Religion in the Military of Ancient Greece :: Army Greeks History Rituals Papers

Religion in the Military of Ancient Greece The Ancient Greeks held their religion to be a personal experience, to be practiced by the common man on a daily basis. Thus, it comes as no surprise to read in the historical works of the period that the people also relied on religion to aid them in military matters. This paper will give historical examples of the people's reliance on the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects, whether ill or benign, on the military endeavors of the peoples in the age of the Ancient Greeks. RITE OF PASSAGE Many people who experience battle for the first time find themselves panicked, totally unprepared for the horrors of war. Waging war is not a task for the inexperienced civilian. As a result, religious rituals were formed that would brace the aspiring warrior for the obscenities he would face as well as fill him with a sense of obligatory duty through ritual ordaination. Walter Burkert's Greek Religion gives ample detail on the subject: Crete is also the place where myth localizes the Kouretes, who by their name are just young warriors.