To what extent was Greek worship of heroes identical to their worship of the gods?

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Lmcconachie

To what extent was Greek worship of heroes identical to their worship of the gods? I really need help with this question, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Any thoughts so far?
Is this for a degree, A level, GCSE...?

Reply 3

artful_lounger

21

Bear in mind the study help forum isn't here to do your homework for you, and so they won't provide model answers or tell you what to do; the study helpers will merely advise on what you have done so far and give suggestions or hints on what to do next. It also helps a lot to know at what level this is - GCSE, A-level, university (UG or PG?), so that the recommendations can be tailored to the right level.

I would suggest then, that you begin by outlining what your plans are so far for this presumed essay question. At the very least this would include what texts (and/or objects) you are studying or planning to use in the answer of this question, any particular "case study" characters or mythological figures, and for undergraduate level and beyond, what relevant secondary scholarship you've identified that you may be relevant to your argument and analysis.

Ideally you want to give an outline of what your argument is going to be and hence what you are going to conclude from it. Thinking about how to get to this point - having a thesis statement which leads to a conclusion of some kind - is more or less what you need to do to get started and then will give you the basis from which to write the essay. This will also give the study helpers a solid starting point from which to make recommendations on other sources/arguments to consider (putting in contrasting arguments to "shoot them down" in your essay is a good thing to do!) and if there is any relevant secondary literature you should consider that you haven't yet possibly.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 4

OP

Original post by becausethenight

Any thoughts so far?
Is this for a degree, A level, GCSE...?

It’s A level

Reply 5

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by artful_lounger

Bear in mind the study help forum isn't here to do your homework for you, and so they won't provide model answers or tell you what to do; the study helpers will merely advise on what you have done so far and give suggestions or hints on what to do next. It also helps a lot to know at what level this is - GCSE, A-level, university (UG or PG?), so that the recommendations can be tailored to the right level.

I would suggest then, that you begin by outlining what your plans are so far for this presumed essay question. At the very least this would include what texts (and/or objects) you are studying or planning to use in the answer of this question, any particular "case study" characters or mythological figures, and for undergraduate level and beyond, what relevant secondary scholarship you've identified that you may be relevant to your argument and analysis.

Ideally you want to give an outline of what your argument is going to be and hence what you are going to conclude from it. Thinking about how to get to this point - having a thesis statement which leads to a conclusion of some kind - is more or less what you need to do to get started and then will give you the basis from which to write the essay. This will also give the study helpers a solid starting point from which to make recommendations on other sources/arguments to consider (putting in contrasting arguments to "shoot them down" in your essay is a good thing to do!) and if there is any relevant secondary literature you should consider that you haven't yet possibly.

How?

Original post by Oburu

I can help

Reply 6

artful_lounger

21

Original post by Lmcconachie

How?

Well first of all you should indicate which texts (and/or objects) you're currently studying in relation to the qualification you are doing this work for that you think can be of use in answering this question. At A-level you will need to refer to specific evidence from texts or visual material, as you can't just talk purely in vague thematic terms. So you need to be thinking of where heroes are worshipped in text or object, and compare that to examples of where gods are, as a starting point.

Reply 7

Original post by Lmcconachie

It’s A level

Basically, what @artful_lounger said. You could also look at A level essay markschemes and timing to guide you - a 20min essay will be very different to a 1hr one, and different again to a 2000 word class essay your teacher has asked for that's not 'exam-style'.

Reply 8

OP

well I am currently studying greek religion, and the sources that I have so far studied are the panathenic amphora (for a physical source). I really just want to know the main difference and similarities in hero and god worship, that's all. I have all the evidence. I just want to know if anybody can help me with the differences and similarities between god and hero worship. But thank you for the advice.

Original post by artful_lounger

Well first of all you should indicate which texts (and/or objects) you're currently studying in relation to the qualification you are doing this work for that you think can be of use in answering this question. At A-level you will need to refer to specific evidence from texts or visual material, as you can't just talk purely in vague thematic terms. So you need to be thinking of where heroes are worshipped in text or object, and compare that to examples of where gods are, as a starting point.

Reply 9

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Oburu

I can help

how so?

Reply 10

artful_lounger

21

Original post by Lmcconachie

well I am currently studying greek religion, and the sources that I have so far studied are the panathenic amphora (for a physical source). I really just want to know the main difference and similarities in hero and god worship, that's all. I have all the evidence. I just want to know if anybody can help me with the differences and similarities between god and hero worship. But thank you for the advice.

The point is you can't just talk generally about things like that, so it's not helpful to have other people give vague compare and contrast points without reference to evidence; you need to start with the evidence and then make your point of how it shows (or is in itself) a form of worship for one or both points, and then compare and contrast with other points of evidence. You need to shift from the top-down thematic approach used in e.g. GCSE English etc, to a bottom-up evidence based approach, building towards your point about whatever theme you want to talk about (including whether it exists).

Reply 11

OP

Original post by becausethenight

Any thoughts so far?
Is this for a degree, A level, GCSE...?

well i know the structure (intro, differences, similarities, then a conclusion), and I have evidence (in the form of quotes) but the only thing I am struggling on is finding the difference and the similarities because the textbook hardly said anything about it and we hardly when over it in class.

Reply 12

Original post by Lmcconachie

well i know the structure (intro, differences, similarities, then a conclusion), and I have evidence (in the form of quotes) but the only thing I am struggling on is finding the difference and the similarities because the textbook hardly said anything about it and we hardly when over it in class.

If you have all the evidence, surely you can tell us, based off that evidence, what you think the differences and similarities are?
I mean, if you have evidence showing gods were worshipped on tuesdays and heroes on fridays, is that a difference or a similarity? :tongue:

Reply 13

OP

Original post by becausethenight

If you have all the evidence, surely you can tell us, based off that evidence, what you think the differences and similarities are?
I mean, if you have evidence showing gods were worshipped on tuesdays and heroes on fridays, is that a difference or a similarity? :tongue:

i guess so.

Reply 14