Who were the Greek gods?

0:00 Welcome to Philosophy is not boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Before we dive into today's huge question, we want to send a massive hello to three-year-old Vincent and five-year-old Roman, who are listening together right now in Detroit, Michigan.

0:18 Welcome to the show, Vincent and Roman. If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode.

0:26 Okay, Finn, I want you to picture something. Imagine a massive thunderstorm hits. Lightning is flashing, thunder is crashing so loud it shakes the windows, and the wind is howling.

0:40 And the next day, everything is just covered in gross, sloppy mud. Ew.

0:47 Exactly. But here is the question: who do you blame for the storm? Today, if someone asks why it rained, we talk about air pressure and clouds. But for thousands of years, people looked at a thunderstorm and saw a powerful, angry person throwing lightning from the sky.

1:05 You mean Zeus, the Greek god with the lightning bolts?

1:10 Yes. Today we are exploring something called polytheism. Why did the ancient Greeks believe in dozens of different gods, all with different jobs, instead of just one? So let's start with that word: polytheism. Poly means many, and theism means belief in gods, believing in lots of gods.

1:32 So instead of just one boss of the universe, it was like a whole team.

1:38 Exactly. And here is something that might surprise you. For most of human history, polytheism was the completely normal way to make sense of the world. The ancient Egyptians, the Norse, the Romans, the Celts, they all had many gods.

1:55 But why did they need so many? Wouldn't one god be easier to keep track of?

2:01 Well, think about how complicated the world is. The ancient Greeks lived in a world where the ocean could give you fish to eat, but it could also sink your ship in a hurricane.

2:12 Right, that's pretty opposite. One day it's helpful, the next day it's terrifying.

2:18 Exactly. So to them, it made perfect sense that different parts of the world were ruled by different personalities. They had the twelve Olympians. Zeus was in charge of the sky and storms. Poseidon shook the sea and caused earthquakes. Athena guarded the city of Athens and was the goddess of wisdom.

2:40 It sounds like a really complicated group project at school, where everyone has a totally different job.

2:47 It was exactly like a group project. And just like in a group project, the gods did not always get along. They were like a big, squabbling family.

2:57 Wait, they argued. I thought gods were supposed to be perfectly good and peaceful.

3:03 That is how many people think of God today. Especially in religions like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, which are monotheistic. They believe in one perfect God who is a bit like a distant, ultimate judge.

3:18 Okay, so if the Greek gods weren't perfect, what were they like?

3:24 They were powerful, but they acted just like humans. They had terrible tempers, they got jealous, they played silly tricks on each other, and they definitely played favourites with humans. That sounds completely exhausting. It was. But it explains something really important about life. If you have only one perfectly good God, it can be really hard to explain why bad things happen to good people.

3:55 Oh, I see. Because if the one god is completely good, why did my house just flood?

4:02 Yes, exactly. But in polytheism, the answer is simple. Maybe you were a really good farmer, so Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, loved you. You grew great wheat.

4:16 But maybe Poseidon was just in a really bad mood that day and flooded my farm anyway.

4:22 Exactly. Having many gods meant the world was full of conflicting forces. It wasn't always your fault if things went wrong. Sometimes you were just caught in the middle of two gods having an argument.

4:36 That actually makes a lot of sense. The world doesn't really feel like it's run by one perfect rule. It feels messy and unpredictable.

4:45 Right. And here is where it gets really interesting, Finn. Polytheism isn't just ancient history.

4:53 Wait, really? People still believe in many gods today.

4:57 Yes, millions of people. In Hinduism, many people worship different gods and goddesses, sometimes seeing them as different faces of one big reality. The Yoruba tradition in West Africa honours many powerful spirits called Arishas. And in Japan, the Shinto religion respects countless spirits called kami that live in nature.

5:22 Wow. I guess when you think about it, nature is full of so many different things: rivers, trees, mountains, fire. It makes sense that people would see a different spirit in each one.

5:36 Exactly. And here is a real mind-bender. There are even people today who have gone back to worshipping the ancient Greek gods.

5:45 No way! People right now are praying to Zeus and Athena.

5:50 Yes! It's a modern religious movement called Hellenism. For them, these aren't just silly myths in a storybook. They are real, powerful forces that they treat with deep respect.

6:04 Wow. It's so cool how many different ways humans have tried to understand the universe. Nobody really knows for absolute certain what's out there. But we all keep wondering.

6:15 So Finn, how does this actually matter to us today, even if we don't personally worship the Olympians?

6:22 Well, maybe it's about not expecting life to be perfectly fair all the time. Like, it's okay if things are messy.

6:30 That is a brilliant way to put it. Think about your own life. Sometimes you have a math teacher who wants you to spend all night studying numbers, but your soccer coach wants you to spend all evening practicing penalty kicks.

6:44 And my mum just wants me to clean my disgustingly messy room.

6:48 Exactly. You are constantly trying to balance different forces that want different things from you. That is exactly how the ancient Greeks felt about the gods. You couldn't please all of them at once. You just had to do your best to navigate the mess.

7:03 I love that. Next time I'm stressed, I'll just say I'm caught between two arguing gods. Okay, time for a quick fun fact.

7:12 Did you know the city of Athens got its name from a literal contest between gods? Ooh, what happened? Poseidon and Athena both wanted to be the city's favourite. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and made a spring of water, but it was completely salty. Athena planted the very first olive tree, giving them food and oil.

7:35 The people picked the olive tree and she won. Alright, Finn, time for the quiz. Are you ready? Okay, I'm ready. First question. What is the word for a religion that believes in many gods? Next one. Which Greek god was in charge of the sea and earthquakes? Question three. What gift did Athena give the city to win their contest?

8:10 Here's number four. What is the name of the modern movement where people worship the Greek gods today? Last question. True or false? Believing in many gods was the normal way to see the world for most of human history. Great job, let's see how you did. The first answer is polytheism. For question two, it was Poseidon.

8:42 The answer to number three is she gave them the first olive tree. Question four, it's called Hellenism. And the final answer is, true, it was the way almost everyone understood the world.

8:56 You know, thinking about all those different gods really does make the world seem bigger. Like it's okay that we don't have everything completely figured out.

9:06 I completely agree. It reminds us that humans have always been creative, trying to make sense of this wild, unpredictable universe we live in.

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9:49 Bye everyone.