Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 2 of 3 / Olympus; or, the Religion of the Homeric Age

The author analyzes the religious world reflected in the Homeric poems, arguing that Homeric belief combines a declining theological tradition with active myth-making. He identifies vestiges of primitive providential ideas alongside newly formed Olympian personifications, traces channels of religious tradition and possible echoes of ancient messianic motifs, and examines key deities—especially Athena and Apollo—their attributes, precedence, and juridical powers. Attention is given to sacrificial practice, the progression from unified theism toward polytheism and nature-worship, the poet’s inventive role, and the social and moral order implied by divine interactions, reconstructed through comparative, philological, and interpretive evidence.