

In other books you may also note that names are spelt differently. Often myths have come down to us through Roman writers, and the Roman spellings are more familiar. For example: -the Greek k may be replaced by the Latin c, so Herakles and Hektor have become Heracles and Hector; -the Greek ending -os may become the Latin -us; Mount Olympos and Mount Olympus are the same place; -Greek ai may be spelt ae; Hephaistos is the same god as Hephaestus, but the first spelling is closer to the Greek; -some older mythology books may actually use Roman names for Greek characters. Athene may become Minerva and Hermes be called Mercury, while the hero Odysseus may be called Ulysses.
 * Variations in Spelling**