Pagan Religion And The Solar System

[petrushkagoogol]

The Olympian Greek gods were correlated with planets in the Solar system on a one-one basis.

eg) Hermes only with Mercury, Aphrodite only with Venus and so on ....

 

viz. Human (body) = Heavenly (body)

 

Is then the purpose of having a god or gods an attempt to explain the Solar system, given the curiosity at the time ?    

Edited July 15, 2017 by petrushkagoogol

[Buffy]

Of course in Greek mythology, Gods were distinct from mere Mortals, so no, under no interpretation would the Greeks think that the Heavenly Bodies had anything to do with humans, let alone the human body.

 

And of course the whole notion of calling one thing by two different names is, shall we say, "confusing."

 

 

It is best to avoid analogy except for purposes of suggestion, or as a rhetorical device for explaining an idea already arrived at by other means, :phones:

Buffy

[DrKrettin]

 

Is then the purpose of having a god or gods an attempt to explain the Solar system, given the curiosity at the time ?    

 

 

It is an attempt at explaining the world, not the solar system. They saw forces at work over which they had no control,. With the reasonable assumption that things happened because something or somebody caused them to happen, Gods were the explanation. A sudden and unexplained  death of somebody in the prime of life was attributed to Apollo for men and Artemis for women. Weather was the responsibility of Zeus, and so on.

 

The belief system had the merit that evil in the world was often attributed to gods in dispute, so they did not have the insoluble problem of evil governed by an omnipotent and benevolent god, and the idiotic idea of original sin.

[LaurieAG]

Of course in Greek mythology, Gods were distinct from mere Mortals, so no, under no interpretation would the Greeks think that the Heavenly Bodies had anything to do with humans, let alone the human body.

 

So the ancient Greeks, Romans and Australian aboriginals for that matter did not regard other heavenly bodies such as the comet as a sign of impending death?

[DrKrettin]

So the ancient Greeks, Romans and Australian aboriginals for that matter did not regard other heavenly bodies such as the comet as a sign of impending death?

 

I can only reply about the ancient Greeks, and to some extent Romans. It is important to realise that there was no consensus about the gods or heavenly events, so that there was a whole range of interpretations. Comets (the word comes from  Greek kometes = long-haired (star)) were seen by Aristotle as nothing to do with the planets because they were not in the ecliptic, whereas many cultures saw them as signs of bad news of some description.  Solar eclipses were seen by many as a really bad sign. According to Plutarch, some Greek sailors were frightened by a solar eclipse just as they were preparing some military event, but it clearly did not affect all of them. I don't think you can make a general statement.

[Buffy]

So the ancient Greeks, Romans and Australian aboriginals for that matter did not regard other heavenly bodies such as the comet as a sign of impending death?

 

Unfortunately the OP allowed the implication that the Greeks saw the planets as literal bodies, thus the whole sentence was meant as derisive jest.

 

But there were interpretations of certain events being good and others being bad--hoo boy, Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction...watch out!--so "sign of impending death?" Well, it depends. 

 

AFAIK, aboriginals don't pay much heed to planetary conjunction--that's always been the big deal in Astrology-like divination of the heavens, mostly because it happens often enough that you can blame it for good/bad things--although they do pay attention to comets, and appear to have as many as 16 different names for them.

 

 

Maybe this world is another planet's hell, :phones:

Buffy

[petrushkagoogol]

Unfortunately the OP allowed the implication that the Greeks saw the planets as literal bodies, thus the whole sentence was meant as derisive jest.

 

But there were interpretations of certain events being good and others being bad--hoo boy, Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction...watch out!--so "sign of impending death?" Well, it depends. 

 

AFAIK, aboriginals don't pay much heed to planetary conjunction--that's always been the big deal in Astrology-like divination of the heavens, mostly because it happens often enough that you can blame it for good/bad things--although they do pay attention to comets, and appear to have as many as 16 different names for them.

 

 

Maybe this world is another planet's hell, :phones:

Buffy

 

I left room for creative freedom ...  The Greek gods potency was supported by celestial dynamics (if you could call it that) !