In what concerns religion, the greatest paradigm shift was monotheism. In previous centuries, most of humanity believed in more than one god: polytheism. Gods were used to explain nature and phenomena not yet understood – the mysterious laws of nature. The unknown was always attributed to the gods. Yet, Different cultures had different gods.
During the early Roman Republic, Romans began to adopt religion from the Latin and Greek cultures. Many of the gods and goddesses the Romans adopted into their pantheon have a Greek equivalent, some of whom maintained their Greek name. Some of the Greek gods and goddesses Rome accepted were Apollo whose name remained the same, Aphrodite whose name became Venus, Hera whose name became Juno, and Zeus whose name became Jupiter (Encyclopedia Mythica). Romans had a god or goddess for almost every aspect of life and each god or goddess represented a specific aspect in life. For example, Apollo was the god of medicine and poetry, Venus was the god of love, Juno represented females and marriage, and Jupiter played the highest role as overseer of the heavens and Earth.
Instead of comparing the Greek and Roman deities, many references use the term “equivalent” as if the Greek and Roman deities were identical. There are numerous popular translations of ancient Greek literature in which the Greek gods and goddesses are never called by their Greek names. Instead, the translators substitute the Roman names for the Greek names and no one seems to notice or care. The result has been that many people are convinced that the ancient Romans did not have an original religion at all, but that the essence of their spiritual life was nothing more than a revival of the ancient Greek religion with the addition of a few Roman flourishes and new Latin names for the gods and goddesses. In reality, the two are very different from one another, and capture almost opposing life values that are central to the people of the time.
Both religions are often thought to be henotheistic, meaning they recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God. In the Ancient Egyptian religion, this is untrue due to the fact that the pharaoh, who is believed to have been descended from the gods, can choose when to shift the focus of the supreme deity. Because the concerns of the population in both areas were different, gods held contradictory roles due to landscape, social, and climatic variation. Worship in both religions also has similarities, with a temple dedicated to a particular deity, and shrines within that temple dedicated to other gods correlated with the main deity. Both religions believed in the afterlife.
Each had a very strong sense of individualism, and even when they had bonded for a short period of time, such as during the Persian invasion, they had quickly divided once again. This was because each city-state had their own set of laws and how to be ruled, and they did not find a way to unify with each other. The Ancient Greeks did have other forms of unifications, such as the same religion, language and basic culture, but none of these factors
They believed that every human being was composed of physical and spiritual parts or aspects. In addition to the body, each person had a shadow, a personality or soul, a life-force, and a name. They worshiped many gods inside of cult temples that were held by priests. These two cultures religions were very alike, but yet very different. The Egyptian pyramids, One of the great wonders of the world, these architectural wonders is one of the many things the Egyptian's are famous for.
This idea eventually led to war between the Greeks. (Knights, A. 2007) A lot of historians overlook the fact that both communities actually had a few things in common. The Athens and Spartans were both thinkers. They worshipped their gods and respected all people and nature.
“The Parallel Similarities of Greek Mythology and Christianity There are many comparisons and parallel similarities that can be said about Greek Mythology and Religion. Most people that are Christians or follow the principles of the Bible believe the stories told in the Bible itself. The same can be said about the stories of Greek and Roman mythology as well. The idea that many different gods and goddesses controlled the universe can be looked at as stories that are no more than fiction or fantasy. The same could be said about Christianity for non-believers.
Monotheistic is the believing the existence of only one god. They devote their time and practices on one set god or goddesses. The worshiping between these two religions is practiced differently, having different rituals, reading from testaments and bibles to even folklores and myths. One god called the trickster is very much interesting. A trickster can be either a male or female, but mostly is always a man and is seen as a description of an animal.
Religion gave meaning and explained human existence, agriculture, natural biological occurrences, and even the light of day. Religion and the gods surrounded the Aztecs lives in every direction. In order to further understand the reasoning behind why the Aztecs felt they needed to practice sacrifice, one needs to understand the importance religion held within the Aztec race. Sacrifice of any form was considered to be a payment to their gods. According to Michael Graulich (2000), the director of religious studies at a school in Paris, the primary reason for sacrifice was atonement (p. 2).