, south-central Greece. Central to Greek religion in classical times were the
twelve Olympian deities headed by
Zeus. Each god was honored with stone
temples and
statues, and sanctuaries (
sacred enclosures), which, although dedicated to a specific deity, often contained statues commemorating other gods. The city-states would conduct various festivals and rituals throughout the year, with particular emphasis directed towards the patron god of the city, such as
Athena at
Athens, or
Apollo at
Corinth. and
oracles would allow people to determine
divine will in the rustle of leaves; the shape of flame and smoke on an altar; the flight of birds; the noises made by a spring; or in the entrails of an animal. Also long established were the
Eleusinian Mysteries, associated with
Demeter and
Persephone. Older surveys of Hellenistic religion tended to depict the era as one of religious decline, discerning a rise in
scepticism,
agnosticism and
atheism, as well as an increase in
superstition,
mysticism, and
astrology. There is, however, no reason to suppose that there was a decline in the traditional religion. There is plenty of documentary evidence that the Greeks continued to worship the same gods with the same sacrifices, dedications, and festivals as in the classical period. New religions did appear in this period, but not to the exclusion of the local deities, and only a minority of Greeks were attracted to them.
New religions of the period The Egyptian religion which follows
Isis was the most famous of the new religions. The religion was brought to Greece by Egyptian priests, initially for the small Egyptian communities in the port cities of the Greek world. and
Diodorus Siculus wrote that the religion was known throughout almost the whole inhabited world. Almost as famous was the
cult of
Serapis, an Egyptian deity despite the Greek name, which was created in Egypt under the
Ptolemaic dynasty. Serapis was patronized by the Greeks who had settled in Egypt. This religion involved initiation rites like the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Strabo wrote of the
Serapeion at
Canopus near
Alexandria as being patronized by the most reputable men. The religion of
Atargatis (related to the Babylonian and Assyrian
Inanna and Phoenician
Baalat Gebal), a fertility and sea goddess from
Syria, was also popular. By the 3rd century BCE her worship had spread from Syria to Egypt and Greece, and eventually reached
Italy and the west. The members were known as
Bacchants, and the rites had an
orgiastic character. By the 1st century BCE, there were additional religions that followed
Baal and
Astarte, a Jewish
Synagogue and Romans who followed the original Roman religions of gods like
Apollo and
Neptune. Ptolemy's son
Ptolemy II Philadelphus proclaimed his father a god, and made himself a living god. Temples dedicated to rulers were rare, but their statues were often erected in other temples, and the kings would be worshiped as "temple-sharing gods."
Astrology and magic discovered in
Eyguières, southern France. There is ample evidence for the use of
superstition and magic in this period. Oracular shrines and sanctuaries were still popular. The Greeks, in the Hellenistic era, elaborated it into the fantastically complex system of
Hellenistic astrology familiar to later times. Interest in astrology grew rapidly from the 1st century BCE onwards.
Hellenistic philosophy An alternative to traditional religion was offered by
Hellenistic philosophy. One of these philosophies was
Stoicism, which taught that life should be lived according to the rational order which the Stoics believed governed the universe; human beings had to accept their
fate as according to divine will, and virtuous acts should be performed for their own intrinsic value. Another philosophy was
Epicureanism, which taught that the universe was subject to the random movements of atoms, and life should be lived to achieve psychological contentment and the absence of pain. Other philosophies included
Pyrrhonism which taught how to attain
inner peace via
suspension of judgment;
Cynicism (philosophy), which expressed contempt for convention and material possessions; the
Platonists who followed the teachings of
Plato, and the
Peripatetics who followed
Aristotle. All of these philosophies, to a greater or lesser extent, sought to accommodate traditional Greek religion, but the philosophers, and those who studied under them, remained a small select group, limited largely to the educated elite. ==Hellenistic Judaism==