Compare And Contrast Paganism And Hellenes

Hellenism/Paganism/Heathen

Jessica Bluhm

3-23-18

Third hour

Final Draft

The Pagans or first known as the Hellenes, originated in Greece. The religion Hellenes began in the early 300 BC era, but the term Pagan soon came known during the middle 400 BC ear. The term Pagan, is translated to “the religion of the peasantry.” The religion soon spread towards west Asia and northeast Africa soon after the invasion of Alexander the Great. The Pagan’s do not have a certain number of gods. Their gods though, consist of Olympians, nature divinities, underworld deities and other Greek gods. They later were known as the Heathens or Norse.

The creation story of the Hellens begins from the flood in the story of Noah’s

They began moving north and south. The Norse religion was known to spread towards Scandinavia. They soon adopted the name Vikings. This was given as a form of invader or pirate. The Hellens were known to spread to Western Africa. The Pagans spread with both. The Hellenic religion ended in 31 B.C.E.

The Pagan and Norse religions are more devoted to the Earth, the natural world, and the manifest physical universe. Theses religions are not like monotheistic or polytheistic religions, meaning they celebrate multiple deities. Pagans are sometimes referred to as Neo-Paganistic due to their devotion to nature. Some of their early work that has been carried from generation to generation is known as a form of modern witchcraft.

Their rituals surround the celebration of nature, to create a community, celebrate the different passages through life, and to create magic. Only certain rituals have dates, but most are a prayer or an offering for the human aspects of life. Some rituals can become very loud and elaborate and others can be silent and by oneself. Pagans have a planned and very elaborate ritual very new year and every new

These Deities take role of the human nature aspects. So one person would sacrifice or celebrate a Deity for one reason. Some roles the Christians would put in the same category the Pagans would separate. For example, the Christians would categorize love, marriage, and children together. For Pagans, they would wish for one thing at a time. The Christians believe we should only love the person we marry but for Pagans they do not have to marry. Marriage is a sacred ceremony, they would give themselves to each other and each spouse could not cheat or be disloyal to one another. Frigga, Eros, Hera, and Aphrodite are just some of the Deities they worship for love and