🏛️ Greetings Builders! 🏛️
In today's devlog we will discuss the importance of faith in Ancient Greece in the Pantheon of Greek Gods, highlighting the twelve gods who lived on the top of Mount Olympus.
Faith in Ancient Greece
Due to the need to explain the action and the reason for the existence of supernatural phenomena, the world of Greek gods, full of inspiration and ingenuity, was unrivaled in relation to the contemporary systems of faiths.
The myths of the Greeks tell not only about the great deeds of gods and heroes, but also explain the current state of the world, its history reaching even its origin, and explain phenomena occurring, which are both a huge inspiration for poets, painters, and philosophers, and the meaning of existence for ordinary people. Myths also teach how to act in life, what deeds are conducive to, and what are condemned. The importance of faith is emphasized by its influence on almost every element of Greek culture. Buildings and statues were created in honor of the gods, which were important not only in architecture. The creation of an ancient theater in honor of the god Dionysus laid the foundations for new forms of art such as tragedy, comedy, and drama. Many artists drew inspiration from the gods to create their amazing songs, sculptures, paintings, and other works.
The inhabitants of Ancient Greece worshiped the gods in dedicated altars, temples, or other places marked with the symbolism of a specific god. Cultivating faith did not depend on social strata. Each resident, regardless of his status and property, cared about worshiping the gods for the sake of safety, health, and prosperity.
To this day, the strong influence of the extremely deep belief system of the Greeks can be seen in the artistic work of various nations. Undeniable, even classic mythological motifs, the sources of which should be sought in antiquity, today constitute a canon that every enlightened person knows.
Olympian Gods
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve gods form the core of all pantheon mythology.
They were called Olympian gods because they lived on top of Mount Olympus. They decided on almost all significant issues in the world, including the existence, life, and death of people. The gods drank divine nectar and ate ambrosia, which gave them eternal life and enduring beauty.
The twelve gods of Olympus are composed of*:
- Zeus - the god of heaven and thunder, the highest of all gods
- Poseidon - god of rivers, lakes, seas and oceans, brother of Zeus
- Hera - goddess of marriage, queen of heaven, wife of Zeus
- Ares - god of bloody war
- Apollo - god of poetry, dance and music
- Aphrodite - goddess of love, beauty and procreation
- Hephaestus - god of fire, blacksmiths and goldsmiths
- Dionysus - god of grape-harvest and wine
- Hermes - a divine herald, guardian of traders and travelers
- Demeter - goddess of crops and harvest
- Athena - goddess of wisdom and battle
- Artemis - goddess of the hunt and the wild
Although Hades was one of the chief gods of ancient Greece and was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon himself, his kingdom was the underworld, far from Olympus, and thus was not considered by many to be one of the Olympian gods. Despite this, its significance was enormous in the daily lives of the inhabitants who hoped that their dead would reach the Champs-Elysées and not be thrown into the dark Tartarus.
* - Fun fact: not all source materials define the composition of the twelve Olympic gods equally. The materials are compatible with ten gods: Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon, and Zeus. The other two places, depending on the sources, are complemented by: Hades, Demeter, Dionysus, and Hestia.
The importance of faith in the game
In Builders of Greece you can pay tribute to each of the Olympic gods, directing his favor to your Polis and protecting yourself from his wrath.
When building places of worship, decide which gods will be worshiped by the inhabitants of your polis and what effects their prayers will bring. The gods mentioned in the previous paragraph will appear as potential cult units.
Several buildings will appear in the game that will serve as places of worship. The most important of them are altars and temples. The altar, being simple to build and small building, can at a low cost provide the inhabitants with the need to pray and cultivate the faith, and the ruler can guarantee the favor of a specific god. Temples are much larger structures that require much more resources and time to build while providing much better results than altars. For buildings of faith to function properly, they must have a specific deity to whom they will be dedicated and for whom the inhabitants of the polis will pray.
Using faith buildings, we can perform a variety of rituals, such as prayer, ritual sacrifice in the form of crops, liquids, or animals, and even performing the Hecatomb.
Each ritual will require the appropriate materials to perform it. The completed ritual will provide the appropriate effects, depending on the deity towards which the ritual was directed, and will ensure his favor. For example, by performing a ritual in honor of Demeter, a blessing can be sent to the player, which will increase the yield of farmland and the number of successful catches, and in addition, Demeter will be more accommodating to the player, which can reduce the frequency of droughts and crop failure.
The more we focus on the glory of a god, the more he will be in favor of our actions. It should be remembered that each of the gods has its own requirements, desires, and attributes, and the fate of our polis and the ancient world largely depends on them. Having the favor of the gods is always better for the people and the ruler than not having it.
...and talk to the community and developers about the game!
Have you heard about our other game - Gimle: The Broken Prophecy?
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1765920/view/3094530081460580414