On the Gods

Hellenism, like present-day Judaism and Buddhism, had no central authority which decided issues of dogma and religious practice. Such things were left up to the individual, and while there were certain requirements to practice your religion within the Roman Urbs, much leeway was allowed when it came to things of the gods. Hence, there was no normative creed to which all Hellenes ascribed, although there were enough broad trends that one can speak of an Hellenic tradition. Keeping in mind that not everyone worshipped all of the gods - in fact the average person worshipped only a very few - I shall now attempt to describe the polytheist conception of god, the various ranks, powers, etc. that make up the Divine Pantheon, as understood by the later Hellenists. Since most Hellenes grew up in an atmosphere of philosophical discussion, even if they were not themselves philosophers, it was generally held that there was a Primary Cause, such as Plato described. This being was essentially Unknowable and Indescribable, although such terms as the Good, the One, the Primary Source suggested something of its nature. Such an entity was not worshipped, since being perfect, it required nothing, least of all tendance by mortal man. The philosophers disagreed as to whether this being created the Cosmos, since it was generally held that the Cosmos was uncreated and eternal. If the Cosmos was thought to be created, it was generally held that a lesser deity - i.e. Plato's Demiurge, the Orphic Phanes, or in general piety Zeus - was responsible for the creation. At any rate, it was often felt that there was something greater than the gods at work in the universe, even if this was only Fate (Moira) or Chance (Tyche). The gods were generally of one of two categories: Ouranian (Heavenly) or Chthonic (Earthly) and the Dodecatheon, or Twelve Traditional gods of Olympus, were comprised of a mixture of the two. Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Hephaistos, Hestia, and Athena were generally considered the Heavenly while Hades, Demeter, Artemis, Poseidon, Ares, and Aphrodite were considered Earthly, thus confirming the balanced nature of the Cosmos. (This was by no means an absolute categorization - for instance, Aphrodite was recognized as "the Celestial" and Hestia's primary concern was the home, and thus the earthly realm, but it is a philosophical conceit to place them in such a manner.) Other Chthonic gods were Ge (the Earth itself), The Two Goddesses of Eleusis, Cybele, Dionysos, Pan, as well as local gods of rivers, springs, trees, and mountains. Chthonic gods had similar rites (called orgies but not meaning the same thing as our word) that tended to be private, nocturnal, solemn, and concerned with averting negative influences whereas the Ouranian gods had rites of public importance, in the open, with the intent to attract the favor of the gods. In the worship of the Chthonic gods lies the foundation for the Mystery-faiths of latter Hellenism. Although the gods of the Dodecatheon were considered the most important gods of Greece and Rome, gods of other localities were accepted, foreign gods such as Adonis, Attis, Isis, Osiris, Mithras, and towards the end, almost any strange and new god. Not all gods were considered to have personalities. The concept of numina, or a divine power behind things, which characterized Roman religion before the influence of the Greeks took hold, was a pervasive concept, and continued on to the very end of Hellenism. Traces of it can be found in the folk traditions of the people even after the conquest of Christianity. Along with a worship of power, came a deification of virtues or benefits. Hence you have rites associated with gods such as Salus (salvation) Pax (peace) Victoria (victory) and Tyche (chance), whose cult, understandably, had the widest distribution. Emperor-worship understandably grew out of the worship of power and virtue, since the Emperor was the visible image of the power and virtue of the Empire. Similar to numina, but more characterized, were the daemons or intermediary spirits. Daemons, unlike the Christian demon, were not altogether evil, although they were certainly chaotic, and came to be associated with the violent and unpleasant things that happen in life. But, it was felt that they could be beneficial to man, if the proper rites and words of power were known. Some daemons would assist man even without such compulsions. The Agathos Daimon or Good Spirit was one such, and he was honored at every meal by an offering or libation. Although oracles and other means of prophecy had previously been thought to be under the sway of the gods (Apollo, Dionysos, and Ge for instance) in the latter days it was felt that the daemons were really in charge of such centers. And to explain their decline, Plutarch related the myth of the Great Pan and his demise, theorizing that daemons, though long-lived, were mortal, and dying, and that's why the oracles no longer functioned. The last major sphere of the divine was occupied by the Heroes. Heroes were the souls of men who had become divine, either because one of their parents had been a god, or through some sort of service to man. Men such as Herakles, Jason, and Alexander were of this rank, although deified Emperors were generally considered slightly higher in the scheme of things. A Hero tended to preside over a certain locality (namely the sanctuary where his remains were kept, or a spring, grove or mountain) but certain Heroes, for instance Herakles and the Dioscuri, belonged not to a single area, but to all of Greece, and wherever else their cult was carried. Heroes had power to intervene on our behalf, but they were generally not as powerful as daemons or proper gods.