Religious Experience

Religion is and was an important aspect in people's lives today and years ago. It provides different civilizations a foundation on how to live their lives. There are several religions in this world and they are all different in one way or another. One of the biggest differences between religions is if the religion is monotheistic, meaning one god such as Christianity or polytheistic, meaning multiple gods such as the Ancient Greek and Mesopotamian religions. Religion is a very influential aspect of human lives. Throughout time religion has played an important role, giving followers a compass to abide by.

Most religions today are monotheistic. Such religions include Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. These religions believe that there is only one true God who controls all. No matter what each religion calls their god, He is still the one God. The one God that the followers pray to is supposed to take care of all their prayers and basically lead them down a path of righteousness so they can have eternal life.

In the religions of Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia they believe in multiple gods. Every god has control over a specific area of the mortal world. Proof of this can be found in The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. These two novels create an inside look to the polytheistic religions of Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia. Both believe that gods control everything on earth. Multiple gods create almost an excuse for problems that occur in people's lives and natural disasters like hurricanes. If something goes wrong, a monotheistic person would believe that s/he has upset God; while a polytheistic person would believe that s/he upset one of the gods, but will please the others so no other problems occur.

The Odyssey is based in Ancient Greece where gods make up their own rules. These gods are powerful and will determine a mortal's fate. Of course, one god alone cannot determine what happens, so there is a godly counsel that discusses punishment prior. However, not all the gods consult first. In fact, all the gods with the exception of Poseidon once met to discuss the future of Odysseus and decided to let him leave the goddess Calypso's island. In order for Odysseus to leave the island he had to take a boat onto the sea. When Poseidon realized what was happening, he became angry and created a storm to try and stop Odysseus from making it to his destination safely. Unfortunately for Poseidon, his actions were unsuccessful because the goddess Ino rescued the shipwrecked mortal.

The Epic of Gilgamesh takes place in Mesopotamia or Uruk to be specific. Mesopoamians are also polytheistic but their gods have completely different names. Like The Odyssey, Epic of Gilgamesh also contains a few gods that are not fond of human kind, or certain people mortals. In the novel, Gilgamesh happened to be part immortal, but was a tyrant king who was cruel to his people and raped women. The elders of Uruk complained to the gods, and like in the other novel, the gods decided on a course of action. Once again, we see the abilities and powers of the gods, because they decided to create a being that would meet Gilgamesh's strengths. The goddess Aruru used her power to create Enkidu.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh the people constantly pray to the gods for satisfaction in their lives. Gilgamesh, although very powerful, also prays to the gods. In fact, one night after Gilgamesh's companion Enkidu is killed, he prays to the god of the moon for a vision. This proves that even the most dominant person in the Mesopotamian civilization needs help and guidance from the gods. A theme that comes forth during Gilgamesh's journey is that the gods are dangerous. Unlike Homer's epic where the gods try to do no harm unless necessary, it seems at some times that the Mesopotamian gods play jokes.

The true Ancient Greek religion is very similar to how The Odyssey portrayed it. Greeks were very religious, and believed in several gods that could appear in human form if they chose to. In order to please the gods, the Greeks performed many rituals and built numerous statues and temples. The Greeks would also perform sacrifices to their Gods in these temples as a gift. Homer made it clear that sacrifices were done to please the gods. Sacrifices are important when satisfying the gods so the Greeks in The Odyssey were constantly doing so. Even the powerful Odysseus wants to make the gods happy, so he makes sacrifices to them as well. The Greek religion and the religion in The Odyssey are very much alike. Everything that is done revolves around the gods. Their biggest goal is to not upset the gods, and do what is asked of them no matter what the task. Religion is the most important aspect of a Greek's life, they live by their rules only and if they do something wrong, the gods will decide on punishment