In the current century, the prospect of a country in which a religion is permitted to influence, if not dictate, the running of political affairs, is one which would cause us to be wary and more than a little nervous. This way of thinking is, however, an extremely modern one. Turn the clock back, say, two to three thousand years, to a time when all present religions and all those before were indistinguishable from law, and you will find yourself in Ancient Greece, surrounded by people who would have thought you mad or dangerous for suggesting that the two should be separate.
Religion provided the framework and rhythm for all aspects of life and society. While calendars were individual to each city, it was common practice to use derivatives from the names of gods to name months. Greek religion focused on sacred acts and rites rather than pious beliefs and quiet worship. The passing of time was marked in distances between religious festivals and aging by ‘rite of passage’ ceremonies. There was very little in everyday living that was not equated to the influence of one or more gods. In some situations, both sides of the same event were swayed by the same deity. For example, both a burglar and the victim would have prayed to the god Hermes to gain either swift, quiet entry or to prevent the crime from occurring at all.
Religion in Greek Law
In western society, the act of placing ones hand on the bible and swearing an oath before the court is not an idea original to Christianity. In Ancient Greece all involved in court, (i.e. the accused, the jurors, etc.), were to first invoke the gods as possible avengers or benefactors, a role then contingent on the telling of truth or lies by the one who swore the oath. Gods were hence drawn into any number of human legal affairs which could range from mere domestic disputes to interstate treaties.
Religion in Greek Warfare
Where in modern warfare, leaders will tend to hope for no more from their prayers than a slight tipping of the scales in their favour, ancient commanders imagined themselves possessed of the spirits of the deities or heroes of previous great battles. As Agamemnon had sacrificed at Aulis before the Trojan War, so Spartan king Agesilaus wished to do the same before setting out for Asia Minor. Alexander of Macedon imagined himself as reincarnations of Achilles, Heracles and Dionysus. Ritual practices before expeditions or battles never went unperformed. A sacrificial ritual would by no means ensure success but to fail to do so would predestine defeat. Omens were also paid special heed and commanders would tend to go to war only on having received a favourable forecast from an oracle or seer. Whilst on campaign, leaders would sacrifice almost continuously to whichever god whose specialty was needed most until the outcome was suitable.
Religion in Ancient Medicine
In his On the Sacred Disease, Hippocrates disparages those practitioners who claim that illness is a form of divine mal-intent. “They make a different god responsible for each of the difference forms of the complaint.” His exasperation at the various stages of an illness being attributed to a series of gods is clear. Unlike Hippocrates, the majority of the Greeks did cite religion in the diagnosis of most diseases. Usually an affliction was chalked up to a deity’s revenge for a mortal’s transgression. As gods could cause illness, it was therefore perfectly logical that they were also able to cure all manner of ailments. Sanctuaries of healing divinities were extremely popular. Somewhat similar to a modern-day spa, patients were alternately pampered and drugged into good health. In the famous shrine of Asclepius at Epidaurus, patients were starved and then exposed to an hallucinogenic, in hope that they would dream their cure as well as the reason they were punished with their sickness. It was claimed that a god would appear before them to explain things.
Humanity
The gods of the ancient worlds were considerably more accessible than ours today. They were seen to possess just as many character flaws and virtues as the mortals themselves and would quite often get involved in human affairs, such as wars, when they were called upon and even when they weren’t. While the gods of Ancient Greece were revered and their authority acknowledged, such as is shown by Homer’s depiction of Apollo’s wrath in the Iliad, they were imagined to have a very human sense of humour and were often ridiculed in plays, for example in Aristophanes’ Frogs. The confusion seems to then arise at the question of blasphemy. When your local god appears similar to a possible buddy with fabulous connections and a way of making your dreams come true, it seems the only level on which one can offend him, is human.
Sources
Hippocrates - On the Sacred Disease
Paul Cartledge - Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece - Cambridge University Press, 2004
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