Introduction to Greek and Roman Beliefs
In ancient
and Rome, people did not understand many things about their
nor did they understand many things about
or
nature.
They also had difficulty comprehending different
that people felt and expressed.
As a result, to ease a culture’s
of the unknown, people created myths to explain the
Some myths tell about people’s emotions, others explain things that happen in
the
, and many teach valuable
and thus reveal what qualities
and traits are important to a specific culture.
The Greek and Roman people thought the myths were true stories. Many were about GODS.
Greeks and Romans did not believe in one god but rather many gods, and that each controlled a specific
entity such as the
, the growth of plants, emotions of love and hate, beauty, etc.,
or things they did not understand.
The people thought the gods could do many things for them. When people did
things,
in their opinion the gods rewarded them as is reflected in many myths. Sometimes the gods rewarded
them by helping the people to win
and by helping the sun to
When the people did
of
gods.
things, they believed the gods had the power to
them. Storms or
, earthquakes, the destruction
etc., were thought to be different forms of punishment delivered by the
Myths influence the culture in which they evolved. Memorable myths give us insight into values of a
particular society.
Mount Olympus was a very high mountain where people believed the gods lived. They
had meetings on the mountain, discussed problems, made plans to help people on earth
and talked about ways to help each other. Sometimes the god were angry and jealous of
each other and fought.
The Greeks also believed that they must never go to Mount Olympus or they would anger
the gods and be punished. If people stayed away, they believed they would please the
gods and then be rewarded by the to do good things on earth for the people.