How Human were the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece?

  Today's discussion got me thinking about what humans require from gods. From a Christian background, I believe the primary aim of a god needs to be his love for the people he created, and the guidance to lead them into a better place after death. The purpose of Greek deities seems to lie more in the aetiological; their purpose is to explain why things exist, and why things behave as they do. The gods need to acquire characteristics of the things they are associated with, yet the character must be made more human to enable people to understand them. 

  The top picture is that of the Ancient Egyptian god Horus standing opposite a Pharaoh. In this picture they can be seen as very similar, the only real difference between the figures which distinguishes the figure on the left as being mythological is that the god has the head of a falcon. This may be an example of making the gods similar to humans, but also distinct enough to make them other. I would also expect this to be true with Ancient Greek deities.

  The second picture down is Michaelangelo's picture of The Creation of Adam. This picture shows the otherness and nearness between a human and the Judeo-Christian God. The hand of Adam and the hand of God are so close yet they do not quite touch. God is very near, yet remains other. This seems to be a theme in Ancient Greek Religion. The gods sometimes get close to being human but have to retain some distance so that their power can be feared and their actions made incomprehensible.

  I tried to find a depiction of Zeus with an equivalent motive and this was the closest I could find (Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Zeus 74). I thought this depiction may be appropriate (though the woman on the right is Athena rather than a mortal) as Zeus seems to be giving something from his right hand to the woman, but the woman seems to be rejecting his gift. I believe this depiction can also reflect gods' relationships with humans. Zeus can be seen as the 'heavenly father' of Athena, equivalent to the Judeo-Christian God as 'heavenly father' of humanity, thus the relationship could be seen as equivalent. Athena, the metaphorical human, tries to maintain distance from her father whilst her father desires closeness.

  Karim Arafat makes some suggestions about this depiction:
'Athena's haste and the way she looks back at Zeus suggest that she is not going to fetch an oinochoe and wine to fill Zeus's phiale, but we do not know of any ill feeling between them such as is brought to mind by such a flight.' (Arafat (1990) 102)

  Zeus appears to be trying to close the distance between himself and his daughter, yet she moves to maintain the distance. This can also be seen in Michaelangelo's painting as God's hand appears stretched whereas Adam's hand is limp; suggesting the desire for a relationship is predominantly from God's side, whereas Adam desires distance from God.

  This distancing has a purpose. It is easier to say "It is the will of the gods" if it is in your understanding that the gods do not hold the same moral values as you do. Humans make the distance between themselves and the gods to allow for understanding of the inhuman actions, such as death, disasters, famine and disease.

  The bottom picture is of Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The discussion in class had got me considering how the character of a god is constructed. The best solution I thought was to look at god-like characters in fiction. I considered the character of Aslan to show the human construct for a god. In Narnia, a world of talking beasts, it makes sense that the god of this realm would be a lion, a creature at the top of the food chain, an animal like the others but stronger than the others. In this way he is relatable to his subjects yet is also above them. His characteristics have a balance between zoomorphic traits and anthropomorphic traits. He bites the neck of the White Witch to kill her, representative of how lions kill, but at times he shows attributes of caring which are very "un-lionlike", such as seeking comfort from Susan and Lucy's company before he is killed at the Stone Table, which is done for the purpose of saving the life of Edmund.

  In Ancient Greek Religion, a god or goddess needs to have characteristics to fear, such as Poseidon's causing of storms at sea, yet also human characteristics, such as his raising of fresh water springs. Each god appears to have a metaphorical "carrot and stick". The "carrot" involves what the god does to encourage humans to praise and worship; this could include actions, or characteristics that make them more human. The "stick" is the action which the deity uses to demonstrate its displeasure; an action defined as typically inhuman.

Sources Used

Arafat, K. W., (1990) Classical Zeus: A study in art and literature, Oxford: Clarendon.

Images from Websites

Gill, N.S., 2013. Pharaoh Hatshepsut making an offering to Horus. [online] Available at: <http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/egypt/ig/Ancient-Egypt/Horus-and-Hatshepsut.htm> [Accessed on 31/01/2013 ].

Peebles, E., 2013, Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam. Books and Blueberries, [blog] 8^th Feb,

Available at: <http://booksandblueberries.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/michelangelos-creation-of-adam.html> [Accessed on 31/01/2013 ].

Children’s Theater of Wellington, 2012, Aslan is on the Move!. Children’s Theater of Wellington, [blog] 19^th Oct, Available at: <http://ctwellington.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/aslan-is-on-move.html> [Accessed 31/01/2013 ].