Role of Myth in Greek Religion

Ancient Greek Mythology, Religion, Art

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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.

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