The distinction between Greek gods and the rest of the mythological ancient world of paganism is quite profound. For this reason, we must define who those special people were whose gods prevailed with their national identity as they were scooped up by the Roman Empire eventually coming to call themselves Romans. To detemine this we need to probe three things: Who Were the Greeks; What Does to be”Paga” Mean; How Do We Distinguish Between Believers in One God and in Multiple Gods:

Who Were the Greeks?

This identification is critical in that Greece, as an independent nation did not re-surface again until 1814 when the “Heteria Philike” was founded at Odessa, to work for the freedom of Greece. The treaty that finally gave freedom only to the lower part of the peninsula was a bitter disappointment to thousands of Greeks still subject to the Turk in modern times.

The modern Kingdom of Greece is only a fraction of what has an equal right to the name of Hellas. The original pure descent from one of the original Dorian, Ionian, or Aeolian tribes would be hopeless. It has been the special mission of Hellas to impose her language and ideals, even the consciousness of being a Greek, on other races. Of the enormous number of people since Alexander who spoke Greek and called themselves Greeks the great majority were children of Hellenized barbarians. Districts were inhabited by mixed populations.

The most compelling answer that can be given for any period is that Greece is the land where Greeks live; any country, any city where the people in the great majority spoke Greek, were conscious of being Greeks, was at that time at any rate a part of Hellas: Syracuse and Halicarnassus as much as Athens and Corinth.

What Does “Pagan” Mean?

As Christianity spread, the term Hellene began to suggest pagan-a worshiper of the Hellenic gods. In the writings of the Greek Fathers of Christianity, Hellene always means simply “a heathen”. Up until the Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity and renamed the Roman Empire the Holy Roman Empire, Romans adapted Greek gods into some of their own distinct pagan mythology. However, the Roman gods are unique to the Roman Empire which engulfed many cultures.

However, the term “pagan” has a specific meaning which “includes all religions other than the true one revealed by God, and, in a narrower sense, all except Christianity, Judaism, and Mohammedanism. The term is also used as the equivalent of Polytheism”.(New Advent Encyclopedia). By this is meant, three faith systems accept the concept of only one God, the God of Abraham. Pagan cultures have a god for every occasion, event, and emotion in life.

What are the Occasions, Events and Emotions of Greeks Calling for Different Gods?

In the Greek pagan system, different gods had different relevance to different situations. All Greeks believed that their gods spoke from Mt. Olympus. The deities believed to have lived there were: Zeus - the king of the gods; Hera - Zeus’ wife; Poseidon and Hades - Zeus’ brothers ; Demeter and Hestia - Zeus’ sisters; Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes and Hephaestus - Zeus’ children. These gods and goddesses represented idealized aspects of the multi-faceted human psyche. Worshiping them was a way to invoke aspects in the god’s behavior and personality of the human worshiper.

Some of those aspects included Zeus - god of mind and the intellect, a protector of strangers and the sanctity of oaths; Hera - goddess of fertility and the stages of a woman’s life and marriage; Apollo as law and order, the principles of moderation in moral, social and intellectual matters; Aphrodite as a goddess of love and the overwhelming passions that drove humans to irrational behavior; Hermes was the god of travelers, of sleep and dreams and prophecy; Athena was spiritual wisdom incarnate; Hephaestus was the god of the arts and fire; and Ares represented the dark, bloodthirsty aspect of human nature. In this succinct and compelling family of Greek gods and their mythology, dwelling as they were believed to do on Mt. Olympus, the citizens of the Holy Roman Empire were able to distinguish those who looked to these gods as distinct in culture, language, and belief structure.

How do We Distinguish Believers in One God and in Multiple Gods?

Those who identified themselves as adherents to belief in one God as the creator found commonality of philosophy despite different scriptural references. In the Old Testament, New Testament, and Quran all point to one God historically identifiable rather than figments of the imagination. Greeks who converted to Christianity from paganism, and from Judaism came to be known as Roman Catholics or Greek Orthodox.

These adherents do not look to mythological characters but to historical figures for the basis of their belief structure. Jesus Christ as God made man is identified in the New Testament chronicles of several authors. The Jewish historian inducted into Roman aristocracy, Josephus, records elements of Jesus teachings, crucifixion and death adding addtional layers of confidence to the history of Jesus’ existence and teachings. Jews identify the real man, Moses - a prophet and historical figure as receiving the Ten Commandments of the one God where they were housed in the Ark of the Covenant, Muslims look to Mohammed as a prophet who commanded that there was but one God, Allah.

Pagan gods are mythological and many. The God of the worlds largest religions look to historical figures to maintain their theology and religious structure. Among the mythological, the pagan Greek gods capture the imagination.