Throughout the Iliad of Homer there can be seen many features of the Greek religion. Thefeatures of religion that appear throughout this epic poem are those that existed during the time of Homer. By taking a better look at theses main features it can be seen that they are similar to thoseof Christianity today. Some of the existing main features of both are the following: the belief ingods or God, prayer, sacrifice, and funeral rites. However, despite these similarities, each featureis observed differently by the two religions. The Greeks in the Iliad believe in many gods. Each god has a specific power or gift that isknown by people. Zeus is the supreme god in their religion and is also the King of Olympus (16.233). He is known as the god of clouds and the sky. Other gods include Aphrodite the goddess oflove, Athena the goddess of wisdom, and Apollo the god of prophecy, light, poetry and music.However, these are just a few of the gods seen in the Iliad. These gods are seen asanthropomorphic, taking on human characteristics and behavior. This can be seen when Zeusweeps tears of blood for his own son Sarpedon (16.459-61). He weeps because he wishes to savehis son from his destiny of death. Hera, sister and wife of Zeus, makes it clear that if he toys withfate this will cause much disturbance among the gods. Also like humans, gods play favorites andget involved with human events (23. 773-74). The Greek gods in the Iliad are also the parents tomortals. As was just shown Zeus son Sparpedon is in fact a mortal who is destine to die. Otherexamples of this are Thetis, mother to Achilles (18. 94-5) and Aphrodite, mother to Aeneas. The view of God in the Christian religion is quit different from the view of gods just seen inthe Greek religion of the Iliad. Christians, unlike the Greeks of Homers time, believe in one GodAlmighty (Genesis 17: 1-4). He is seen as divine entity, who knows all and sees all. In this aspecthe is definitely...
