How was the reliance on philosophy unique to Greece? How did Greeks incorporate religion into society, as compared to non-Greek civilizations that we've studied?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The pursuit of philosophy for an explanation of the natural world is a significant departure from the reliance on religion or mythology for explanations. Although the Greeks had mythology and religion, the Greek focus on the humanistic traditions, rather than on the supernatural, set them apart from other civilizations such as the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Assyrian, or Israelite societies, in which religion and government were often tightly interrelated. While the Greeks honored Zeus, Hera, and the pantheon of gods in their polytheistic society, the anthropomorphic quality of the gods was significantly different than the other regions in which gods were isolated, vengeful, and punishing. In Greece, the government ruled independently of the religious authority; the kings, oligarchs, and tyrants did not claim divinity. Neither did law appear as a mandate of the gods, as was seen in earlier civilizations. Law and social conditions in Greece took on more of an ethical quality than a moral tone. Finally, the Greek emphasis on rationalism and causality for the events in their lives significantly differed from other civilizations by focusing on the natural world and explanations that could be explained and intuitively discovered with logic.