Bible Dictionaries
Greece, Religion and Society of

Holman Bible Dictionary

Greece is the name applied to the land on the north central shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Aegean Sea and its western by the Adriatic. The name “Greek” was given by the local inhabitants to a group of colonists who settled on the western coast of Italy. “Greek” is the Latin name still used of these people and their society; but in ancient times, as well as modern, the Greeks referred to their homeland as “Hellas.”

The beginnings of the Greek peoples is usually dated about 2000 B.C. when wandering groups spread over much of Greece. Numerous communities were formed in central and southern Greece as well as the Aegean Islands. These developed for the next 500 years and became known as the Mycenaean age, taking the name from the leading city of Mycenae. This city, along with Cnossos on the Island of Crete, was the most flourishing city in the Greek homeland. These, and other communities like them, were organized round a central palace which was the residence of the king and a place of security in times of war. The major population lived outside the palace and tended the crops and flocks. Within the palace grounds were workshops for pottery makers, bronze workers, goldsmiths, woodworkers, weavers, and other primitive industry. The palace was also the storehouse for grain and other food supplies which were distributed by the king in times of need. In addition to local and regional commerce, communities of this period traded with Anatolia (ancient Turkey), Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.

After the breakup of the Mycenaean communities the oikos or “household” was the basic unit of society. The “household” was more than a family. In addition to mother, father, and natural children, slaves won in war or raids were a part of the household. Persons called “retainers” joined the household. These are people who had for various reasons lost their former position in a household and were alone and without security in society. The household gave them a place to work and survive.

The household was also the basic economic unity in society. It produced food from shepherding flocks, tending orchards, and producing grain. The women slaves worked in the fields as well as in the production of clothing by weaving and sewing. The men worked in leather and metals. Such households were self-sufficient. The more members in the household, the more secure it would be; and as more “retainers” joined, its military prowess was strengthened. Outside the households were a small group of people who might be called professionals. In this group were “seers” who gave oracles from the gods. There were bards who entertained with song and story. Heralds brought messages from the king. Practitioners of the healing arts were also known. Another group were the artisans: metal workers, carpenters, leather workers, and potters. The period from 750-550 B.C. was a time of colonization. There was not enough productive land, industry, or commerce to support the growing population, so many Greeks sought support elsewhere. As early as 711 B.C. a Greek is listed as the ruler of Ashdod on the Palestinian coast, and Assyrian records of 655 B.C. note that Greek mercenaries fought against them in the Egyptian army. During this era the Greeks established trade colonies on the shores of the Black Sea, the region of the Dardanelles, on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea, the islands of Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, Sidon and Tyre, Naucratis in the Nile delta, Italy, Sicily, and Spain. Although there were occasions when the Greeks comingled with the local population, in general, they kept their distance and began to think of themselves as different. This set the stage for the later idea of two kinds of people: Greeks and barbarians. Greeks living in these outlying colonies always desired to return to the homeland, at least for a visit. A favorite time for visiting was the athletic games celebrated at Olympia every four years.

Throughout the history of Greece there were important cities: Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Argos, Pylos, Delphi, Eretria, Thebes, Pella, Olynthus, and others. Athens is often considered the representative city of the Greek way of life. From earliest times there was human occupation at Athens, beginning on the most prominent hill (Acropolis) and its slopes. By Mycenaean times the village had taken on the cultural likeness of Mycenae and had a local king. As centuries went by the Athenian king was able to bring about unity among the adjoining settlements in the area called Attica. While this enhanced the power and prestige of Athens, it eventually weakened the king's power as he shared it with the rulers of the surrounding communities. The king and the nobles shared authority in Athens. An attempted revolution in the seventh century indicated that reform was needed. Although the revolution failed because the people did not accept it, the populace did accept the reforms led by Solon in 594 B.C. A primary reason for reform was the treatment of the poor who had been enslaved because of their debts. Some were even sold outside their homeland, and others fled their native land to avoid punishment.

When Solon began his reforms, the government of Athens was organized around: (1) nine Archons who shared administrative power and was similar to a cabinet of officers. These kept their position as well as their judicial powers with some modification. (2) The Areopagus functioned as a court of justice judging persons who had committed murder, mutilation, poisoning, or treason. Its members were former Archons. They met in the open air on Mars' Hill. Solon assigned to them the task of monitoring the education, religion, and customs of the people with the privilege of reviewing judicial decisions, serving as a Supreme Court. (3) The Senate was made up of four hundred men whose task was to take care of finances, impose fines, and prepare laws which are acted on by the assembly. (4) The Assembly was composed of all citizens meeting to act upon the matters presented by the Senate.

In addition to these basic groups, laws were established that ensured justice. To assure fair trials, Solon mandated that citizens over sixty years of age could form a court of arbitration for trials. Another group, made up of men over fifty years old, judged cases of involuntary manslaughter and homicide resulting from self-defense. Penalties imposed for violating laws were imprisonment, fines, confiscation of property and, in extreme areas, death. Amnesty was granted to anyone who had been made a slave due to the inability to pay debts, and mortgages on lands were canceled. Persons who had been sold abroad because of debts were brought back home. All of this created a high respect for the privilege of owning property.

Solon's reforms established a fair system of taxation and provided every citizen the right to submit a proposal to the assembly. Any citizen twenty years of age could speak before the assembly, but priority was given to those over fifty. Solon's reforms formed the basis for Athenian government for the next three centuries. The long tenure of his reforms attests to the validity of them as well as the Athenian's devotion to justice.

Greek society had customs, mores, and laws that controlled marriage and family life. Some Greek cities ruled that a citizen must marry by the time he was thirty-five years old, or else he would be fined 100 drachmas per year. Modern ways of courtship were unknown. Instead, marriages were arranged by parents of the bride and groom. January and February were the favorite months for weddings since this was the time when nature blossomed forth from its wintry slumber. Wedding festivities included a sacrifice to the gods, a ceremonial bath in holy water, the last meal of the bride in her parents' home, the bride dressed in her wedding gown awaiting the groom to take her away on a chariot. Such a marriage was not without love and affection. The beginning of a new family was a time of “tasting together of the sweets of mutual tenderness.” While children were a concern of marriage, abortion was permitted. It was the family's responsibility to care for orphans, especially young girls. The father's closest relative was responsible for arranging her marriage and providing her with a dowry.

Children were reared in the family, and laws forbade the primitive practices of selling or killing a son. The child stayed in the home until it was sixteen years old. There it was reared according to the discretion of the parents. In the next two years the child was trained in the gymnasium. The training consisted of two elements: (1) physical development of the body through gymnastics, wrestling, and dance, and (2) a study of the poets, legends, and proverbs of human wisdom so as to develop the mind for citizenship.

At eighteen a young man reached civil age. At that age he could claim his inheritance and was responsible for military service. He often continued in instruction in philosophy, music, and poetry, attended religious festivals, observed the assembly of the people, practiced physical exercise, and served in some military office such as a policeman or fortress guard. At age twenty he could vote in the assembly and speak if he so chose. At age thirty he was eligible to become a senator. At age sixty he was no longer required to serve in the military.

Foreigners were permitted to live in Athens but were required to pay twelve drachmas per year for the protection of the state. The foreigner had to be sponsored by a citizen who guaranteed his behavior. They could not acquire property. As time went by these rules were relaxed and foreigners were granted citizenship. While slaves in Athens were treated better than most cities, there were always limitations. If mistreated, the law guaranteed a slave a defender. If the slave were killed, the slayer could be punished. Not all women slaves worked at household chores. Some were placed in public houses for the profit of their masters. Athens practiced ostracism. Once each year the Senate asked: “Does the safety of the State demand a vote of ostracism?” If a person to be ostracized were named, the assembly would vote; and, if the vote required, the person would be banished from Athens for ten years.

Religious sanctuaries were important. The Acropolis of Athens became the sacred precinct for the gods and goddesses, especially Athena. On this hill was built the famous temple called the Parthenon. The Acropolis is a hill rising 300 feet above the level of the surrounding city. Its plateau top measures about 420 feet wide and 1050 feet long. This was the location of the original settlement at Athens. As the town grew, the residence moved to the slopes; and the Acropolis was reserved for the king's palace and temple. Gradually it was occupied only by sacred buildings. The most prominent was the temple dedicated to the patron goddess Athena, for whom the city was named. A beautiful new temple was built, completed in 438 B.C., and was called the Parthenon. The name of the temple means apartment of the virgin. The building is approximately 101 10:228 feet. The inner sanctuary contained a statue of Athena about 35 feet high made of gold plate over a wooden frame. The pediments of the temple were decorated with sculptures that told the story of Athena.

A major festival celebrating Athena's sacred position was celebrated every four years in Athens, and a minor festival every year. The festival included contests between athletes, singers, and other musical performers such as harpists and flutists. Winners of contests received containers of oil from the goddess's olive trees. The major four-year festival ended with a parade beginning in the potters' quarter of the city, proceeded through the Agora (city center) up the winding stairs to the top of the Acropolis. A new robe for the goddess was displayed as the parade made its way through the city. The parade was led by young girls from elite families, followed by attendants carrying the utensils for the animal sacrifices. The animals followed. Other people carried cakes for sacrifice, water, and olive branches. Officials, army officers, representatives from other cities, all joined in the parade. Infantry and charioteers completed the parade. Animal sacrifice completed the ceremony. Four cows and four sheep constituted the main sacrifice, but large numbers of cows were slaughtered in groups of one hundred. The meat from the animals was distributed to the attending crowds. Since meat was not a part of the normal diet of the populace, a festival like this provided a treat for the participants. The entire festival was to honor Athena as the patron deity of the city.

Other cities were important for their sanctuaries. Delphi was sacred to the god Apollo. That city was considered the “navel” of the earth. Tradition taught that Zeus, the god of all, sent out two eagles from each end of the universe to specify the center of the earth. They met at Delphi. The most important temple there was in honor of Apollo. Delphi and this temple became popular because the “priestesses” became famous for their ability to give advice in the form of “oracles” to civil and military leaders who asked. Delphi was also important for the Pythian Games celebrated every eight years in honor of Apollo's victory over the monster serpent Python. The festival of games began with a re-enactment of Apollo's slaying of Python, including large-scale sacrifices, dramatic presentations, musical and athletic contests. Epidaurus was the center of the cult of Asclepias, the god of healing. In Greek mythology Asclepias was the son of Apollo. He was credited with the ability to bring about miraculous cures and even bring people back from the dead. These powers were based on his knowledge of vegetation, therapeutic use of herbs, and the mysterious forces of the underworld. The snake was the symbol of his cult and played a part in the curative process. Wherever there was an Asclepian (Temple of Asclepias), snakes were brought from Epidaurus to be kept in a sacred underground chamber near the temple. Patients wishing to be healed by the god Asclepias came to his temple complex. The suppliant offered a sacrifice on the alter before the temple, prepared himself/herself by a purificatory bath in a pool provided near by, shared a meal in a special dining area, and spent the night in a special room near the temple. The deity might appear in a dream in which the patient experienced healing. They would awake the next morning healed. Inscriptions in the temples abound with testimonies of healings of various infirmities: abnormal pregnancies, paralyzed limbs, blindness, dumbness, stones in the urinary tract, baldness, and ohers. Persons healed often left behind a model of the part of the anatomy that had been cured along with an inscription of thanksgiving to Asclepias. Almost every major city had its Asclepian including Corinth, Athens, Pergammom, cities in Cyprus, Crete, and throughout the Greek world. A quadrennial festival was held at Epidaurus similar to the festival at Delphi.

Religious life also touched everyday life. A father made sacrifices for the sons born during the year. Individual households had shrines to their patron deity. This might be simply a sacred vase or cup into which some sacred oil had been placed. When a wedding or the procurement of a new slave added a new member to the household, special foods were placed on the hearth as a symbol of good fortune. Private banquets were held in honor of a patron deity. Ancient records preserve personal prayers addressed to deities and temple inscriptions declaring the individual's loyalty to the deity. Thus the religion of the sanctuaries were transferred to the home and individual.

The most extensive expression of the Greek way of life came late in the fourth century B.C. carried out by Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.). From his father Philip II, Alexander inherited a unified Greek homeland with an increased economic order. Being aware of the threat of a Persian invasion from Asia Minor, Alexander set out from his Macedonian capitol in Pella on an eastward offensive. He swiftly fought his way across Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and encountered the Persians in the most important battle for the campaign at Issus (near modern Iskenderun). This battle in 333 B.C. determined the outcome of the remainder of the campaign. Alexander and his armies turned southward along the eastern end of the Mediterranean and conquered all the territory as far as, and including, Egypt. It was reported that he took an excursion into the hills of Judea and visited the Temple in Jerusalem. Returning from Egypt, he continued his campaign eastward through the Tigris-Euphrates valley and conquered lands as far east as India. Although he died before he could establish a unified government, his campaign changed the course of history for the ancient world. The Greek language became the world language for commerce, communication, and literature. His campaigns made it necessary for people of diverse backgrounds to communicate. Within a short time the Pentateuch of the Hebrew Scriptures was translated into the Greek language. Later the Septuagint was completed, and still later all of the New Testament documents were written in Greek. With Alexander's campaign, trade and commerce between East and West was enhanced. Alexander carried with him not only soldiers, commerce, and language, but also the totality of the Greek way of life. Engineers, craftsmen, historians, men of letters—all traveled with his army. Whatever lands he conquered were introduced to Greek dress, customs, literature, education, love of learning, physical exercise—everything that made Greek culture. The gods and goddesses of each land were accepted as geuine Greek deities known by another name. The Greek language and culture intensely affected the course of civilization in this part of the world for almost a thousand years—until the coming of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Even with the gradual advancement of the Romans eastward after 200 B.C., the Greek way of life merged with the Roman and produced an era often called Greco-Roman.

Oscar A. Brooks