The Evolution of Greek Immortality

Paper Summary:

This paper traces the beginnings of the Greek concept of the afterlife in the Homeric Age through classical Greece and into the Age of the Philosophers. The paper's argument links the shift from a belief in a meaningless immortal existence into a conviction in a more hopeful afterlife to the increase in the prosperity of the Greek economy over the same time period. Both primary sources and secondary materials are utilized to support this claim. The paper cites Aristophanes, Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, Plato, and others.

From the Paper:

"The religion of the ancient Greeks was a dynamic and animated one, not prescribed in code on a set of tablets or a scroll of papyri but rather existing in the minds of the people. Therefore, it was subject to change. In the times written about by Homer, where the gods were active participants in the lives of the Greeks, the idea of a true life after death was useless. The gods meted out whatever punishments or rewards the people deserved in this life, with no need for delay. Yet this thinking eventually gave way to deeper convictions about afterlife, involving the principles of immortality and retributive punishment. The evolution of ancient Greek religion did not occur on its own; rather, it was prompted by drastic changes in the world itself. These shifting attitudes of the Greeks with respect to immortality and the afterlife were a direct result of the expanding economy and increased colonization that the civilization encountered around the 7th and 8th centuries BC."

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