Hellenic Polytheist here: whatâs your question?
Questions to Hellenic Polytheists
There are many questions many of which are going to require a lot of explaining and so i apologize in advance for that, but I've been deeply curious since i first learned that people still practise Hellenic Polytheism. I also want to say in advance that i don't want to seem rude or disrespectful, every question is made from good and pure intentions.
Okay so my first interactions with Hellenic polytheism was on Pinterest and so its very limited. I'm not a Hellenic Polytheist, (I'm an atheist) I'm just a history, philosophy and theology enthusiast. I'm also Greek, and so I've known about the Hellenic Gods for a long time.
1. How do modern Hellenic polytheists deal with the morally fucked-up parts of the myths?
I often hear the phrase âseparate the gods from the myths,â but I've never understood it. It makes no sense to me. The gods donât exist without their myths, we know who they are through their myths. Without those stories, what are we actually left with?
Take Aphrodite as an example. Sheâs called the goddess of love because of what she does in myth: she causes desire, manipulates attraction, and drives people into relationships. If we remove the myths, on what basis does she remain âthe goddess of loveâ at all?
In the myth of Aphrodite and Anchises, Zeus causes Aphrodite to fall in love with a mortal, an act that normally falls under her expertise. This shows that divine roles arenât fixed, but are what we observe from stories. The gods are defined by what they tend to do in stories, and that's not even in set in stone.
So if the myths are not really representative of the gods, then what are the gods being defined by instead? Who are they?
And if the myths are how we know who the gods are, how do we deal with the fact that the Gods are imperfect and morally dubious at times? For me the fact that the Gods are imperfect is an extremely alluring aspect of Hellenic polytheism, and a very rare one, since Gods are usually portrayed as perfect beings.
2. How do you deal with the existence of the three fates (Moirai) and the lack of free will their existence implies?
The three fates are the three sisters who control the fate of every being. Gods included. That implies that the future is already determined, and if beings not even Gods can change it, that implies you have no free will. So if you believe in hellenic polytheism you believe in the three fates, which means that you believe that the future has been determined, which means you believe that free will doesn't exist, and if so, how can you judge the moral actions of a person if they played no hand in doing them? Am i making sense? How can you judge a person if you believe that their actions are being governed by beings who aren't them. If I murder someone, can you hold me in contempt? Because technically i didn't make the choice to murder them, the fates did for me.
3. Can you be selective about what deities you believe in?
Technically the previous question can easily be answered with "I don't believe in the three fates, i believe in other deities". So can a person believe in, say, Dionysus and Apollo but not believe in Persephone? I've heard people say what Gods they worship, some worship not the entire Pantheon but a few Gods, does that imply that they've just chosen those dogs to worship for one reason or another or that they don't believe in the other gods that Hellenic Polytheism has to offer?
4. Do the gods care if youâre traumatized, cynical, or angry at them?
Like if you stop leaving offerings or stop praying to them because you're angry at them, have you triggered hubris or do they understand? Honestly this question could be thrown at any religion, like does the Christian God understand if you stop going to church because you prayed to Him to cure your mother's cancer and He didn't or would He just throw you in hell because you stopped worshipping Him.
5. Is there room for doubt, irony, or distance in Hellenic practice?
Like, can you half-believe and still participate meaningfully, or is that disrespectful? Like if you feel doubt about the Gods' existence, but nonetheless feel something towards them, what is that? How do you believe that'll end?
6. Is modern Hellenic Polytheism more about aesthetics, or does it actually change how you live, and if so, how?
What moral lessons can you take from the Gods? What teachings are there that have been helpful to you, in what way? How have they impacted your life.
7. Is there a "wrong way" of worshiping the Gods?
The thing is, in ancient Greece, most definitely. Hell they'd probably have you ostracised because you brought the wrong kind of fruit to the offerings. But modern Hellenic polytheism is comepletely de-regulated, de-centralized, and lacks a church and a "rulebook".
Christians or Muslims can say that a certain way of honoring their Gods is wrong and cultic, because they have a church which will make the statement and a "rule book" (either the Qur'an or the Bible) which will define what part is wrong. But Hellenic polytheists can't do that, becaus there is no fixed way in honouring the Gods. So how does one go about in deciding what's a right way of honouring the Gods and whats a wrong way? Do we just go by moral instincts. Or what was closer to the way the ancient Greek honoured their Gods?
Someone can't go out on the street and slice open a person's head with an axe and say they did it as a devotional act to Dionysus. That's wrong. So what defines a right and wrong way in honouring the Gods? Are orgies allowed? Feasts? Is debaucherous hedonism a devotional act to Dionysus or just weird?
English isn't my first language, so I'm deeply sorry if I'm not making sense. Every Hellenic polytheist is extremely encouraged into answering with their own opinion, since opinions on these questions may very and i want every possible answer.
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