Greek Religion

Smith Social Studies Plans

There was no single Greek religion.
Each city-stae worshiped its own gods.
Officials of each polis were in charge of public feasts and sacrifices.
Heads of families would worship in their own home.
They would pray and offer sacrifices to the gods.
Oracles gave advice in the form of prophecies.

Gods and Goddesses of Mount Olympus
During the Golden Age the Greeks worshiped the gods of Mount Olympus.
There were 12 major gods and goddesses.
Ancient people feared the gods.
People were to obey and serve the gods.
Greeks built temples to honor their gods.
They did not enter the temple to worship.
They showed respect by worshiping outside.
Greeks honored their gods with festivals.
Olympic Games and the theater came out of these festivals.

The Olympic Games
The first recorded Olympic Games occured in 776 BC.
Olympic Games held every four years at Olympia.
They honored the god Zeus, the king of the gods.
They were the most important sporting event in Greece.
Wars stopped during the Olympics.
Women were not allowed to watch.
Athletes came from Africa, Italy, and Asia Minor to take part.

Olympic Events
The four horse chariot race was the most exciting.
Boxing was a major event.
Pancratium was a combination of boxing and wrestling.
You could not gouge out eyes or bite.
The winner of the pentatholon was the best all-around athlete.
They had to run, jump, throw the discuss, wrestle, and throw the javelin.
Olympic winers were heroes.
Poets read their works between events.

The Theater
Theater grew out of the festival to honor Dionysus, god of joyous life.
Ionians began telling stories about Dionysus.
A chorous danced and chanted the stories to the music of a flute.
The chorus became silent, and the chorus leader then spoke.
He usually told about personal thoughts and felings.
Stories were then told about gods and heroes.
Aeschylus added characters and the stories began to be acted out.
The first plays were tradgies.
The comedy was the second type of play.
Women were allowed to watch but they could not act in them.
Each actor wore a canvas and plaster mask that showed the sex, age, and mood of the actor.
The mouth was shaped like a funnel (megaphone) to magnify the voice of the actor.
Plays were performed in open-air theaters.
An official chose the plays to be performed.
A panel of citizens judged the palys at each festival.