When did people stop believing in the old gods like Greek and Norse? Did the Vikings just wake up one morning and think ”this is bullshit”?
In: Culture
I just finished re-reading Mythology by Edith Hamilton. One of her themes touches on this (at least in regards to the Greeks). She discusses several times how the Greeks of the Classical Period were uncomfortable with many of the recurring elements of the mythological stories including human sacrifice and the dishonorable ways the male gods behaved towards young women and their children.
Additionally she relates a story about Socrates in which he is asked if he believes a particular myth and he replies:
“‘The wise are doubtful,’ Socrates returned, ‘and I should not be singular if I too doubted.’ This conversation took place in the last part of the fifth century B.C. The old stories had begun by then to lose their hold on men’s minds.”
I’m not sure if this represents the common view among classicists, but Hamilton certainly seems to think the Greeks had begun to outgrow their myths by the Classical period.
Latest Answers