Relation between Greek Myth and Religion

Although it may be common to speak of a Greek "religion," in fact the Greeks themselves didn't use such a term and might not have recognized it had someone else attempted to apply it to their practices. It's difficult to accept the idea that the Greeks where completely secular and irreligious, however.

If we mean by "religion" a set of beliefs and behavior which are consciously chosen and ritually followed to the exclusion of all other alternatives, then the Greeks didn't really have a religion. If, however, we mean by religion more generally people's ritual behavior and beliefs about sacred items, places, and beings, then the Greeks most certainly did have a religion - or perhaps a set of religions, in recognition of the great variety of Greek beliefs.

Whereas the Greeks seemed quite willing to accept foreign religious beliefs - even to the point of incorporating them into their own cosmology - modern religions like Christianity tend to be highly intolerant of innovations and new additions. Atheists are labeled "intolerant" for daring to criticize Christianity, but can you imagine Christian churches incorporating Muslim practices and scriptures in the way that Greeks incorporated foreign heroes and gods into their own rituals and stories?

Despite their variety of beliefs and rituals, though, it is possible to identify a set of beliefs and practices that distinguish the Greeks from others, allowing us to talk at least a bit about a coherent and identifiable system. We can discuss, for example, what they did and did not regard as sacred then compare this against what is considered sacred by religions today. This, in turn, may help chart the development of religion and culture not just in the ancient world, but also the ways in which those ancient religious beliefs continue to be reflected in modern religions.

Classical Greek mythology and religion did not spring fully formed from the rocky Greek ground. They were, instead, amalgams of religious influences from Minoan Crete, Asia Minor, and native beliefs.

The development of a recognizably Greek religion is characterized in large part by conflict and community. Greek mythological stories are defined to a great extent by conflicting forces while Greek religion itself is defined by attempts to reinforce a common sense of purpose, civic cohesion, and community.

Hero cults, both in ancient Greece as well as contemporary religions, tend to be very civic and political in nature. Their religious elements are certainly undeniable, but religious systems typically serve the political community - and in ancient Greece, this was true to a greater degree than one usually sees. Veneration of a hero bound the community together around a glorious past and it was here that the roots of families and cities could be identified.

The most obvious remnants of Greek religion may be Greek mythology and art, but it should not be assumed that this represents the sum total of their religion - Greek myths are not simply analogs to the Christian Bible or the Muslim Qur'an. Greek religion was also made up of cult temples, rituals led by priests, and regular festivals.

From a sociological perspective, it is here that the nature of Greek religion must be sought and the myths may seem like little more than a literary outgrowth. To sociologists, the Greek myths might be related to the inner beliefs of the Greeks but what they really and truly believed can only be identified through the actions taken in the context of cult practices and religious festivals. It was here, after all, that they were brought into their most immediate contact with the divine forces thought to be around them, not through the retelling of fantastic tales.

Reality, though, probably lies somewhere between the sociological and the mythical positions. Cultic rites may have provided a certain structure to one's daily life but the retelling of myths also provided structure to the community of believers, brought together regularly for the retelling of the same stories again and again. Thus ritual, iconography, and myth all played equal roles in Greek religions, fulfilling different functions in different contexts.

Myth is like ritual in that it is symbolic, for example, but it is unlike ritual in that it is also didactic. Each has its own way of invoking the divine and bringing it into contact with the profane, human world. None, however, could stand alone - all were needed to work together in order to construct the religion as it was known in ancient Greece.

http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/religion/blgrk_rituals.htm