Ancient Greek Religion

[Exarch]

how did the ancient greeks and pagan romans feel about having a mass rapist for their head god-Zeus?
how d'ye suppose this impacted on their religion as opposed to their competing religion- a schizophrenic jew- in christianity?

[Theseus1234]

well i imagine that the religion was created upon the culture (or vice versa for you religious people out there)
perhaps rape was common, especially for war victories and such

[MaximiIian]

Well, to clarify, Zeus wasn't a rapist. He seduced those women, enthralled them into attraction, but he didn't rape them.

In any case- ancient Greek religion was an interesting animal. They didn't really have a term for "religion" or "belief" in the sense that we use them. To them, the existence of the gods and all kinds of similar things was a given, and within in that there was a lot of variation that was allowed. So "religion" to them would be more like the specific practices of an city's official cult for a particular deity; and religious practices could and did vary from city to city. Far more important than "correct belief" was correct action in rituals.

The Roman concept of religion was closer to our modern idea of it: a system of belief, normally organized, pertaining not only to orthopraxy (correct practices), but also to orthodoxy (correct thought), often with an organized form and function relevant to society.