The Mythological Olympian Religion

By the 6th century B.C. more or less similar religious beliefs were held in common in all regions inhabited by the Greeks . These beliefs formed the basis of the Olympian religion , so called after Mount Olympus which was believed to be the home of the Gods , headed by Zeus . The Olympian religion was not connected with any organised religious body , dogma or ritual . The temples of the gods , though of definite significance in the religious lives of the people , did not , how ever , form a single system ; likewise , there was no special strata of religious attendants , no high priests . When necessary sary , persons chosen by the popular assembly carried out various religious functions . By making the gods human , the Olympian religion was able to penetrate deep into the masses and influence the working people . In time the cult of the Olympian gods became the official religion of the Greek polises , sanctifying the class suppression of the slaves and poor labourers . The masses , dissatisfied with their lack of civil rights , often countered the official religion by inaugurating cults of their own patron gods . Such , for instance , was the cult of Dionisius , patron of the tiller , in whose honour feasts and celebrations were held . This religious dissention can be considered the prototype of all later religious heresies .

The Mythological Olympian Religion

Ancient Greek Colonisation

Greek colonisation progressed apace with the formation of the polises , stemming from those regions of Greece where the clan aristocracy was in power . By concentrating the land in its own hands and thus dooming the masses of freemen to impoverishment , it forced them to leave the land . They were joined by the poor of the cities and the polises , by craftsmen who had become bankrupt as a result of the grow ing competition of slave labour , by small and middle land owners . Many of the colonists were aristocrats who had emigrated from their polises for political reasons . The merchants were tempted to undertake distant journeys by the lure of great riches to be gained in salt , grain , metals and slaves . In the 8th – 6th centuries B.C. Greek colonies appeared on the Mediterranean Coast of present – day France , Spain and Italy , in the Nile delta , on the Black Sea and Azov Sea coasts . These were independent polises which maintained close cul tural and economic ties with the metropolis . Greek colonisation played a tremendous role both in the history of the Greeks themselves and of the peoples with whom they came into close and prolonged contact .