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Polytheism And Monotheism In Ancient Cultures

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Polytheism and Monotheism In Ancient Cultures In numerous ancient civilizations cultures were categorized as being polytheistic in religion, that is the practice of worshiping multiple gods, goddesses. The most prominent and well remembered of polytheistic culture was the greeks. From our source book, “Hesiod, Theology” explains the story of the a war between the Titans and the Olympian gods, which is the basis for the creation of the greek gods and goddesses(Source One). Although not just the greeks believed in the worship of polytheism other ancient societies including multiple societies in Mesopotamia, egyptian and roman cultures. The advantage to being polytheism in ancient societies was to have societies that could worship numerous things …show more content…

the empire grew immensely. In the World Societies Textbook, page 161 Map 6.2, you can see a closer look at the vast expansion that took place(Source 2). With the growth of the Roman empire came the struggle to unify all of its diverse prospects. Although stating that “Romans did not force their culture on native people”(Source 3), it is well known that citizens are better unified when practicing the same customs. Concern for the a monotheistic religion began with the rise of the Christians. Sources of World Societies document “Pliny The Younger, Letters to and from Emperor Trajan on Christians” voices the worries attributed to the practice of Christianity and what precautions were done to stop the growth of its following(Source 4). Although even with the persecution of the Christians its following kept on growing due to the unity of its …show more content…

Although Christians were persecuted if found guilty by the Romans it was rather simple to avoid punishment. In document “Tertullian, from Apologia” it mentions how a Christian can be forgiven if only they admit to not practicing Christianity(Source 6). The crime of punishing Christianity at the time was Death so it was probable that many Christians simply admitted to not being practicing the religion to save their life. So the punishment for being Christian although extreme, were not investigated heavily. This led to the rapid growth of Christianity and the practice of worshipping one God to eventually surpass the practice of polytheism.

Works Cited
Source One
Gainty, Denis; Ward, Walter D.. Sources of World Societies, Volume I: To 1600 (Page 10). Bedford/St. Martin 's. Kindle Edition.
Source Two
Source Three
McKay, John P., et al. “Chapter 6.” A History of World Societies, Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2015, pp. 161–161.
Source Four
Gainty, Denis; Ward, Walter D.. Sources of World Societies, Volume I: To 1600 (Page 135). Bedford/St. Martin 's. Kindle Edition.
Source Five
McKay, John P., et al. “Chapter 2.” A History of World Societies, Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2015, pp. 43-43.
Source Six
Gainty, Denis; Ward, Walter D.. Sources of World Societies, Volume I: To 1600 (Page 137). Bedford/St. Martin 's. Kindle

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