The Religious Thought of the Greeks, from Homer to the Triumph of Christianity

"The Religious Thought of the Greeks, from Homer to the Triumph of Christianity" by Clifford Herschel Moore is a series of lectures that chronicles over a millennium of Greek religious ideas, starting with Homer. Moore addresses the Greeks' understanding of their gods, what people owed them, and the philosophy behind their beliefs, concluding with the rise of Christianity. The lectures begin by looking at how the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" developed Greek religious viewpoints, highlighting how these stories shaped the gods' personalities and roles in early Greek religion. Moore points out that the gods in Homer are presented with human traits, good and bad, that mirrored mortal virtues and defects, but their powers are limited by fate and morals. This sets the stage for examining how Greek religious thought evolved and changed, particularly with the arrival of Christianity.