PART III - THE PAGAN BACKGROUND

Summary

It is a commonplace that we are conditioned, to a greater or lesser extent, by our heredity or environment. What we are taught in childhood colours our beliefs later, whether we espouse them all the more firmly or react against them violently or sink into an apparently agnostic apathy. So it is worthwhile to examine the pagan background of the Graeco-Roman world, although no all-embracing generalizations are possible. The word pagan itself simply means ‘countryman’, i.e. the type of man least likely to come into contact with either Jew or Christian, a conservative believer in the gods of his own country and countryside.

Greek and Roman Cults

Greek religion was well developed long before there was any contact with Rome. Every boy was brought up to know Homer. From him and from the Greek cults he knew that there were twelve great gods, all with their own separate functions. When the Romans came to know Greek literature and culture they identified the Greek Pantheon with their own gods, using identity of function as a rough and ready guide. In the following list Latin names are put in brackets and only the most important functions are given.

There were twelve Olympians, great gods:

Zeus (Jupiter), father of gods and men, was all-powerful and from his abode in Olympus (earlier the Greek mountain, later located in the heavens), wielded the flashing thunderbolt. He was a notable philanderer and there were many tales of his amours with nymphs and mortals.

Hera (Juno), the jealous wife and sister of Zeus, was the goddess of marriage. Poseidon (Neptune), brother of Zeus, was the lord of the sea. […]