What can we learn from this practice?
Homer and Herodotus provide an excellent window into the ancient Greek view of impiety. The ancient Greeks believed pious behavior was essential to everyday life.
Impiety is having a lack of reverence for the gods. In both Homer’s and Herodotus’ works, impiety is punished by the gods. In Herodotus, however, some punishments begin to come from fellow mortals.
To an Ancient Greek, impiety is committing moral and ceremonial wrongs, disrespecting religious traditions, and committing hubris. Many prominent leaders commit impious behavior, and their stories demonstrate archaic Greek interpretations of this concept.
In Homer’s Iliad, we find two significant instances of men disrespecting the religious practices of xenia and supplication and, by proxy, Zeus himself. The Iliad itself is the story of punishment for the impiety of Paris. Paris directly dishonors his xenia with Menelaus to steal Helen.
In the 8th line of the poem, Homer prefaces his work by telling us that it is a God who had “set them together in a bitter collision.” Homer then describes Agamemnon’s refusal of the supplication of Chryses and Apollo’s plague unleashed on the Achaeans.
Homer describes the Greek belief in divine punishment for the impious behavior of disrespecting the religious practice of supplication. Additionally, Agamemnon’s impious behavior devastated the entire Achaean force.
In another example of a similar offense, Megacles killed Cylon’s supplicating supporters at the temple of Athena in Athens. Impious behavior in Athens at that time was treated as an offense punishable by death and familial exile. Exiled by the Athenians for their blasphemy, the Alcameonidae family was referred to as the “Accursed.”
The exile was so complete that the bodies of their dead relatives were exhumed and reburied outside of Attica’s borders. The Athenians took impiety very seriously and punished the Alcameonidae family accordingly. Supplication and xenia are fundamental concepts in ancient Greece, so basic that they are governed by Zeus. Therefore, when abused, it is a severe form of impiety.
Disrespect for religious traditions is another crucial component in the Greek view of impiety. Cleomenes showed blatant disrespect for things his enemies held sacred throughout his life, which is troubling because his enemies share the same gods and, therefore, the same views of pious behavior.
He committed many egregious impious acts throughout his reign as one of the most controversial Spartan kings. The worst offenses included his attempt to corrupt the priestess at Delphi, desecrating sacred lands, and butchering Argivian fugitives that sought sanctuary in the holy ground at Argos.
Upon returning to Sparta, Cleomenes displayed further madness and found himself in jail. Herodotus lists many reasons that the Greeks believed led to Cleomenes’ descent into madness, and all but one involve impiety. Therefore, in true Homeric fashion, his punishment involved the gods smiting him with rage and eventual suicide for his impious behavior throughout his reign.
Another component of the Greek view of impiety is hubris. Hubris is displayed throughout the writings of Homer and Herodotus and is usually committed by influential individuals. In Homer, Agamemnon’s hubris leads to his decision to insult Chryses and further manifests itself with his demand that Achilles gives him Briseis.
Agamemnon believed himself untouchable due to his power, which almost led to the downfall of the entire Achaean expedition. The story of Polycrates is yet another example of a man’s hubris clouding his judgment and leading to punishment.
Unfortunately, he found himself in a precarious situation after losing support and money from the Egyptian pharaoh, Amasis. Lured by money and a false sense of intelligence and power, he was deceived by the Persian satrap, Oroetes. He was executed and crucified for all to see. In Homer and Herodotus, the theme remains the same, hubristic individuals will eventually be punished by the gods as a reminder to stay humble and pious.
Pious behavior was one of ancient Greece’s most critical religious aspects. During this time, we see two primary forms of punishment for impious behavior: mortals punishing mortals or gods punishing mortals. Greeks revered their gods very highly, specifically regarding xenia and supplication.
The gods punished those who broke from religious practices and traditions- and sometimes man. To Ancient Greeks, the pious were favored, and those who defied or disrespected the gods would be punished.
