Militarizing the Divine: The Bellicosity of the Greek Gods

Abstract

<p>Greek gods and goddesses were, in Greek belief, as reflected in literature and religious practices, no strangers to warfare: they had been involved in a major struggle for dominance and survival against the Giants (the Gigantomachia), in which all of the Olympian gods had participated, a theme depicted on the sixth-century BC Treasury of the Siphnians at Delphi, and later on the Hellenistic great altar of Pergamon. In the struggle of the Trojan War, too, individual gods took sides with either the Greek or Trojan forces, and participated actively on the battlefield. In the <i>Iliad</i>, for example, Athena emerges as the pre-eminent warrior god, while Zeus sits aloof and watches the conflict from afar, although in the end he will determine that Troy must be sacked. Whilst the gods do fight for either the Greeks or the Trojans, individual gods are especially concerned in coming to the aid of their favourite heroes. In historical times, the Greek gods were also considered to be active in human affairs, and to have taken an interest in military conflict, both against foreign outsiders and between Greek citystates. Yet the major deities themselves are missing as such on the battlefields of Salamis and Plataea, although there are numerous epiphanies of divine beings recorded by Herodotus. Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War has no gods personally present at all on his canvas, but he considers the religious practices of states to be important, and festivals, temples, access to sanctuaries, and above all oracles, are presented in his narrative as significant aspects of the conflict. Xenophon's account of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries who had fought at Cunaxa in Persia in 401 BC and made their way home through foreign, hostile territory reflects the religious beliefs of this general and his comrades - that the gods deliberately gave directions through signs to indicate courses of action to be undertaken by the mortal protagonists, and showed their support in battle through omens and other portents. Throughout the Greek world in the Classical period, deities of war such as Aphrodite, Athena, Ares and Enyalios received cult offerings in order to win their military support. Wars could not be fought without the support of the divine, which had to be sought actively; it could not be taken for granted.</p>