Introduction

Welcome to my first posting for my University of Roehampton blog on Greek religion! Greek religion- you might say that it is a vast topic to be writing one small blog about, and you wouldn’t be wrong! To even dream of covering everything that could be discussed is madness. So I have decided to focus on one particular deity to follow through my journey into this fascinating topic (which deity this is I have yet to decide.) Along with my lecturer and fellow classmates, I will be exploring many aspects of worship in ancient Greece, ranging from a close look at polytheism to the interesting nature of anthropomorphism.

The picture I've chosen to attach to this post is quite simply where I've started myself. My preconceived ideas of Greek gods and goddesses. This includes things I've picked up throughout my degree, when studying Myths or Literature and of course what I've learnt from popular culture...even if it it awfully inaccurate! I found this image on another blog, I think it is a fun modern representation of the deities in question. 

It must be said that in order to take the most from this journey, I must shed every notion I already have about religion. As Susan Deacy (my tutor and guide for this blog who I may mention in further posts) pointed out, our modern notion of religion and the idea of gods/goddesses are extremely different to that of the ancient Greeks. To them the gods intervened with society and the lives of men, they were immortal yes but they themselves had feuds and limitations. They possessed flaws of their own that could be their downfall. Do not mistake me, they were feared and worshipped, yet they were apart of human life, fully integrated members of the ancient world. This is such a stark contrast to the ‘God’ that we as a western society are often brought up around, religious or not. God is an all-seeing and all-powerful being that is completely separate from the world of man. This contrast is important and in order to understand the world of Greek religion, one really must look at it with fresh eyes.

With this is mind, I am excited to delve into this topic- if not a little apprehensive about writing my first blog! Speaking of which, as this is my first post I will just say that any books (primary or secondary) that I quote or mention will have a link to either the corresponding Google books page or if possible to the book on Amazon.co.uk, I feel like this will be a much easier and sensible way of referencing my sources as I progress and then I will create an ‘on-going’ bibliography which I will add to whenever I use new sources. This list can be found under the ‘Bibliography’ tab at the top of my blog.  

I think I’ll sign off now and continue when I have chosen my focus deity and when I have a broader incite into this captivating topic!