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29. Religion / A. Polytheistic Religion / 2. Greek Polytheism

[early Greek religion, centred on Zeus and others]

13 ideas
Thales said the gods know our wrong thoughts as well as our evil actions [Thales, by Diog. Laertius]
Purifying yourself with blood is as crazy as using mud to wash off mud [Heraclitus]
It is wretched not to want to think clearly about the gods [Empedocles]
There are as many eternal unmovable substances as there are movements of the stars [Aristotle]
The concepts of gods arose from observing the soul, and the cosmos [Aristotle, by Sext.Empiricus]
Bruno said that ancient Egyptian magic was the true religion [Bruno, by Yates]
The Greeks saw the gods not as their masters, but as idealised versions of themselves [Nietzsche]
Paganism is a form of thanking and affirming life? [Nietzsche]
The Greeks lack a normative theology: each person has their own poetic view of things [Nietzsche]
The Jews sharply distinguish human and divine, but the Greeks pull them closer together [Johnson,P]
Most polytheist recognise one supreme power or law, behind the various gods [Harari]
Polytheism is open-minded, and rarely persecutes opponents [Harari]
Mythologies are usual contracts with the gods, exchanging devotion for control of nature [Harari]