One of the fundamental beliefs of the Ancient Greeks was that their beloved gods were immortal, but were they? What happened to these seemingly invincible deities, who were flawed yet powerful? Did the gods of Ancient Greece, those figures of true divine power and often questionable morality, actually die?
The answer is not as simple as one might think. On the contrary, it’s complicated and surprisingly enough, it depends on one’s point of view.
As we know, the Ancient Greek myths about their gods proclaimed their immortality, a key factor differentiating them from mere mortals.
Nonetheless, the story of their gradual fading from prominence is a fascinating story that shows how even the strongest of beliefs can actually disappear from a society, given the right time and circumstances.
According to all the different variations of Greek mythology, passed down through generations, the Greek gods were the definition of immortality and therefore eternal existence.
Their veins flowed with ichor—a mysterious fluid that was said to grant immortality—in contrast to the red blood that mortals had. Their meals on Mount Olympus were comprised of ambrosia and nectar, ensuring their eternal good health and immortality. Nonetheless, even within some of the Greek myths, there were hints of vulnerability and human-like elements that made them prone to accidents.
Think of Asclepius for example, the god of healing. He was famously struck down by Zeus because he dared to bypass his supreme authority and raise the dead. This example indicates that no matter who you are, divine or mortal, your actions always have consequences.
Understandably, however, these examples were used as stories that aimed at teaching justice and maintaining the cosmic order, rather than actually going deeper into issues like mortality and life.
The true “death” of the Greek gods, therefore, did not come at a particular point in time. It was rather a slow, almost unnoticed fading from the collective consciousness of the millions of people who, as they died, took with them their beliefs about the Greek gods and their immortal natures.
This gradual transition from a world where the Greek gods were actively worshipped and believed to be invincible to one where they are primarily protagonists of tales and mythology is something very similar to the rise, downfall and eventual death of empires.
The Roman Empire, for example, with its own pantheon of gods, played a significant role in this transformation and the eventual death of the Ancient Greek gods from the collective memory.
As Roman influence and dominance spread across Greece following the Roman conquest, a process of Interpretatio Romana took place. Interpretatio Romana was the Roman practice of treating and understanding foreign gods and practices through the lens of their own, Roman gods, often equating them with similar figures from their own mythology.
Following the Roman victory over Greece, Greek gods were often equated with their Roman counterparts. Most notably, Zeus became Jupiter, Hera became Juno, Demeter became Minerva, Aphrodite became Venus and the same happened with almost all others. This cultural syncretism helped preserve some aspects of Greek mythology, but inevitably altered significantly the distinct identity and power of the original Greek gods and goddesses.
However, the most profound change came with the gradual spread and eventual dominance of Christianity across the Mediterranean and beyond.
As the new religion gained traction among people in the Middle East, Anatolia and Greece, pagan worship, including the veneration of the Greek gods, started to fade. By the late 4th century AD, under emperors like Theodosius I, pagan practices were completely banned and outlawed. This was a significant turning point in the religious landscape of the ancient world and particularly of the Greek world, where centuries-old traditions were now effectively illegal.
Of course, something like that wasn’t a sudden and quick change, but rather a gradual fading, a slow erosion of the old religious faith. You could almost imagine Zeus sighing, perhaps a little dramatically, as his temples were vandalized and/or repurposed as Christian Churches, with icons of saints and new beliefs and practices taking over.
While the ancient Greek gods were the spiritual and cultural leaders of the Mediterranean for centuries, their influence steadily and gradually waned. This did not happen because of a war or a physical downfall, but through the slow erosion of faith and belief.
As new religions emerged and Olympus fell silent, the ancient Greek gods did not die in a literal sense, but they lost their thrones as the central figures of worship. Their once-mighty influence was reduced to fading stories in an ever-changing world.
Some Greeks however, have returned to worshipping the ancient gods, as groups dedicated to the adoration of the Greek Pantheon spring up across modern-day Greece.
Several different organizations and events exist that are working to create modern forms of celebration and ritual around the Greek gods. These groups often believe that Christianity replaced the ancients’ devotion to the gods by violent means and that rediscovering their connection to the gods is a form of reclamation.
Groups such as the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes and the LABRYS religious community are finding ways to “preserve, promote and practice the Hellenic (Greek) polytheistic religious tradition through public rituals, lectures, publications, theatrical and musical events, and other forms of action.”
After 1,700 years the first ancient Greek temple opened in Arcadia, Peloponnese over the weekend. Hundreds of people attended the inauguration ceremony of the temple which was built for liturgical purposes and not as a museum.
The construction of the temple is an initiative of the doctor Manolis Heliotis, who allocated a privately owned area near the village of Kalliani for its construction. Its architecture is based on the golden ratio and includes features of ancient Greek temple architecture, such as friezes and pediments, while marble from various regions of Greece has been used.
Evangelos Bexis, the site manager and organizer of the event, told newsbomb.gr, “After 1,700 years, such a building is being built, with marble cladding on the walls and ceiling. There are tens of thousands of people in Greece and abroad who believe in their ancestral gods and do not have a place to worship. An injustice of centuries is being corrected.”
