The religious beliefs and practices of Athens, Greece compared to the Gupta Empire
The great myths and religions of the world can often be traced back to a distinct few sources. The direct definition of religion is the “belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.” Most of the time the religions of one culture are based on the beliefs of another or an earlier culture. The religious beliefs and practices of Athens, Greece can be quite thoroughly compared and contrasted to those of the Gupta Empire, because while they vastly differ, however there are remarkable similarities between the two. Ancient Greece was comprised of an abundant mountainous terrain, which led to the development of the polis around 750 B.C.E. Ancient Athenians were a thoughtful people, who delved into the logical study of subjects like science, philosophy, and history among various other studies. The ancients Greeks were polytheistic. (Kearns) A major way that their religion was taught was through myths and legends. Their major gods and goddesses lived at the top of Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, and myths described their lives and actions. In myths, gods often actively intervened in the day-to-day lives of humans. While the Greek religion was not based on a written creed or body of dogma, certain sacred writings survived through time in the form of hymns, oracles, inscriptions, and instructions to the dead. The most well known and ornate are the Homeric Hymns. Scholars are unsure whether or not theses were composed for religious festivals, though their subject matter is almost entirely mythological, based on the religions of today. These anecdotes were used to help explain the unknown and often teach a lesson. (Kearns) While Hinduism was clearly the religion favored by the empire 's rulers, Buddhism still flourished. Hinduism “is a diverse family of devotional and ascetic cults and philosophical schools, all sharing a belief in reincarnation and involving the worship of one or more of a large pantheon of
Bibliography: Fustel de Coulanges, Numa D. The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome. Boston : Dover Publications Inc. , 2006. eBook.