Zeus and Hera, Ulysses and Persephone are household names, even today. In ancient Greece, the stories told about them were part of everyday life, but also the subject of doubt and scepticism. Jan Bremmer of the University of Groningen discusses the importance of mythology in ancient Greece, the form that religious scepticism took, and why it might have been dangerous to question the gods.

Greek mythology is a recurring trend in literature and popular culture. From blockbuster films like Troy to modern retellings of famous myths such as Circe, ancient tales of gods and heroes still resonate today. But did the ancient Greeks themselves believe in their gods and the stories they told about them? At a conference at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Jan Bremmer, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Groningen and Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, will give a Keynote lecture on atheism, doubt and belief in antiquity.

The Role of Greek Mythology

How important was mythology for the ancient Greeks?

Jan Bremmer: I think that ancient mythology was important in many ways, because the ancient Greeks didn’t have sacred scripture. They didn’t have a Bible, but they had stories about their gods. These stories show the power of the gods, but also the helplessness of the gods. So, in some ways mythology functioned as an oral sacred book that was not canonised.

If there wasn’t a fixed text, how was a consensus reached about the myths, the gods and the religious practices?

Bremmer: That’s a good question. It is said that the poets Homer and Hesiod gave shape to the gods – that’s probably an exaggeration, but basically the poets and the people who told the myths shaped the way people thought about the gods until about around the year 500 BC. Then you get the first philosophers who really started to think about religion. The philosopher Xenophanes (about 500 BC), for example, said: If the gods are anthropomorphic, it’s because we are anthropomorphic. But if we were horses, our gods would also look like horses. So, there was clearly a great deal of freedom in ancient Greece to think about religion. However, the openness to discuss religion also depended on the political situation.

The Origin of the Myths

When did the myths originate?

Bremmer: Some myths seem to go back to Indo-European times. So, they’re very old. For example, we already have mention of Zeus and his wife or the god Poseidon and his wife in the second millennium BC. But many myths were created in the Archaic Period, between 800 and 500 BC in Greece.

How were the myths passed on?

Bremmer: They were passed on orally, for example by people who performed, for example the Illiad, at festivals. We are not exactly sure when exactly they were first put down on paper, or rather papyrus or parchment, but we think it was around 600 BC. Certainly, until about 400 BC, it was very much an oral society. In the last part of the 5th century, you can see that literacy is becoming more and more important. But books were never cheap in antiquity, so there’s a big debate about how literate people actually were in antiquity. We have to think of a relatively small percentage of people who could own and read a book.

Piety and Atheism

What did it mean to be religious in ancient Greece?  

Bremmer: I don’t think they had a concept of being religious. Today, in most Western countries, religion has been pushed into a private corner of our lives, separate from the public sphere. In ancient times, religion was an integral part of society. You saw statues everywhere. If you swore an oath, you did it by the gods. Birth, maturity, death – everything was put within a context of religion. So, there was no need for a separate term for religion. That also makes it to difficult to put a modern term like atheism on the ancient world.

How can we then look at atheism in antiquity?

Bremmer: So, the Greeks had the word atheos which came into English via French as “atheism” and into German as “Atheismus”. But in the 5th century, atheos referred to a godless act, something which goes against what the gods expect us to do or what civilised people should do. But in the 4th century, Plato uses it once to refer to someone who does not believe in the gods or does not think they exist.

So, was there any kind of scepticism towards some of the religious practises or some of the beliefs that we know of? 

Bremmer: Yes, an event that had a terrible impact caused a lot of people to lose faith. Around 430 BC, a devastating plague came to Athens. It was so bad that people began to doubt the existence of the gods. Also, several philosophers were sceptical. There’s a famous saying by Protagoras about the gods, “I don’t know whether they exist or not.” Additionally, in tragedy, especially by Euripides, some characters say that the gods don’t exist. But it’s not always clear how to interpret that. It might just be something they say out of anger or frustration, not out of deep reflection. What also strikes me is that in Euripides’ dramas it’s often a young person who says this. So for them it might also be a rebellious act to doubt religion.

The Trial of Socrates

Was there any kind of punishment for openly questioning religion? 

Bremmer: Within about two decades after 430 BC we know of three trials in which action against established religion played an important role. One was against some people who imitated and mocked the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most sacred of rituals. Another trial involved the decapitation of statues of the god Hermes that many Athenians had outside their homes. Some of the culprits managed to escape, while others were actually executed. Finally, there was the famous trial of Socrates, who was condemned to death for corrupting the young, but also for impiety.

Why is Greek mythology still so popular today?

Bremmer: Greek mythology is considered as part of a “good education”, especially in the tradition of the German Bildungsbürgertum. But it strikes me that especially in the last 10 years or so, Greek mythology has become very popular again. There are many modern retellings, so it has also become a trend. The reason for their popularity might be that they are good stories and there’s something in them for all of us.

At a Glance

Jan Bremmer is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Groningen. He has been a Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences since 2021. At the conference “Scepticism, unbelief, and theological reflection. Tracing the narratives of religious doubt and deviation in ancient contexts” at the Austrian Archaelogical Institute he will give the Keynote Lecture titled “Atheism, Doubt, Faith and Belief: Are They Typical of Antiquity?”.