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Five Stages of Greek Religion
"Murray's book should be the standard work on the subject. This small volume is the outgrowth of a lecture series given before WWI. Murray traces the development of Greek religion from it's beginnings in prehistorical animism to the full flowering of the major schools of philosophy, & thence to their extinction. Murray explores the irrational, Dionysic strand that emerged independantly of the Olympian mythos, & shows how both predate Homer. He considers the minor deities, such as the boundary statues (koures) mentioned by Thucydides in connection with Alcibiades' impiety. The eloquent chapters on the rise of philosophy-cum-religion are the most memorable in a memorable book. His vingettes on the lives of the founders of the famous schools, linked as they are in lineal descent from Socrates, Epicurus excepted, are excellent biographical sketches in their own right. His examination of the faults in each philosophical system, Aristotle's Pertpetetic School excepted, shows how, after banishing Olympian myth, essential to keeping hold of thinking minds, they let them back in, pantheistically, or as manifestations of the universal creator etc. (Epicurus preached a materialism that didn't fully recognize divinity, so he may be partly excused). This book lays out how the hellenistic world was prepared for the advent of Christanity, as the rise of philosophy asked the right questions to move thinkers beyond myth, & philosophy's subsequent fall into Neoplatonism & other pantheistic movements left the Greco-Roman world looking elsewhere for answers. An outstanding addition to any classical library."--Lloyd A. Conway (edited)
276 pages, cloth
First published January 1, 1914
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 28, 2010
It is always so gratifying, when confronted by some old public domain classic, to find something that -- far from being dry as dust -- turns out to be fascinating and up-to-the-minute. Such is Five Stages of Greek Religion by Gilbert Murray. What we have here, in some 240 pages, is a history of how Greek Paganism went through a series of stages such that it was ripe for conversion when Christianity came along.
Murray writes so cogently that it seems at time almost an accident that it is dealing with more than just Greek religion, but all religion. (The only exception: There are a large number of untranslated Greek phrases and not a few Latin ones, but most are relegated to the footnotes.) And there is also what I find to be a very touching personal statement of faith by the author:
As I mentioned, Five Stages of Greek Religion is in the public domain and can be found in its entirety at Gutenberg.Org. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about the history of religion.
Murray writes so cogently that it seems at time almost an accident that it is dealing with more than just Greek religion, but all religion. (The only exception: There are a large number of untranslated Greek phrases and not a few Latin ones, but most are relegated to the footnotes.) And there is also what I find to be a very touching personal statement of faith by the author:
There is no royal road in these matters. I confess it seems strange to me as I write here, to reflect that at this moment many of my friends and most of my fellow creatures are, as far as one can judge, quite confident that they possess supernatural knowledge. As a rule, each individual belongs to some body which has received in writing the results of a divine revelation. I cannot share in any such feeling. The Uncharted surrounds us on every side and we must needs have some relation towards it, a relation which will depend on the general discipline of a man's mind and the bias of his whole character. As far as knowledge and conscious reason will go, we should follow resolutely their austere guidance. When they cease, as cease they must, we must use as best we can those fainter powers of apprehension and surmise and sensitiveness by which, after all, most high truth has been reached as well as most high art and poetry: careful always really to seek for truth and not for our own emotional satisfaction, careful not to neglect the real needs of men and women through basing our life on dreams; and remembering above all to walk gently in a world where the lights are dim and the very stars wander.In short, Murray makes Paganism understandable, such that even the Olympian gods of Homer and Hesiod become understandable in the context of the time.
As I mentioned, Five Stages of Greek Religion is in the public domain and can be found in its entirety at Gutenberg.Org. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about the history of religion.
October 7, 2015
Sometimes one immures himself thinking that one knows more than the world around him. It's this attitude of complacency and hubris that I'm currently fighting, because sometimes I admit I do think I know a lot more than most people, which is why I'm glad I came across this book.
I didn't read this book as if I were performing an exegesis: I'm not a Greek scholar and will probably never be one. There were a lot of terms that I failed to understand, because I am unable to read untranslated Greek words. However, I was delighted with this book because it managed to debunk and destroy my preconceptions about some of the Greek philosophies and religions.
For example, one perceives of Epicurus nowadays as merely a pleasure-seeker. Mr. Murray reveals that nothing was farther from the truth: 'Epicurus says that pleasure, or "sweetness of life," is the good but he never counsels the direct pursuit of it. Quite the reverse. He says that if you conquer your desires and fears, and live simply and love those about you, the natural sweetness of life will reveal itself." (p. 105) That doesn't seem to be horrible. In fact, it's Jesus Christ's second commandment: love your neighbor as you love yourself.
The current idea of cynicism is relatively negative: people are driven by their own interests and usually do not hold honorable virtues. The original Cynic, however, was almost its polar opposite: these were the people who only sought virtue and lived like dogs in the sense that all it needed was to be loyal to its master, defend its master from beasts, and provide for himself. (p. 88) The Stoics were slightly different: they believed that life was shit, but man can be virtuous by the force of his own will.
In reading the evolution of Greek religion I also discovered my prejudices against paganism and developed insight regarding that. During the swansong of Pagan religion Paganism was neither bloody nor uncouth: the Pagan Sallustius wrote 'On the Gods and the World' explaining his beliefs, and it was a civilized and intelligent treatise.
I'm grateful for this book for providing me with a bit more knowledge and destroying some of my prejudices, and reminding me that I still have much to learn.
I didn't read this book as if I were performing an exegesis: I'm not a Greek scholar and will probably never be one. There were a lot of terms that I failed to understand, because I am unable to read untranslated Greek words. However, I was delighted with this book because it managed to debunk and destroy my preconceptions about some of the Greek philosophies and religions.
For example, one perceives of Epicurus nowadays as merely a pleasure-seeker. Mr. Murray reveals that nothing was farther from the truth: 'Epicurus says that pleasure, or "sweetness of life," is the good but he never counsels the direct pursuit of it. Quite the reverse. He says that if you conquer your desires and fears, and live simply and love those about you, the natural sweetness of life will reveal itself." (p. 105) That doesn't seem to be horrible. In fact, it's Jesus Christ's second commandment: love your neighbor as you love yourself.
The current idea of cynicism is relatively negative: people are driven by their own interests and usually do not hold honorable virtues. The original Cynic, however, was almost its polar opposite: these were the people who only sought virtue and lived like dogs in the sense that all it needed was to be loyal to its master, defend its master from beasts, and provide for himself. (p. 88) The Stoics were slightly different: they believed that life was shit, but man can be virtuous by the force of his own will.
In reading the evolution of Greek religion I also discovered my prejudices against paganism and developed insight regarding that. During the swansong of Pagan religion Paganism was neither bloody nor uncouth: the Pagan Sallustius wrote 'On the Gods and the World' explaining his beliefs, and it was a civilized and intelligent treatise.
I'm grateful for this book for providing me with a bit more knowledge and destroying some of my prejudices, and reminding me that I still have much to learn.
July 27, 2013
Gilbert Murray has given us an engrossing view of Greek religious and philosophcal thought which covers a period of roughly a thousand years. After reading this you cannot help but be possessed with a desire to explore further the resources which he pulls his information from. The nicest thing about this book comes in the appendix where he provides a translation of Sallustius's "On the gods and the world" which is worth the money for the whole book. Much of what Sallustius writes is well worth thinking on.
June 16, 2023
The stages: animistic myth, poetic order, reasoned order, consolation, superstition. The drivers of change: polis and philosophy.
June 14, 2013
Gilbert Murray's breadth of knowledge is dazzling. What I got from this tour de force, a personal history of ancient and classical Greek religion, was how much more fluid the beliefs were than I had realized. (Murray's own view of it was pretty fluid, too, since this was a late-in-life rewrite of what he originally called Four Stages of Greek Religion.) The key point he makes is that the fluidity of the Olympian-god-cosmos eventually would have led to something like Judeo-Christian monotheism. I think that was his point! He knew so damn much that he can be hard to follow at times. Well, he was 84 when he wrote the preface to this third edition of the book that had first been published 40 years before. I'm sure I will know this much when I am 84, too. And so will you.
I don't know if I were fully persuaded by the case for progression toward Christianity. But here is a tiny sample of Murray's reasoning: he describes a modern Greek peasant, shouting out "Christ is risen!" each Easter. "I hardly realized, when writing the earlier editions of this book, how central, how omnipresent, this complex of ideas was in ancient Greek religion. Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, and the rest of the 'Year Gods' were not eccentric divagations in a religion whose proper worship was given to the immortal Olympians; they are different names given in different circumstances to this one being who dies and is born again each year, dies old and polluted with past deaths and sins, and is reborn young and purified.
"The best starting point is the conception of the series of Old Kings, each, when the due time comes, dethroned and replaced by his son, the Young King, with the help of the Queen Mother; for Gaia, or Earth, the eternal Wife and Mother of each in turn, is always ready to renew herself. The new vegetation God each year is born from the union of the Sky-God and the Earth-Mother; or, as in myth and legend the figures become personified, he is the Son of a God and a mortal princess."
Sound familiar at all?
I don't know if I were fully persuaded by the case for progression toward Christianity. But here is a tiny sample of Murray's reasoning: he describes a modern Greek peasant, shouting out "Christ is risen!" each Easter. "I hardly realized, when writing the earlier editions of this book, how central, how omnipresent, this complex of ideas was in ancient Greek religion. Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, and the rest of the 'Year Gods' were not eccentric divagations in a religion whose proper worship was given to the immortal Olympians; they are different names given in different circumstances to this one being who dies and is born again each year, dies old and polluted with past deaths and sins, and is reborn young and purified.
"The best starting point is the conception of the series of Old Kings, each, when the due time comes, dethroned and replaced by his son, the Young King, with the help of the Queen Mother; for Gaia, or Earth, the eternal Wife and Mother of each in turn, is always ready to renew herself. The new vegetation God each year is born from the union of the Sky-God and the Earth-Mother; or, as in myth and legend the figures become personified, he is the Son of a God and a mortal princess."
Sound familiar at all?
October 24, 2023
Somewhat controversial book with a lot of subjective opinions from the author, wild speculations and lengthy digressions. Nevertheless, it is very interesting and thought-provoking. The essays were originally written as lectures, and it is evident that Murray was a captivating and erudite lecturer. Readers will discover many fun facts scattered throughout the text, and Murray never lingers too long on any one topic. The book is loosely structured and it discusses Greek philosophy and culture as much as religion, with regular references to the arrival and development of Christianity. Murray does not shy away from expressing his strong personal impressions, and some of his ideas have been criticized for lacking historical evidence.
Murray begins by exploring early Greek religion and the Olympian system that followed it. He concludes that the Olympian gods, who embodied the values of aristocratic conquerors, represented a cultural improvement over their more primitive, rougher predecessors. However, they still failed to satisfy all the religious and intellectual needs of the Greeks. The decline of both the traditional polis and the old religion during the Hellenistic era created space for eastern cults and the development of new philosophical schools. The Cynics, Stoics, and Epicureans, in their own unique ways, attempted to explain the miseries of life and offer solace in the general atmosphere defeat and decay. Their inclinations toward renunciation, escapism, and moralism laid a solid foundation for the emergence of Christianity. Later pagan philosophers put up a brave fight against the new religion. They reinterpreted traditional Greek religion with fresh ideas, seeking to elucidate its metaphorical meanings, the social significance of rituals, the rational basis for deistic beliefs, and the importance of leading a virtuous life. Murray concludes that their final effort in the age of Julian added an impressive finishing touch to a system suitable for a sophisticated civilization. Nevertheless, Christianity ultimately prevailed, as its blend of fashionable mysticism and proletarian activism resonated more with the masses.
Murray highlights the continuity between Christianity and various strands of Greek tradition. It is evident that he is not sympathetic to Christianity or religious fanaticism in general. He has also faced accusations of projecting his modern rationalist and humanistic ideas onto ancient philosophers. Interestingly, as he was an outspoken public intellectual, there was some controversy about his supposed deathbed conversion to Catholicism although it seems to be an exaggerated story. His overarching thesis is that Greek religion was fundamentally flawed and underwent a series of messy transformations, mirroring the changes in Greek and Roman society. Ultimately, it was surpassed by another imperfect religion that incorporated various existing traditions. It is an enjoyable and accessible read with an interesting thesis. However, I would not recommend it for beginners, both because it assumes a decent knowledge of ancient Greece and because some of the statements in the book should be taken with a grain of salt.
Murray begins by exploring early Greek religion and the Olympian system that followed it. He concludes that the Olympian gods, who embodied the values of aristocratic conquerors, represented a cultural improvement over their more primitive, rougher predecessors. However, they still failed to satisfy all the religious and intellectual needs of the Greeks. The decline of both the traditional polis and the old religion during the Hellenistic era created space for eastern cults and the development of new philosophical schools. The Cynics, Stoics, and Epicureans, in their own unique ways, attempted to explain the miseries of life and offer solace in the general atmosphere defeat and decay. Their inclinations toward renunciation, escapism, and moralism laid a solid foundation for the emergence of Christianity. Later pagan philosophers put up a brave fight against the new religion. They reinterpreted traditional Greek religion with fresh ideas, seeking to elucidate its metaphorical meanings, the social significance of rituals, the rational basis for deistic beliefs, and the importance of leading a virtuous life. Murray concludes that their final effort in the age of Julian added an impressive finishing touch to a system suitable for a sophisticated civilization. Nevertheless, Christianity ultimately prevailed, as its blend of fashionable mysticism and proletarian activism resonated more with the masses.
Murray highlights the continuity between Christianity and various strands of Greek tradition. It is evident that he is not sympathetic to Christianity or religious fanaticism in general. He has also faced accusations of projecting his modern rationalist and humanistic ideas onto ancient philosophers. Interestingly, as he was an outspoken public intellectual, there was some controversy about his supposed deathbed conversion to Catholicism although it seems to be an exaggerated story. His overarching thesis is that Greek religion was fundamentally flawed and underwent a series of messy transformations, mirroring the changes in Greek and Roman society. Ultimately, it was surpassed by another imperfect religion that incorporated various existing traditions. It is an enjoyable and accessible read with an interesting thesis. However, I would not recommend it for beginners, both because it assumes a decent knowledge of ancient Greece and because some of the statements in the book should be taken with a grain of salt.
March 20, 2018
Fascinating! I will try not to repeat this word too many times in my review, but it's really hard, because the work entirely deserves it. I had long been interested in mythology, but the Olympian gods have been kind of boring for a while now. They are too attractive, over-represented in pop culture, clichéd (although this does not mean they are more understood), and reading this book you discover the vast corpus of Greek traditions, rites, sentiments and theology behind them, and how they evolved through the Hellenistic period. More interestingly, the actual culture and society in each historical stage starts fleshing out through the description of their religion. Now, I can really see the limits of mythology within the range of Greek religion. It's absurd that we only think about myths and heroes represented in the literature of a very narrow time frame.
At first, I was more interested in the gritty first chapter (Saturnia Regna, pre-Olympian religion), but the five chapters were immensely edifying and I became acquainted with a lot of ideas and historical facts for the first time. I also liked the writing, academic but definitely not dry nor slow, with some warmhearted, sincere and poetic passages.
I first read about this book in Bertrand Russell's references in History of Western Philosophy, and now Gilbert Murray also lead me to other fascinating works, such as Jane Harrison's Prolegomena.
So, yes, I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in religion, history and anthropology.
At first, I was more interested in the gritty first chapter (Saturnia Regna, pre-Olympian religion), but the five chapters were immensely edifying and I became acquainted with a lot of ideas and historical facts for the first time. I also liked the writing, academic but definitely not dry nor slow, with some warmhearted, sincere and poetic passages.
I first read about this book in Bertrand Russell's references in History of Western Philosophy, and now Gilbert Murray also lead me to other fascinating works, such as Jane Harrison's Prolegomena.
So, yes, I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in religion, history and anthropology.
July 10, 2018
While I definitely found the book interesting, I felt that Murray was too focused on the Christianity looming over the horizon to adequately address the later stages of the Greeks’ religion. By far my favorite part of the book was the analysis of the simple rituals that can be glimpsed in the hidden corners of the Olympian rites. His discussion of the figures of the dying God and the fruitful Virgin archetypes was just amazing. Similarly, his discussion of the progression from these archaic rites to the height of the Olympian pantheon was just beautiful and a brilliant example of the evolution of religion as a whole. However, as soon as he beings to talk about the philosophical schools that dominate the Hellenistic age, he seems to constantly foreshadow the Christian conquest. I found this very distracting because it makes it seem that Christianity’s dominance was inevitable rather than acknowledge the historical accidents that led to its dominance. It also undercut his analysis of the later stages of the Greek religion making it seem that there was nothing going on but waiting for Christianity to take over. Nonetheless, the first half of the book is certainly worth reading for anyone interesting in the development of primitive religion.
September 23, 2011
I read this book, based on lectures given at Columbia University in 1914, while taking Peter Maxwell's History of Ancient Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. It is an excellent survey of the trends of Greek thought from the pre-Socratics to the rise of Christianity, presenting a cogent thesis as to the dynamics of this development.
August 22, 2021
Aristotle spoke of the First Cause as unmoved itself while moving all the universe "as the beloved moves the lover."
"We are so much at the mercy of chance that Chance is our god."--Pliny, Natural History, ii., 22.
"We are so much at the mercy of chance that Chance is our god."--Pliny, Natural History, ii., 22.
November 30, 2021
Murray is a beautiful writer I didn’t understand the back half of this book and his essays really meander but still a beautiful writer lol. I was Def hoping for more like ethnological study tracing the origins and development alongside the geographic migration across the Peloponnese and there was some of that. I’m also interested in how the myths we all know well and love went from true religious belief to like however they were regarded in the late classical to preChristian era. Remember how the Great God Pan was proclaimed dead in the earliest of early years of Christianity.. like what the hell does that mean lol
May 18, 2024
A compelling work of distillation, often strikingly pithy, though some of Murray's more fashionable (for his time) suppositions ring false. Pairs well with Till We Have Faces.
March 8, 2025
Releitura. Excelentes insights sobre a origem da religião grega sob o prisma antropológico e boas reflexões humanísticas sobre seu desenvolvimento e interpretação geral. Irrita um pouco pelo "esprit du temps", dum ceticismo de nariz empinado
March 8, 2014
Spoiler alert: the First Stage is not Denial, nor is the Fifth Stage Acceptance. :-)
December 4, 2022
This will engage the reader interested in the origins, general nature, and evolution, (and cousins) of the Greek gods, as seen by the ancient philosophers and poets who attempted to characterize them.* Not a difficult read. I was entertained and enlightened. It touches naturally and lightly on Judaism and Christianity, which share with Greek mythology roots older than the Testaments, Old and New. Murray relates little formal mythology, going instead for deeper understanding.
archiv.org has copies you can read for free. This is an update Murray's "Four Stages of Greek Religion." A preface explains the difference. (The archiv site's search won't find anything misspelled or with subtitles included.)
* A challenge, since Greeks understood that their gods were metaphors generally for unaccountable forces, mostly associated with fate. Some fine Greek philosophers wanted nothing to do with them.
archiv.org has copies you can read for free. This is an update Murray's "Four Stages of Greek Religion." A preface explains the difference. (The archiv site's search won't find anything misspelled or with subtitles included.)
* A challenge, since Greeks understood that their gods were metaphors generally for unaccountable forces, mostly associated with fate. Some fine Greek philosophers wanted nothing to do with them.
May 7, 2021
Truly a must read for anyone interested in the history of Greece or in Hellenic polytheism. The writer assumes you have a little bit of understanding of the Gods and history, so don't pick this up as an introduction on the subject. You don't need much background, though!
That said, the book is very concise while being thorough. The author takes care to cover not only events and schools of thought of the time, but the emotional mindset of the time, occasionally contrasting them with his own modern perspective which made it enjoyable to go through. I was expecting a boring recounting of events and I was pleasantly surprised.
That said, the book is very concise while being thorough. The author takes care to cover not only events and schools of thought of the time, but the emotional mindset of the time, occasionally contrasting them with his own modern perspective which made it enjoyable to go through. I was expecting a boring recounting of events and I was pleasantly surprised.
August 10, 2025
What is religion?
Murray says:
“Religion deals with the uncharted region of human experience, by methods of emotion or sub-conscious apprehension…. [it is] some attitude not of the conscious intellect but of the whole being, using all its powers of sensitiveness, all its feeblest and most inarticulate feelers and tentacles, in the effort somehow to touch by these that which cannot be grasped by the direct senses or analysed by the conscious reason.”
I like this definition.
I'll summarize the rest of the book in the comments.
Murray says:
“Religion deals with the uncharted region of human experience, by methods of emotion or sub-conscious apprehension…. [it is] some attitude not of the conscious intellect but of the whole being, using all its powers of sensitiveness, all its feeblest and most inarticulate feelers and tentacles, in the effort somehow to touch by these that which cannot be grasped by the direct senses or analysed by the conscious reason.”
I like this definition.
I'll summarize the rest of the book in the comments.
March 26, 2024
"'Nothing to fear in God: Nothing to feel in Death: Good can be attained: Evil can be endured.'" (p. 88)
November 15, 2025
Utterly fascinating.
April 23, 2025
a nice short read. both informative and profound.
November 3, 2022
The author traces the trajectory of Ancient Greek religion from its primitive origins through its eventual demise at the hands of Christianity.
Enjoyable despite the amount of opinion and idiosyncratic style. The author’s voice came through much more than I had expected, which I usually find off putting in nonfiction, but I think it made this more engaging.
Enjoyable despite the amount of opinion and idiosyncratic style. The author’s voice came through much more than I had expected, which I usually find off putting in nonfiction, but I think it made this more engaging.
Want to Read
September 27, 2010Recd. Scott Neely
January 21, 2020
Excellent book.
Fascinating.
Fascinating.
January 12, 2015
A classic that repays reading and re-reading.
Want to Read
December 11, 2018Haven't read, specifically interested in the appended translation of Sallustius' On the Gods and the Universe
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews